John Zhao, because of his appearance somewhat similar to Jay Chou, was nicknamed "Hollywood Zhou Dong". After my confirmation, even his wife, Kelly Higucci, felt that the two were similar, "but he is more handsome than me." It is said that when Jay Chou traveled west to Hollywood to play "Green Hornet", some fans once misfilled the actor's information on IMDb as John Zhao.
2018 is destined to be extraordinary in the life of this "Hollywood Zhou Dong". Because of the movie "Lost on the Internet", he became the first Asian-American actor in the history of Hollywood cinema to lead the mainstream thriller. The whole of Hollywood also ushered in a historic moment in 2018, before the "Network Lost" starring John Zhao won awards at the Sundance Film Festival, and then the all-Asian "Picking Gold" won a box office of 230 million US dollars, rounded up, this year is considered to be the Hollywood year of the Asian community!
John Zhao. Photo/Visual China
In contrast, the commercial success of "Gold Picking" is amazing, and it also gives a strong message to the Hollywood production market - the all-Asian lineup has the same box office appeal; in contrast, "Internet Lost" is even better in cinematicity, the film has never been the Asian community as a hunting object, the camera is not from a white perspective to observe Asian family relationships, but from a most ordinary perspective to tell an ordinary family with unusual experiences. Any ethnic family may face the situation of the disappearance of a child, but in this story, because of the father's deep love and habitual poor communication, it becomes a contradiction between the characters, which is a very typical Asian father. And the Asian father's desperate search for his daughter's axis can resonate, so he can get rid of politics and achieve artistic achievements.
The rule-breaker of the game, netizens called him the protagonist
Two years after the topic of #StarringJohnCho (#让约翰 Zhao as the protagonist) spread on the Internet, John Zhao really became the protagonist of a Hollywood commercial film. "Internet Lost", a low-budget thriller featuring Chinese characters, has already grossed $67 million worldwide, and there is still some room for growth. Of course, this figure is far from the same type of film "Escape from Breaking Bad" with african-American characters. "Escape from Desperate Town" swept the world that year, earning more than $200 million at the box office.
But in any case, "Lost in the Web" is a good start, especially for the Asian community in the United States. As John Zhao put it: "A face of Asian American on the poster already says so much in an instant." This expression is concise and powerful, and its impact is far-reaching. In this film, we are also showing Asian families in a normal way. It already conveys more messages than the entire Asian-American studies course. The film's depiction of the Asian community is what really impresses John Zhao, and its authenticity reminds him of everyone around him, especially his family, the typical Asian father he plays.
Poster of Lost in the Web. Image from the web
As an Asian, it's not easy to get ahead in Hollywood. Although there was Wen Mingna, who voiced "Mulan" before, and Liu Yuling, who led "Thunderbolt Jiaowa", they are all rare, and they are simply a small witch for the African-American group that has formed a group and mastered some core resources. Under the domestication of Hollywood, the market has already had an established cognition, and when producers calculate the return on investment of commercial films, they often skip political correctness and let white-skinned actors with more box office appeal or industry influence carry data and word of mouth.
Everyone knows that "Hollywood is too white" and "The Oscars are too white", a #Starring John Cho topic can't change the United States, and the main force of affirmative action is still the african-American and Latino who have fought for a long time. But its former existence has helped John Zhao too much, after all, in this literary and art market that is the most talentless in the universe, handsome appearance and excellent professional ability are overlooked, and only those who really have commercial value and have supporters can stand in the center of the stage.
"I hope that in the future, when people see Asian-American families on screen, it will feel commonplace."
He left Korea at the age of 6 and had dinner with relatives to translate
John Cho was actually born in South Korea, but when he was 6 years old, he immigrated to the United States with his family and settled in Los Angeles, the city where Hollywood is located. His father was a priest, so he grew up with many memories related to church services. Interestingly, the prevalence of Christianity is also a major common denominator between the United States and South Korea.
When John Zhao left his hometown as a child, entertainment was not allowed in the church presided over by his father, so he found meaning in life on the TV screen. Asian actor George Takei played a heroic role in the TV series Star Trek, helmsman Sulu of the spaceship Enterprise, and the first positive Asian character to appear in the tv series' half-century history. Producer Robert Jesterman once described the character as "a person in stark contrast to the so-called dull, emotionless, incomprehensible Asians." For young John Zhao, Sulu was his spiritual sustenance, and in an unfamiliar environment with nowhere to return, the heroic character was his spiritual idol. George Takei's role as an Asian in mainstream film and television productions has also inspired John Zhao to move forward with his artistic dreams.
