It was a beautiful Friday afternoon as I sat down with a few fellow internet writers at the Ritz Carlton in downtown San Francisco to interview John Cho for his new film, A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas. Over the course of the 20-minute roundtable, we discussed a wide-variety of topics related to the highly successful comedy franchise, ranging from San Francisco and Occupy Wall St., to Marijuana culture, as well as talking all things Harold and Kumar.
Within seconds it’s clear why John Cho is so likable on screen. It’s simple, he’s likable in real life too. As a graduate of the University of California — Berkeley, he is extremely comfortable in San Francisco and wastes no time in proclaiming his love for the Bay Area.
Note: From this point onward we will be, almost exclusively, discussing the Harold and Kumar franchise, including the latest entry A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas. Minor spoilers may be included.
One of the more shocking aspects of the opening to A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas was to find a group of violent protestors attacking Harold, who works on Wall Street. For anyone who pays any attention to what’s going on in the world, they’ll be familiar with the Occupy Wall St. movement. And according to Cho, this coincidence was merely a “stroke of horrible great luck. The counties misfortune added to our joke…It was topical then and extra topical now, I guess.”
It’s very clear that Cho is thankful for the opportunity to be apart of the Harold and Kumar franchise. “An actors life is pretty nomadic. There are very few constants,” says Cho. “It’s probably a psychological failing [actors] need to move so often from gig to gig and create intimate relationships and then move on to other intimate relationships. But I have been apart of a few franchises and i feel very fortunate to be able to hug people hello every few years…It’s quite wonderful.”
While there are many constants in the films it is clear, with each film a new batch of notable actors join their ranks:
Jeremy Baril (JB): “You’ve had this constant from film to film as far as the cast and crew. That being said, how is it adding new people such as Rob Corddry in Escape from Guantanamo and Danny Trejo in 3D Christmas?”
John Cho (JC): “Well, I love the combination of the reunion and the meeting new people. These cameos — they are very particular about who they cast — I remember during the first one they were throwing out these stunt names that – I won’t say who they were – but okay, I get it. that person’s not right for this kind of humor…So I’m always very pleased about casting. We’ve got serious actor and big comic actors..It always kinda makes sense in the end. . But again it’s a sort of “point of pride.” They’re very choosy about who they cast.”
There were several instances throughout A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas in particular where different representations of Harold manifest themselves, including a rather crude “perversion” of The Christmas Story. It was extremely interesting to hear John Cho discuss his involvements in these, as they vary drastically between when design or creative teams simply come up with something and both John and Kal Penn (Kumar) have to go with it, and when the actors have specific input.
There was one particular scene, John says, that he requested be changed that ended up actually affecting the film quite a bit. There is a scene where both Harold and Kumar have to dress up as nutcrackers (see below image) for a scene, it was in the fitting for the following sequence where John suggested they still be in these costumes rather than their street clothes. What resulted was a pretty hilarious scene, regardless of the dialogue or situation of the scene.
JB: “How is it trying to find a balance between being an homage to Christmas movies and then satirizing them?”
JC: “Yeah, we’re both paying homage to and perverting the Christmas tradition. I always feel the key to doing a Harold and Kumar movie is you make it ernest. Primarily what we do is make Harold and Kumar’s relationship and friendship believable. We don’t actually work on being that funny that much. Because the writing is funny and circumstances are funny. If Harold and Kumar are real and set up like they always are, as a romance between the two guys and a tale of love between the two guys, then almost anything goes around them. I feel that this is the key, and you do that. This is a Christmas romance movie between two man you just do that, then just have everything else happen around them. I feel like that’s the formula if there is one.”
As John Cho points out when asked about the obvious marijuana culture surrounding the Harold and Kumar movies, it’s pretty enlightening to realize just how little marijuana is actually in these films, particularly for Harold. In fact, there is hardly any screen time where they are actually under the influence. As John puts it, he can only recall a few days of filming where they had to pretend to be high which, when put into the context of the whole Harold and Kumar franchise, is hardly anything. Yet, as is inevitable both John and Kal must deal with being known as stoners despite the fact that on set it is a small portion of filming.
For any Harold and Kumar fan, the inevitable return of Neil Patrick Harris each film is often a high moment (no pun intended) in the film, with this latest film that has not changed. When asked about his favorite scene from the film, Cho didn’t pause, “It was the song and dance number.” Said Cho, referring to a scene where Harold and Kumar are thrust into a christmas musical starring none other than Neil Patrick Harris Himself. “It was the most delightful thing to film…I was up-close and personal watching the triple threat — the triple name, triple threat — that is Neil Patrick Harris. That was just delightful because..It was just so preposterous that in Harold and Kumar we would be doing an old song and dance number.”
Through all this, it is very clear that at its heart the Harold and Kumar films are really quite innocent in that they are about supporting family and friendship-based values. No matter what types of race, stoner and sex-based gags within the films, it is important for everyone involved to keep the films still based in what it truly is at its heart, “A romance and tale of love between two guys.”
A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas opens nationwide on November 4, 2011.
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