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Amy Sussman/Getty
“I think the scary thing about Siri is not that she’s listening, but how accurate she is at predicting what I want.”
Sometimes the scariest thing can be the things we take for granted: our personal devices. Cell phones, smart TVs, Siri, Alexa. That’s exactly what John Cho must battle in Chris Weitz’s new film AfrAId (August 30). “Siri and I have a bumpy relationship. I’ve been looking at her askance for years.” Cho plays Curtis, a dad tasked with protecting his family after their digital assistant turns against them. “Looking back on my own parenting, we didn’t really think twice about the computer and the iPad, which is just a really open tunnel for the whole world to get to our children.” Acknowledging the pros and cons of technology, Cho says “the film is really about, what if the con was much worse than we thought?” Cho jumped at the role because of Weitz. “He happened to write a fantastic film, but there’s a chance I would have done it even if it was terrible, because I love him so much.” And AfrAId adds another unique credit to Cho’s impressively diverse resume. “I was [always] an omnivore when it came to entertainment. It’s not like I stayed in one particular lane.”
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Editor’s Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
How afraid of Siri are you now?
Well, Siri and I have a bumpy relationship. I’ve been looking at her askance for years. I think the scary thing about Siri is not that she’s listening, but how accurate she is at predicting what I want. When you get the ads for those shoes and you’re like, what happened? How exactly did she know that I wanted Air Force Zoom Ones? It’s like someone who’s been listening to you, but it has a direct window into your brain.
It can also be embarrassing, because sometimes I get ads for things like orthopedic shoes. Like how old does Siri think I am?
I’ll tell you what I think. I think Siri knows you better than you know yourself. I think probably you need to go see a podiatrist pronto. [laughs]
You’re probably right. The premise for this film is amazing. What interested you about doing this?
Well, first and foremost, the writer/director is a very close friend of mine, Chris Weitz, who kind of gave me my start in showbiz [in American Pie]. So I was really excited. He happened to write a fantastic film, but there’s a chance I would have done it even if it was terrible, because I love him so much. Secondly, I know the premises is interesting, but I think what might be more interesting is how it affects a family. And this is a kind of classic of the genre, the monster in the house kind of a thing, and how it affects the family dynamics and drives a wedge between all the members of the family and puts everyone in danger in very different ways was so interesting, so compelling. Looking back on my own parenting, we didn’t really think twice about bringing the computer and the iPad, which is just a really open tunnel for the whole world to get to our children. We didn’t really think twice about it, for whatever reason. I was just such an enthusiastic adopter of all these possibilities of tech that I really didn’t do the critical thinking that I would have about anything else, bringing anything else into the house, you know? So, I think a lot of parents probably look back and wonder, was that the right timing? How should we have handled that? I think that’s a pretty common thought, and so this is just a really dramatic exploration of that.
It really is. And we’re seeing more and more attention focused on the amount of screen time kids have.
Everyone’s doing the pros and cons. And the film is really about, what if the con was much worse than we thought? It’s just a cool takeoff point for a film. But absolutely, as a parent, I’ve thought recently about my time on social media as well and just running experiments, what if I take this off my phone? How do I feel? What happens when I log back on and I start looking? So it’s a different calculus for everyone. It’s in your pocket all the time. It has 24/7 access to you. So you go, ‘Okay, well, I really jumped into bed with this.’ I’ve just been trying to think, what if I take it away and monitor myself a little bit better?
It really is the worst long distance yet close relationship you’ll ever have. [laughs] I was also surprised this was a Chris Weitz film. I’m a huge fan of his work with films About a Boy, The Golden Compass and A Better Life, but this film feels different for him. Were you surprised at the tone of this film and his direction of it?
I guess I wasn’t surprised in that I know him to be a person who’s just really curious about storytelling and film in general. I wasn’t surprised that he’s trying to stretch and do different things. But, on the other hand, it matches with an IMDB page that is kind of wonderfully all over the place. If you’re starting with American Pie, then go into About a Boy, and then Golden Compass, and then doing this, I guess you’re like, ‘I guess the guy can compete in all the events at the Olympics.’
