Comments on: EXCLUSIVE: Interview with John Cho

By: Dissembly

Dissembly — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:34:39 +0000

It doesn’t seem fair to say that Cho’s Sulu was nothing like Takei’s. He barely had any screen time at all. Give him more time, and Cho could have delivered a perfect Sulu.

Now Uhura’s character had PLENTY of screen time, and somehow, she was NOTHING like Nicholls’s Uhura. They just wrote her as the generic Holyywood “Girl” character!! They wrote her as Raymond’s wife in Everybody Loves Raymond!! Wtf?? Not the actors fault; just crappy writing.

According to George Takei, Sulu is the name of a region in the South China Sea; apparently Roddenbury named the character Sulu because that sea touches all the shores in Asia, so Sulu would be representing a large swath of the Earth. Takei told Abrams this, to make him feel okay at casting Cho as Sulu. So they were aware of it.

I loved Cho’s performance, i always love his performances. My only misgiving is that i find it hard to beleive they couldn’t find a single decent young male Japanese actor in Hollywood… which was Abrams’s reason for needing to be reassured by Takei.

I don’t think thats true. I think they couldn’t find a single young male FAMOUS Japanese actor in Hollywood, who had the pop-cred of Cho. And Abrams was all about making this movie for the pop-cred generation.

Cynical, but thats my theory. I dont think much of Hollywood directors/casting agents/etc, no matter how talented Abrams is. he’s a cyncial moneymaker like the rest of them, ultimately.

But it’s not Cho’s fault. I think he was great. All he needed was MORE SCREEN TIME, and less of fricking Eric Bana. We care about Sulu more than this Nero guy nobody’s ever heard of before!!

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:12:28 +0000

Well, to get even pickier, “Sulu” is not a Japanese name and in fact makes no sense as a Japanese name. “Suru” is a verb that more or less means “to do” and would be very strange as a person’s surname.

Roddenberry intended the character as “pan-Asian” (which is a whole different area of racial weirdness) and this is what George Takei cited when he gave his blessing for Cho to play the part. My take on it is if Takei’s cool, I’m cool.

I think Cho was really good in the movie – he’s good at taking less flashy characters and imbuing them with charm and personality, which is why he made such a good straight man to Kal Penn in the Harold & Kumar movies. And yes, I *loved* that he got an ass-kicking sequence. Sulu’s fencing chops were always underrated on the original show. I also liked that they didn’t go with the stereotypical “Asian guy knows martial arts” thing, but had Sulu brawling right alongside Kirk.

By: Chen

Chen — Sat, 09 May 2009 10:23:43 +0000

Another Euro American thinks that all Asians look alike.

John Cho is Korean, not Japanese. One look at him and it is obvious, except to a racist, of course!

By: Andy D

Andy D — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:23:54 +0000

Cho’s Sulu, IMO, was the only character who was nothing like the original. I know he didnt want to do Sulu’s voice, but at least act a little like Sulu. He seemed like he just acted like John Cho. Has he ever watched the original series?

I dont mean to be hard on him, but all the others nailed the role so perfectly. Pine, Quinto, Zoe, Anton, Pegg, I give them all an A+!!! Cho’s Sulu was weak, im sorry.

By: SFoxx

SFoxx — Thu, 07 May 2009 07:58:34 +0000

I hate to be picky on this issue and I’m sure Mr. Cho will do a fine job with the part but, am I the only one who noticed that he is not Japanese? I used to watch MASH and get a kick out of the way they would cast some actors as Korean just because they are Asian. There is a difference.

By: Gary Seven of Nine

Gary Seven of Nine — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:22:32 +0000

I’m having a total brain fart; didn’t the Enterprise have a hand throttle in one of the earlier episodes or in TMP?

Also, It’s not ridiculous to have a large starship with a stick and throttle. A lot of new ships, both large and small are coming with joysticks at the helm because of drive by wire, new maneuvering thrusters, and (on sub-yacht sized boats) new out drive designs.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

21. I am not Herbert – May 6, 2009

I just saw that he DOES have two TEENY joysticks on his console…

IMHO, it’s pretty ridiculous to think that a 2500′ starship would be maneuvered with stick and throttle…

…hope that’s not the case…

By: S. John Ross

S. John Ross — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:05:20 +0000

This is the first of these interviews where I cried a little. Really (and I mean the happy sappy kind of cry).

By: Leonel

Leonel — Thu, 07 May 2009 02:20:06 +0000

#19: @ 16 – Enterprise E had a joystick in INSURRECTION

EEWWW!!

(don’t remind me, that singular moment makes my skin crawl)

By: ehaehaehwerheh

ehaehaehwerheh — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:31:15 +0000

Dude, I see White Castle light years ahead.

By: Daoud

Daoud — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:20:02 +0000

#15 Well, from the horses’ mouth, the official startrekmovie.com website, if you look at the Dossier for Hikaru Sulu… you’ll see:
Top of his class in… “Advanced Botany”. ;)

(Enter the site, click on the NAV, choose DOSSIERS, choose Hikaru.)