E-mail a friendJohn Cho
original airdate April 25, 2008
John Cho is known for his roles in the American Pie films and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and has made guest appearances on TV in the series Felicity and Charmed. Born in South Korea, Cho was raised in Los Angeles, where his family settled in '78. While studying English literature at UC Berkeley, he started acting. When he's not starring in such fare as Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay and the upcoming Star Trek movie, Cho performs as lead singer for the L.A. band Left of Zed.
Actor discusses Asian American stereotypes in Hollywood. (2:41)
Full Interview. (10:29)
John Cho
Tavis: Harold & Kumar are back and they've somehow managed to get stuck this time in Guantanamo Bay. John Cho has once again teamed up with his partner, Kal Penn, in the follow-up to their first film, "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle." This new comedy opened in theaters around the country earlier today. Here now a scene from "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay."
[Clip]
Tavis: (Laughter) John, how are you?
John Cho: Good.
Tavis: Nice to have you here.
Cho: Oh, so good to be here.
Tavis: That gives a little bit of the story line away, but I'll let you explain a little bit more.
Cho: Okay, well, this movie picks up right where the first movie left off. We're trying to get to Amsterdam and, on the way, Kumar brings a bong onto the plane and somebody thinks it's a bomb and we get sent to Guantanamo Bay. We escape and hilarity ensues.
Tavis: I don't know how one confuses a bong with a bomb, but that's another story (laughter).
Cho: It is another story. It's a very inventive, menace-looking bong.
Tavis: Yeah (laughter). I was looking at some numbers here. I wouldn't normally throw these numbers out, but I am because I think it makes the point that I want to make. If these numbers I read were correct, this first movie, "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle," made about - depending on what you read - nine or ten million dollars at the theaters, but it goes on to become a cult classic. It's on its way to becoming a cult classic. In DVD sales, it makes like sixty million dollars. It's like nine or ten at the box office and sixty million dollars in DVD sales. I'm sure your accountant has told you. If he hasn't, now you know.
Cho: Now I know.
Tavis: They owe you some money. Somebody owes John Cho some money.
Cho: And a t-shirt.
Tavis: And a t-shirt, yeah. So a little bit of money at the box office, but tons of money in DVD sales, which means, again, as I see it, that it's on its way to becoming a cult classic. What does that mean for the release of the second film?
Cho: Well, it raises the bar a little bit and it also meant, when we're making the second one, we had to honor the request really of the people who bought the DVD. There were certain things that, you know, had we written the sequel right after the first one was made, we probably would have written a different movie.
In the years that we had to reflect after the first movie, we found out that people were really attracted to the racial jokes and the social commentary angle much more so than we would have initially anticipated. So knowing that and then, three years later, writing the sequel, they decided we need to amp up the stakes, so it really changed the subject matter of our film in a very fundamental way.
Tavis: Inside of your community, not that there's one answer to this question, but what kind of conversation ensues about you playing a character like this inside of your own community? Because there's always this debate about stereotypes and racial jokes, etc., etc. Inside of your community, how does that conversation take flight?
Cho: Well, it's been generally positive. You know, there was a time, I would say, in the 1980s when in American film and television, you know, the stereotypes were very sharp and crude and people complained. The response by Hollywood was to make sort of watered-down neutral characters.
So instead of making a strong negative stereotype, they responded by making a strong positive stereotype. So now on television and film, there's been, you know, the kind Asian nurse or the policeman or whatever and they've just been sort of narratively neutral characters. So people have been really excited about this portrayal for a couple of reasons.
One, the two Asian Americans are the protagonists of the movie and, secondarily, they sort of like the non-noble aspect because we're supposed to be the good ones. The Asians are supposed to be the good ones, the nerds, the ones who don't break the rules, and Harold & Kumar are engaged in a lot of illegal activities (laughter). There seems to be some excitement about that.
Tavis: Given what I've read and given my brief meeting you just minutes ago, I get the sense that there's something about the opportunity to play this role that you revel in, where your last point is concerned. By that, I mean to suggest that it's empowering - maybe that's the right word, maybe not - empowering for you to be able as an Asian American to play that kind of role which does in fact run against character, against type.
