Who knew John Cho, a pastor’s son, would break barriers playing a stoner?
ISSUE: Winter 2011-12
DEPT: Personalities
STORY: Janice Jann
What did happen was Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, released in 2004, went on to commercial success and launched Cho’s and costar Indian American Kal Penn’s careers to leading men status. “I was just happy somebody found it,” says Cho of the film, which centers on two lovable stoner buddies. “I found it was too unique a take and too ‘warm’ a movie for anyone not to like it.”
The third film is even “warmer.” “We think it’s our strongest movie,” says Cho. “The movies — as raunchy as they are — have a very sweet side to them. The humor is not malicious or crass or creepy.”
It’s the sweetness of the films that have made Cho’s father, a former minister, comfortable enough to accept. “Both my parents are also cognizant of how much ground this film has broken, how unusual it is we’re headlining a movie in the U.S. They’re definitely proud of that aspect,” says Cho. “Recently, I took my dad to the White House for a state dinner. We met [South Korean] President Lee and President Obama in one night. This movie is part of how we got there. So if you’re my dad, you can’t hate on the movie.”
Cho understands that there are some haters who say that he and Penn are poorly representing Asians in the media. To them, he says, “There was a time I knew every Asian in [Hollywood]. But now they’re everywhere. It’s a great feeling ‘cause you don’t want just one person to change the industry — you want a plurality of representation. One movie shouldn’t have the onus of representing Asians. We want so many movies that no one can point to one and say, ‘that represents Asians.’ As artists, we shouldn’t have that weight on our backs.”
— Janice Jann
Related Articles
For Battleground dramedy leading man, Jay Hayden, how he looks is only half the battle. ISSUE: Spring 2012 DEPT: Personalities STORY: Courtney Hong “Is it weird that I don’t feel like I have any culture at all?” says actor Jay Hayden. “Korean people don’t think that I am Korean. White people don’t think that I am white. I’m other…the [...]
John Cho’s lighting up the holiday season with his new movie, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. Audrey Magazine got to interview the actor during his LA press tour and you can catch his article published in the Winter Issue of our magazine (featuring cover girl Mindy Kaling). Purchase here. Below, the rest of [...]
“Filming in America feels like you’re taking a vacation.” -Jay Chou ISSUE: Winter 2010 DEPT: Personalities STORY: Janice Jann National Hero Before Rain and Wang Lee Hom, there was Jay Chou, the original Asian pop heartthrob. Since 2000, when the Taiwanese native came out with his debut album, Jay, the now-31-year-old has sold more than [...]
Multi-talent BooBoo Stewart may be just 17, but his résumé is already as long as the rest of his career promises to be. ISSUE: Winter 2011-12 DEPT: Personalities STORY: Melody Lee At just 17, Booboo Stewart, born Nils Allen Stewart, Jr., is not short on talent. Stewart, who is of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Scottish [...]
Sendhil Ramamurthy fights back as a CIA operative on Covert Affairs. ISSUE: Winter 2011-12 DEPT: Personalities STORY: Jimmy Lee A warning: Cockblocking can be hazardous to your health. Especially if your college fraternity brother is now a writer on the hit TV show you’re starring in, and he thinks you got in his way when it [...]