Sony Pictures
He really is able to spin a story in a way you just don’t see being possible.
The other thing that I knew going in was that every time I’ve worked with Chris, he just cares a lot about performance and is just so great with actors that I knew there weren’t going to be any storytelling shortcuts with him. He wasn’t going to do easy predictable things. I just knew before I cracked the first page that he was going to do it authentically, with care and with thought and in an exciting way. I just knew that having worked with him a bunch of times, that it was going to be really fun and real and authentic for the actors. And it certainly proved to be so.
What about this particular genre interested you?
Fear seems to be a great place to start when you’re telling a story. I’m worried about this. What is the worst thing that could happen? And it brings out fun stuff to play and interesting situations when you start at something you’re worried about. So I think the genre lends itself to think about things that might be dry otherwise. You can really go in different places.
It really does have a “the call is coming from inside the house” vibe to it, which can be terrifying.
What’s interesting about this particular technology is that, I mean phones, personal assistants, these are devices growing exponentially, the graph is really insane. If I moved to a desert island for a year, it’s possible that I would not know how to operate these devices. Things are happening so fast. So it certainly presents a challenge of the storytelling, you want it to be something that seems credible. Even a teenage viewer might be like, “I don’t know how fast this is going.” This seems like it’s accelerating so quickly that I don’t even know how assured teenagers are today about their mastery over technology.
There’s also the A.I. of it all. It’s just so new and moving fast. Even people seeing this film could potentially just be learning about A.I.
I think that’s possible. I certainly had a reckoning. We had this actor strike, and I had not given it any thought whatsoever. Could A.I. be here already? It was such a future tense thing, and then all of a sudden with the strike it was really present tense. It seemed to be one of the three big topics of discussion. And I was like, this is already happening. People were using it so quickly, it just seemed like it jumped out from the tree and was on top of me.
A read an article about you years ago that you’re entering into your DILF era, and this role certainly lives up that. How does that feel?
Chris is the one who gave me the line to say in American Pie, “That chick’s a MILF.” And I suppose it’s quite poetic to be playing a father in his film. He’s really the dad of my career, I suppose, and has engineered it thus. So, I’ll take it. I like it. It’s funny, I don’t think that I would have before I had kids, predicted how much being a dad would completely take over my identity, how I thought about myself. I’m just surprised at how thoroughly I identify as that. It effects every last decision I make. And I know that maybe that sounds obvious to people, but I was a dumb young person and I was like, “I’ll be a dad, but I’m just gonna be all these other things.” And it seems like the whole of my identity. So, I guess I’m cool with being a DILF is what I’m saying.
Speaking of American Pie, so many of your early projects like Pie and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle are now part of so many people’s lives. Like the fans from then are now parents themselves. How does it feel to be such a big part of so many people’s lives?
Boy, that’s a big question. How do I feel about that? It is unendingly delightful to meet people and note, “Oh, you like that. Then you’re this thing.” It’s really cool. I guess I was a omnivore when it came to entertainment all my life. It’s not like I stayed in one particular lane, so I guess that that my career has reflected that, and so I really dig it. What can I say? I’m constantly surprised and I’m delighted that anyone still knows who I am and see the variety is cool.
It also must help you figure out the type of person they are from what they remember you from.
A little bit. I guess it’s actually about half and half where I’m predictable, and then I’m completely confused, you know? The people who bring up Harold and Kumar are the most unpredictable form of fan. When we made the film, I was like, right? There’s people who like stoner movies, and they look like this. And it’s shocking how broad that spectrum is, how politically broad that spectrum is, how broad it is in terms of age, and how high that number can go with the fans, and how diverse it is. It’s wild, and it does still include kids who are too young to have seen the films. I get worried.
About the writer
A writer/comedian based in Los Angeles. Host of the weekly podcast Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott, …
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