There were a few scenes where you got to act with actual people in front of you, was that a relief or did it throw you off from the rhythm you had developed?
I kept saying more of this! I was constantly lobbying for dropping this whole webcam thing, saying stuff like let’s make this a normal movie with lights and close-ups, let’s get into it! When we eventually went to more wide shots I felt like that somehow became limiting because there was only one angle and we wouldn’t cover it the way we would on a regular set with the wide and close up and over the shoulder and over the years I’ve been accustomed to this is how I’m gonna craft a performance that makes sense because they’ll see my body doing this and it’ll probably be in a close up or a two-shot and over the years you learn to craft a scene that way, so when we went into the wides even then I had reason to complain because we didn’t have the other shots available to us.
So was it a lot of relearning habits?
It was but we tried to find new vocabulary within those shots and I think the good news about it was the independent production. I mean we made it for like $4.50, and typically on a film with a limited budget like that your most valuable resource is time and you just don’t have as much time as you’d like so you always feel like you’re in a rush. I feel like this time the technical limitation led to one cool thing, which was giving us the time to focus on the acting because we didn’t have to worry about going into many angels, it was effectively one angle per scene.
How long did this take to film?
We shot it in 13 working days!
I thought that was interesting that even with all the modern technology it felt very much like an old-fashioned thriller. Do you have any thoughts on that, why we aren’t seeing as many classic thrillers being utilized this much anymore?
I’m not really sure, it seems to me that horror is probably easier to sell internationally. It seems thrillers are culturally specific, but I will say that in my discussions even going back to that first meeting we said that this should feel like a very traditional thriller and part of that was working against the gimmick of film. The technological part was going to be so new that we felt that it should be anchored by a story that felt very traditional.
You mentioned you liked working with a first time director, and with the same being true for “Columbus” last year and the work you are going to do with Alan Yang’s ( “Master of None”) first movie, is that an active choice or is that something that has just been happening naturally?
A mixture of both; lately I’ve just come to accept that I think for me being a person of color I’ve got to be open to new voices. People are not going to hand me big time roles, and I have to be more open to personal films and first-time filmmakers. I really go where my instincts lead and when I see something that affects me I keep going. That was kind of a strategic choice I suppose, initially, but it’s turned into something I feel really good about. It’s something I enjoy- I’ve worked with people I enjoy and really I’ve been lucky enough where it is not as big a risk as it could be having done other big films and TV. I’ve approached it in the past like it’s a bit extra and ironically it has turned out to be the work I’m most proud of.
You just touched on a question I wanted to ask about your branching off into various things like TV, comedy and franchise work and if that was purposeful.
The question of choice for an actor is always kind of a weird one because you can only affect your career so much because it involves people coming to you. You can’t compel people to have to work with you for your movies to be made, so the choice is subject to what comes to you. I felt like in the earlier part of my career I was doing lots of comedy because that’s what was coming to me, and now comedies aren’t being offered as much strangely. When I started out there aren’t a lot of funny Asian American guys and I was kind of a niche, unusual product. Then I felt like a saw so many more funny Asian guys and it was like Ken Jeong is clearly funnier than John Cho, Randall Park is clearly funnier than John Cho!
Is there a genre or role you are still itching to play or a director you are dying to work with?
So many! I won’t bore you with a list of names but I haven’t done a period piece, even to something back in the 60s or 70s would be cool to speak a bit differently or doing costumes. Typically Asian Americans are a little invisible in American history and I think it would be fun to have my face in a period piece.
Is there any news on “Star Trek 4?” I loved the tone of the last one and how it felt like the original show and would love to hear anything about the future of the series.
I sadly don’t have any news for you, I wish I more for you there though. I don’t know what the ins and outs at the studio are but I am optimistic there will be another one because I’m optimistic about what “Star Trek” says and its place in our culture and I think it will come back around. I think its an important part of American popular culture that speaks to Americas best impulses and I think that there will always be a place for “Star Trek” films and I just hope to be in it and there isn’t another totally different group of people! I’m bullish about it, and honestly, for personal reasons I suppose the last film has a cloud over it, losing Anton [Yelchin] after the last one and for me it would be important personally to make one more at least. I think it would alleviate that part of us a little bit to make at least one more.
“Searching” is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital now.