Atlanta Violinist And Composer Alice Hong Will Make Her Film Debut In Netflix Movie ‘Red Notice’

Hong gave a detailed account of the hectic experience of working on a movie set.  “It was nerve-wracking, because the first time on set, they cleared everyone out except for the band. And we had these probably multi-million dollar cameras flying in on us at once. We only got two full takes of the song, and they also didn’t give us the music to what we were playing, so we were figuring it out by ear, and making sure that we mastered the recording that was playing in the background,” said Hong. “Just to know that this director of a multi-million dollar film only has us, right now, on their agenda – it was pretty exciting.”

In “Red Notice,” Hong plays a member of a band, hired to perform at a masquerade ball by the movie’s villain. She was thrilled to be in the movie, but doesn’t make any claims about being especially well-briefed on the project. “I’m not quite sure what it’s about, besides the fact that the three main characters are art thieves,” laughed Hong. “While we’re performing on stage, there is a dance number done by the Rock, and I believe, Gal Godot. And I guess they’re discussing their next heist.”

For safety precautions, the scenes were filmed with separate groups of actors and then composited together in post-production. Hong’s scene was shot with the musicians performing, but none of the rest of the cast was present. The cast then did their work separately, to be edited together later. “That’s why it took so long to film because we were technically done with our scene the first day that we were on set, but we were there for four more weeks because they had to do all this layering and reshooting of that same exact scene, to make sure everyone was included.”

Next up for Hong, she plans to return her focus to her photography business and to perform in Atlanta’s Candelight Concerts, which feature classical music in gorgeously candlelit venues like City Winery and the Trolley Barn. She also started a venture called Project Mainstream, a classical music video series. With projects like these, Hong hopes to keep classical music alive with younger, ever-diversifying audiences.

It’s hard to imagine she’ll drop acting from her repertoire, however, after such an unforgettable time working on “Red Notice.” “It was the craziest experience because I had never been on a set in my life. But now I’m living in a hotel with all these incredible people of that field, and all these performers,” said Hong. “I just fell in love with the fact that I was able to perform even though it wasn’t the medium that I’ve always performed in… I loved that I could contribute in a way that I had never contributed before as a performer.”