Edward Chen: Stay Beautiful

“Don’t hate me or anyone else, because the universe loves us all the same,” Edward Chen tells Apple Music, hitting us with a collection of heartfelt tracks to celebrate this year’s Pride. “The overarching theme of this playlist is love. To me, love is an expression of raw emotion. It’s intangible—and yet we can all feel its wonderful power.” A rising star of Taiwanese cinema, Chen is known for his breakout role as the lovestruck A-Han in the hit gay romance Your Name Engraved Herein, as well as his vocal performance on the chart-topping title track. “My experience [as an actor] so far is that of a kind of introspection. When I’m getting ready to play a new role, I have to be meticulous in order to understand a lot of complex and difficult things, whether it’s to do with emotion, relationships or even my own self,” he says. “And these are songs I often listen to when filming, or when I’m looking for courage.” “Too Good at Goodbyes” by Sam Smith was the first song he thought of when the idea for this playlist came around, “because during filming [of Your Name Engraved Herein] I was constantly listening to this song, getting into the same emotional space as A-Han—very moved, very much feeling like screaming out through my struggle.” Finally, he leaves a message to the LGBTQ+ community as it stakes its claim to recognition, unity and joy throughout this year’s Pride celebrations on Apple Music and beyond: “We all gotta stay blessed :) Stay kind and stay beautiful :)”