John Cho Interview, Harold & Kumar 2

MoviesOnline caught up with John Cho at the Los Angeles press day for his new film, “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay,” written and directed by Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg.

The sequel to “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” picks up with Harold (Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) right where we left them – in their apartment after they’ve successfully completed their White Castle quest. It’s only an hour or two later, and the guys are preparing for an epic adventure to Amsterdam so that Harold can win the heart of his crush, Maria. Once they get on the plane, however, Kumar succeeds in getting them into more trouble than they bargained for when he takes a home-made “smokeless bong” into the airplane bathroom and the guys are mistaken for terrorists.

John Cho first started catching people’s attention in the 1999 breakthrough hit comedy “American Pie” in which he popularized the slang term “MILF.” Next, he achieved near-household name status starring as Harold Lee in the cult comedy “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.” As one of today’s most exciting actors, Cho continues to deliver compelling performances in comedy and drama. He is currently in production on J.J. Abrams’ upcoming “Star Trek” movie where he plays Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu.

Cho has appeared in numerous films, including the Weitz Bros’ “American Dreamz,” starring alongside Willem Dafoe and Hugh Grant, Margaret Cho’s feature comedy, “Better Luck Tomorrow,” the “American Pie” series, “Pavilion of Women,” Steven Soderbergh’s “Solaris,” and 2000’s Best Picture Oscar winner “American Beauty.” In addition to numerous guest roles on television, he was a series regular on the Weitz Bros’ “Off Centre” for the WB and had a recurring role on last season's “Kitchen Confidential” for FOX.

Born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Los Angeles, California, Cho began acting while studying English literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He toured with his first show, an adaptation of the renowned memoir by Maxine Kingston, “The Woman Warrior,” across the country. Other stage roles include Laertes in Singapore Repertory Theater’s production of “Hamlet” and a variety of shows for East West Players. Cho resides in Los Angeles and is the lead singer for the band Left of Zed.

John Cho is a fabulous guy and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about his new movie, “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay,” and his upcoming role as Sulu in “Star Trek” set for release in May 2009:

John: [deep “announcer” voice] Hello. That is my stage voice.

MoviesOnline: Have you and Kal developed a shorthand playing these characters since the first movie? Is it easier to work together?

John: Easier, probably because we’re actually friends and, with the first one, we were concerned ‘Boy, we don’t know each other and we’re supposed to be best friends’ and we tried to cram in some good get to know you time with the first one when we got up to Toronto, where we shot, for rehearsal. But, yeah, it was easier this time, much easier and his drug problems seemed to be in check [laughter].

MoviesOnline: How big a deal has playing this character been for you?

John: I don’t know. It’s sort of my calling card now I guess. People on the street called me Harold all the time, which is funny because it’s based on a real guy Harold Lee that’s friends with the filmmakers and now, Harold and I are friends and we go out on occasion. We had dinner last week and so we go out and people say ‘Harold’ and both of us turn around [laughter] and it gets a little weird.

MoviesOnline: What would they say before? Would they call you MILF?

John: Yeah, which is not a name.

MoviesOnline: But it’s what you were known for.

John: That’s right, yeah.

MoviesOnline: Were you guys actually in Amsterdam in those last scenes or was that fake?

John:  We were in Amsterdam.

MoviesOnline: Were you partaking in any of the fun activities?

John: No, that wasn’t real. Yeah, that wasn’t real. That would be nice but weed is so debilitating. There’s no way we could work with that stuff. Snoop apparently does concerts high. I can’t… how does he memorize, how does he remember? It’s unbelievable. He’s an Olympian.

MoviesOnline: What experience have you had with the Mary Jane when you are not working?

John: Uh, I’m not a pot smoker. I really am not.

MoviesOnline: White Castle burgers?

John: I’m not that either. I have a coke problem and I’m addicted to Quaaludes.

MoviesOnline: Can you identify with Harold?

John: Kal is more like Harold than me and I’m more like Kumar probably. I guess, this is a little embarrassing, Harold is a bit of a romantic and I think, in my worst moments, I’m like that.

MoviesOnline: Awwww, that’s nice.

John: Geez. 

MoviesOnline: Had you met Harold when you did the first film and did you incorporate any of his mannerisms?

John: We met briefly during the first film. At some point, he came by but we didn’t really get to know each other very well. He was there for, literally, I think, a day. We spent an hour together hanging out but, in the time since, we’ve gotten to know each other and I think Kal will attest to this, it’s a closer, #2 is closer to him than #1. There are little things that no one would notice but me and him. [doing impression of Harold] ‘Did you notice?  When I did that?  That was you.’ Harold has this habit of saying ‘Oh, okay, I guess you’re the King of the World’ [waving his hands in the air]. ‘Oh, okay, yeah. I like your hoodie. You’re a hoodie guy. Oh, hoodie. Nice goin’ kid.’

MoviesOnline: Harold is Ben Stiller? [laughter]

John: This is a little known fact and he does his hands like this [waving hands in air again].

MoviesOnline: What was it like for you to come back to the character after years?

John: It was good. It felt natural. For me, it was just a good time with my friends, really. We went off on location and worked on something that we thought was really funny and that we believed in so it was kind of simple.

MoviesOnline: Any interesting stories from the bottomless party?

