A former Dundee University law student turned jam-maker and actress has won a major role alongside Harvey Keitel and Toni Collette in a new film.
Shuiken Chan, who acts under the name Sue Cann, has just returned from filming the movie Madame in Paris.
The film, produced by LGM and Studio Canal, stars Harvey Keitel, Toni Collette and Spanish actress Rossy de Palma.
It is French director Amanda Sthers’ first English-language feature.
The comedy drama revolves around an American couple who set up home in Paris and ask their maid to masquerade as a rich heiress.
However, Shuiken’s route to the silver screen has been anything but straightforward.
She studied law at Dundee University in 1996 and spent five years as a civil litigation lawyer before deciding the law was not for her.
She said: “I came to a point in my life where I wanted to explore a more creative side of myself. After deliberating for some time, I finally plucked up the courage to hand in my notice, pack my bags and go exploring.”
After backpacking around Thailand and Nepal, Shuiken studied acting in New York.
The 38-year-old returned to her home city of Edinburgh last year to look after her parents.
Remarkably, this led to her landing the role in Madame.
“It was just perfect timing ,” she said.
“They were looking for a Filipino character and those don’t come up very often so it was really lucky.
“It is quite a big role.”
Shuiken said the movie’s stars had been fun to work with.
“They were both really down to earth, really friendly and helpful,” she said.
As well as acting, Shuiken has just launched her own jam-making business, called My Jam.
And, she has even managed to get some of her produce screen time in Madame.
She said: “During filming there was a breakfast table set up every morning outside where people could help themselves to some breakfast.
“On one of the mornings I put my jams on the table and let the cast and crew try them. They all loved it.
“Then, several weeks later, I saw a tray on the kitchen table with tea and toast to be used in a particular scene.
“I decided to be bold at the last moment and asked the director if I could put by jams out on the tray for the scene.
“Usually the set designer plans this sometime ahead so I thought the chances of the director agreeing would be slim but surprisingly he said yes.”
