You touched on it earlier, but can you expand on why your role in The Good Doctor is so appealing to you?
I love The Good Doctor because when I first started acting, there were very few people on screen that looked like me. There was Jackie Chan, Dustin Nguyen from 21 Jump Street, Russell Wong from Vanishing Son, and obviously Bruce Lee. But it was very rare to see an Asian-American onscreen. So, for me, I love this role because when you go to a hospital, you see all different races, and I love that the show never really addresses your race. It's just how the world that I grew up in is reflected. It's just human beings, and we just happen to be all different shades of different colors in a very real setting, even though it gets fantastical at times with [The Good Doctor star] Shaun Murphy's powers. It's just a human drama, and I've always been attracted to that kind of stuff. I did a movie called What's Cooking?, which was at Sundance when I first started, and that was one of those small, quiet movies. And even though The Good Doctor is a major network show, I like the small moments. It's few and far between in my career that I've gotten a chance to do those.
You're Korean, and The Good Doctor, which is based on a South Korean series, is executive produced by fellow Korean Daniel Dae Kim. What are your thoughts on that combination in terms of the Asian community being better represented in Hollywood these days?
The Good Doctor is an important show because it reflects the world we live in. For me it was twofold. When I saw Jason Scott Lee in Dragon, I felt a sense of pride. I saw someone that I could relate to onscreen, and it gave me a sense of belonging.
I know Daniel Dae Kim, he called me and asked me to audition for the show, and that was part of his mandate — to reflect the world we live in. As far as Asian-American males, I knew it was a rare opportunity to be part of a show with such broad appeal. It was very important. It allows people to see that we're just human beings, all of us, no matter what color you are.
With the recent success of films like Parasite and Crazy Rich Asians, among others, do you think this is a turning point for Asian actors and filmmakers in mainstream film?
I think we got a nice shot of adrenaline. And yes, in some ways it's moved the needle farther than it has ever moved since I started 20 years ago. I've noticed in the last five years, the kinds of roles that I've been able to do have changed. I used to be Gangster Number One. So I think change is happening, and as long as those [types of movies] continue to be successful, it allows us to continue into a long distance marathon. And that's our dream. But we're far from that. Still, it's positive.
Your upcoming animated film Wish Dragon has an all-Asian cast. What are your hopes for that film and what's your take on the cast?
It's interesting how these animation movies get made [with everyone voicing their parts separately]. Because I haven't done much animation, part of me was naively excited to meet Jackie Chan, but that never happened. But it's cool. I'm just proud to be part of something that's so universal. It's about love and all these great things. All Asian or not, I'm excited because it's such a special story.