John: Sadly, it’s a blur but, ironically, I said to Kal before the very first shot of the bottomless party, which was us knocking on the door waiting for the girl to open the door. I turned to Kal and said ‘You know, we should take some care in remembering what tonight is like because I think every man will ask us about it for the rest of our lives. Remember about two or three things.’ [laughter] Having said that, I don’t remember much. I just remember like being really embarrassed. It’s embarrassing to be surrounded by nude people. It’s weird. 

MoviesOnline: Was there a scene where you couldn’t keep a straight face?

John: I don’t remember one where I was cracking up like crazy but I was there on set when Rob Corddry wiped his ass with the Bill of Rights and there was actual dung…no there wasn’t. But there were serious problems keeping a straight face during that scene. I don’t know how they spliced together a take where Eddie Kaye Thomas is not laughing because he broke on every single take.

MoviesOnline: Can you say anything about Star Trek?

John: I can’t really say anything. I’ll tell you that it ends with the Death Star blowing up. [laughter].

MoviesOnline: What’s your take on Sulu? Did you talk to George Takei?

John: I wrote George a letter before we started filming and I asked him if I could take him out for a meal and get to know each other a little bit. I don’t know what to say about that except that he’s a remarkable dude. I’ve never quite known anyone like him. He’s like a Renaissance man. He speaks like he’s writing with ink and quill. He’s versed on many subjects and he’s really kind and was very generous. 

MoviesOnline: Do you feel you need to emulate that?

John: I don’t mean to be vague but what I can say is honest which is that I think, myself and everyone else on the film, J.J. [Abrams] and the designers, I think we are trying to be respectful of the original series and we’re also trying to get some new fans, do things differently and put a younger, more vigorous spin on it.

MoviesOnline: What was it like walking on the set of the Enterprise?

John: It was lame [laughter]. It was dream like, I would have to say more than anything else. It’s quite special.

MoviesOnline: Were you a fan of the show?

John: Yeah. I wasn’t a rabid fan growing up. It was a slow burn for me just watching it in re-runs, catching it every once in a while. I actually found that I liked it more as I got older. Initially, it’s a little goofy, ‘Oh, look at those funny outfits’ and then, as you get past that and start listening to the text of the show, they’re dealing with serious things. It’s a very ambitious show and really topical so I liked it more as I grew older.

MoviesOnline: When it got moved to a summer release date, how did you feel about that?

John: I think it’s great. I was kind of attached to the Christmas day release because my family and I we used to go see movies on Christmas day so I was excited about that, but I think it probably is a summer movie and it’s sold as a summer movie.

MoviesOnline: What’s it like working with J.J.?

John: He is, I think, maybe one of the few geniuses I know. He seems to know everything about filmmaking. He’s quite young and knows everyone’s department so well. It’s really freakish. He operates the camera a lot and he’s just everywhere. He knows everyone’s job to the point where, it’s nerve-wracking. You can’t misstep if you’re working for J.J. because his knowledge of his set is that complete. And, what’s unusual about that is he’s also very in tune to what actors are doing so he knows what he wants with a performance and I’m a take whore. I will do takes until the sun goes down and I will always ask for one more. I’m a little bit neurotic but I was always willing to let it go with him because he’s like ‘I got it. Trust me. I got it.’ I know he’s more of a perfectionist than me, so if he’s happy, then I guess I’m happy.

MoviesOnline: When you made the first [Harold and Kumar] film, did you know it would get this rabid fan following?

John: I thought there would be an audience because I felt like we made a good movie. I thought there would be a core of people who dug it. I didn’t know that it would eventually get this wide, the circle would get this wide and I didn’t know it would get this intense. People who like the movie really like the movie. There aren’t that many casual… there aren’t many people who are like ‘Oh, it was okay.’ People really like it or they hate it.

MoviesOnline: Do you think there will be a third one?

John: I don’t know. There’s a couple of problems. It depends on whether it’s a box office success. We didn’t know we were making a sequel for some time, over two years we didn’t know. We were just waiting and there was some talk of it going straight to DVD which nobody wanted. So I kind of thought the project might die, the sequel was never going to happen. But it did and we’re in the same boat. If this does well then, maybe they’ll talk about a third one. The second problem it presents is whether we can come up with an idea that rivals the second one. I’m proud of this movie because I feel it’s a true sequel in that we top the first one in every category. The gross out jokes are grosser and there’s more nudity and the politics, we take it further and the racial stuff, we take it further so I don’t know what we can do for the third one. I’m really at a loss. Maybe we go backwards and make a cautionary, morality tale from the Middle Ages or something. I don’t know.

MoviesOnline: Are you still singing with your band?

John: Yes. I’ve been so busy this past year I haven’t been able to work at it at all but yeah, we’ve got something in the works.

MoviesOnline: What kind of music do you play?

John: It’s the rock ‘n roll music you know. I like to think it’s old-fashioned but probably not.

MoviesOnline: Are you working on anything else?

John: No. I’m taking a breather after this.

MoviesOnline: What about theater?

John: I’ve been looking for something to do in theater and I’m keeping my mind open to it. It’s a tough one. If I’m going to do it, I’d like to do something that really means something special to me. Unless you’re very wealthy, it’s tough. Theater is negative money, negative income for a while so you have to really be devoted to the project. 

“Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay” opens in theaters on April 25th.