Cho: Absolutely. It feels good and I feel like it's empowering for the kids mainly who are illegally watching our movie (laughter). But I think they really enjoy breaking that mold and it feels closer to them. In addition, one of the things that I think that the Asian American kids like about our movie is that the movie doesn't concern itself and the characters don't concern themselves exclusively with their race.
They're not talking about their race all the time. The movie isn't necessarily about their race all the time. So that feels, I think, to them correct, like the race is a fraction of their identity rather than the sum of their identity. I think that they appreciate that.
Tavis: You talked about Asian American kids a few times in this conversation. If what I read is correct, you and your wife are expecting your first baby?
Cho: That's right, yeah.
Tavis: So you have a baby on the way?
Cho: Yeah, unbelievable. I have a little boy, a little dude, an heir to the throne on the way (laughter).
Tavis: How do you expect, if you even thought about it, that might change your choices?
Cho: Geez, I don't know. I'll have to let that come to me, although I have been thinking recently that I'd like to do something that he could watch. I just completed a project that I hope he'll like, which is a prequel to "Star Trek." It's a movie that's a prequel to the television series, so I hope he'll enjoy that. But I would like to do some -
Tavis: - let me guess the character you play (laughter).
Cho: The Asian guy. There's the box again (laughter).
Tavis: Yeah. I saw him at a restaurant. I literally was in a restaurant having dinner the other night here in Los Angeles. He walked in. It was amazing.
Cho: Oh, yeah? He's a great, great man. He's very cool.
Tavis: How was the "Star Trek" experience?
Cho: It was fantastic, you know, for a couple of reasons. George's presence on television for me as a kid meant so much watching him. Here was an Asian American not doing an accent, not throwing chops or kicks, but he was the helmsman of the Enterprise, which meant a lot. So it was very important for me to, you know, be a part of that legacy. Secondarily, it's just a kid's dream to, you know, do this, be on a spaceship and put on the suit. It was great.
Tavis: Speaking of which, when, where, how? Give me the backstory of how you got into the acting game.
Cho: This is ridiculous and who knows if the noggin is correct? But as I recall, I was in a writing group at Berkeley where I went to college in the summer. A guy in the writing group said, "John, how much do you weigh and how tall are you?" I told him and he said, "I'm directing a play and one of my actors is sick and I think you'll fit the costume. Will you do it?" So that's kind of how it started.
Tavis: (Laughter) I knew the story which is why I had to ask you about it. I just wanted to make sure it was a true story. That is the funniest story I've ever heard. You get into acting because you happen to be the same body size as somebody who hadn't shown up.
Cho: By the way, it wasn't a special costume. I think it was a sweater and jeans. They must have been really low on budget.
Tavis: (Laughter) And from that, so you have this experience. Did the bug bite you that quickly, that night?
Cho: It was gradual. I did a few more plays, but what I really liked about it was, you know, I felt like a misfit in college and, going to rehearsals with a bunch of actors, I realized, oh, now I have a family of misfits, so I felt at home.
You know, eventually I did a professional play with an all-Asian American cast and I think that convinced me that it was possible. You know, none of these people were particularly famous. They were just working actors and I thought, well, they're doing it.
I remember the thing that impressed me most about them was some of them were, you know, for me at the time, ancient. You know, fifty, sixty years old, and they were still working on it. They were still fascinated by work. They were still trying to find little things every day and I thought, well, that's what it is for me. I just want to not be bored ever with my job, and they weren't.
Tavis: Is acting, is being a Hollywood box office star, something that is looked upon with great interest, disdain, or that's not honoring something? How do you -
Cho: - well, it's changing, I think, for the immigrants because I think, in the old country, I know that acting was looked upon as a dirty profession, very close to prostitution, years and years ago. But now that they're in America, I think it's viewed as something to attain, something at the top of the social ladder, if you're making money, that is.
Now also I think we've reached - you know, Asian Americans have broken barriers in all kinds of occupations here, but everybody in the Asian American community realizes that acting is where we're not represented, that there is a very firm ceiling that's on our hairlines. So everyone seems to be rooting for us in my community, so I'm very thankful for that and thankful for the support.
Tavis: By any race or ethnicity, he is a fine and funny actor and you will see all of that in "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay," the follow-up to the White Castle experience. John Cho, nice to have you on the program.
Cho: Thank you so much for having me.
Tavis: It's my pleasure. Good to see you.
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