Ken Jeong persuades trio to dump ‘Meg’, watch ‘Crazy’
These are my sons. And I have convinced my sons to watch Crazy Rich Asians right? I didn’t bribe them. No I didn’t pay them US$20 each. Just everyone, relax.
LOS ANGELES: If Korean-American actor Ken Jeong isn’t saving lives during a stand-up show, he and director Jon M. Chu are convincing people to watch Crazy Rich Asians instead of The Meg.
Jeong, 49, a former physician, managed to “convince” three young men to watch Crazy Rich Asians in which he portrays the father of the character portrayed by Awkwafina.
“These are my sons,” Jeong jokingly pointed to the three young men as they laugh in the background, “And I have convinced my sons to watch Crazy Rich Asians right?”
Two of the three young men even tore their The Meg tickets as Jeong filmed the whole hilarious encounter.
“I didn’t bribe them. No I didn’t pay them US$ 20 each. Just everyone, relax.”
Jeong has delighted audiences in Crazy Rich Asians as Papa Goh, the high-haired, nouveau riche father of the Goh family. But behind the laughter, a range of emotions welled behind the comedian, for the road to Crazy Rich Asians was a deeply emotional one. Even now, while doing press for the film, Jeong can’t help but get emotional talking about the impact of this feature film.
“It’s bigger than us,” Jeong said. “This movie is bigger. I have a very modest, small role in this movie, yet, I’ve never felt so culturally emotional about it.”
Ken Jeong, actor
Getting Crazy Rich Asians made the way author Kevin Kwan and director Jon M. Chu wanted it has been a battle, one Jeong himself has had to wage on the set of Dr. Ken as well. And he’s ready for Hollywood, and the world to change.
As to how he got involved in the movie, which also stars Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh, Jeong said: “It just kind of came together organically. I was pleasantly surprised to see how loose Jon was. He was very trusting of me and Awkwafina to shape the scene, as long as we told the story. The whole point was to establish the Goh family in a bit of a contrast to the Young family, which is, we have this new money versus old money. Although the Goh family is very eccentric, Wye Mun Goh is a very loving father. So I was able to utilise my best, the stuff I do best which is over-the-top comedic acting with a layer of humanity. It was a little bit of Mr Chow, it was also a little bit of Dr Ken.”
On the obstacles they had to overcome, he said: “It’s exactly the same thing that Kevin Kwan went through when he was choosing potential production partners. They were suggesting that Rachel be white. There is a producer that suggested that my wife be white and it was based on my own life. This happens all the time. That cultural, although well-intentioned, insensitivity is a part of the behind-the- scenes lexicon of any Asian American producer.”