How ‘Dìdi’ Star Joan Chen Channeled the Toughest Parts of Motherhood for Her Deepest Performance Yet

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How ‘Dìdi’ Star Joan Chen Channeled the Toughest Parts of Motherhood for Her Deepest Performance Yet

Sean Wang’s “Dìdi” (Focus Features, July 26) hits where it hurts for any millennial who came of age in middle school in 2008 — on MySpace and AOL Instant Messenger and in the throes of puberty. But it’s especially hard-hitting for Taiwanese-Americans raised in the California Bay Area at the time, as Fremont-hailing writer/director Wang’s big Sundance winner (including an Audience Award) is based on his own youth — one where he was often recalcit…