George Takei plays Sulu. Image from the web
John Zhao plays Sulu. Image from the web
The charm of Star Trek is that it is the most diverse expression of the Chinese of a white dominated market, and it symbolizes the pioneering and inclusive nature of the Age of Discovery. This is where all ethnic minorities have a chance to shine. John Zhao's best-known character also comes from this series, he first put on a yellow uniform to play Sulu in the 2009 reboot of Star Trek, he even sat on the throne as a daisy captain and successfully played the scene. When I grow up, I'll be you.
It was this series that brought John Zhao back to South Korea. "The last time I went back to Korea was to promote Star Trek, and my parents specifically told me to meet my relatives. I wanted to say that propaganda is work, so I arranged a day in Korea, not enough... Later, we discussed the idea of organizing a lunch and everyone coming to my hotel to eat and chat. During the interview that day, the crew arranged a translator for me, because my Korean level could not accept the interview. He asked me if I needed help at lunch? I said yes. So this lunch became the weirdest meal I can remember, and I finally talked to my family members with a simultaneous interpretation device. Because I left Korea at the age of 6, my Korean level froze at that time. Thankfully, the translator was there, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to communicate at all. ”
John Cho left Korea as early as the age of 6, but that didn't stop him from loving his hometown cuisine.
The actors of Asian Light are not obsessed with the matter of "representing"
As the most representative Asian actor of the moment, John Zhao is asked questions related to "Asian representatives" in every interview. Sometimes people even want him to make some comments about the "survival of Asian actors in Hollywood", and this time he is embarrassed... The good news, of course, is that the status quo is slowly getting better. At least for John Zhao, the Asian light, work is no longer an anxious thing, after all, he already has a "Network Lost" on his report card; a "Re-Engineered Lady", which makes him the first Asian in the history of American television to star in a romantic romantic comedy; a "Star Trek" series that further ferments his commercial value; and a "Pig's Head Shopping Street", which makes him occupy a corner in the youthful memories of the fan community.
Stills from "Pig's Head Walking the Streets". Image from the web
Stills from "The Lady Who Reinvented.". Image from the web
"When I was younger, I spent my days worrying about where the next meal ticket would be, but now I'm going to pursue more interesting things. There are things I couldn't have imagined when I started 20 years ago, and honestly I really can't believe that I've gotten to where I am today, not that I've become an A-coffee and have the power to give any project the green light, but I now have the ability to screen and move projects forward. ”
The fame of The Light of Asia did not overwhelm John Zhao, who had limited power, because he was also trying to calm his mind. "I don't want to lose fun or the work will get miserable. If you're too obsessed with the 'representation' thing, you'll look into which films should exist for the Asian community. But I'm actually more concerned about what's interesting and what kind of situation I'm willing to put myself in. There are many factors that influence my decision-making, I once took over comedy for a hat, and that character has a line that says, look I'm wearing a hat! For example, if someone recommends me a movie where I can beat someone on a moving train, it's worth considering even if I'm jokingly called a narrow eye by my opponent in the script. Because in this matter, the attraction of the action scene is even greater. ”
Stills from "Lost in the Web". Image from the web
Relatively speaking, the filming experience of "Network Lost" is very "anti-actor", because the main shots of the entire film are shot with GoPro. "Of course, they will also give me a silly computer and let me simulate the operation of the computer." This way of shooting initially confused me, and the happiest thing I had to shoot was to recall that scene, which was the way I was familiar with the performance. But on second thought, this form of expression is indeed a huge innovation, and it was absolutely impossible for such a work to appear ten years ago. "The film took 13 days to shoot, and it took two years to shoot, because every point of information on the screen is helping to tell the story, and even the content of the entries displayed in the search engine is written by the team behind the scenes. In this movie that tells a story on a computer screen, even the speed of the direction of the mouse movement is calculated, and even the difference in font color is in the service of the story. Acting is no longer just the job of an actor.
The actor's road is very long, and John Zhao is still groping in the dark night. "Sometimes I don't think it's a career. It's just that something new keeps coming in and keeps inspiring me. But I can at least say that on this path, I have followed my heart. I always look for things in the script or in the crew that my intuition is right. Sometimes my agent would persuade me that it was wise to shoot this scene, and that the play was promising. But I don't think people cheered when I joined the web crew. ”
□ Dojo Arashi
Beijing News Editor Wu Dongni Proofreader Yang Xuli