There's something about John Cho that makes you want to root for him in any movie—or cast him in any role, as in the Photoshopped blockbuster movie posters of last year's viral #StarringJohnCho campaign. An established and versatile talent, he is one of the most visible Asian American actors in Hollywood and a member of the Academy's latest class (its largest and most diverse to date).

Cho's latest movie marks a departure from some of his best-known roles, like Hikaru Sulu in the reimagined Star Trek franchise, or the lovable stoner Harold Lee in the "Harold and Kumar" movies. His lead performance in the quietly compelling Columbus, director Kogonada's feature-length indie debut (in theaters August 4), is so genuine it almost makes you forget it's John Cho as you might not have seen him before.

"I feel like I waited my whole life for this movie," Cho says of Columbus. "Maybe I had forgotten that impulse [that] drew me to movies in the first place. [Kogonada] is such an artist, and he made me feel like an artist."

In the movie, Jin (Cho) arrives to see his ailing father, a scholar of architecture who has been hospitalized during a recent visit to Columbus, Indiana. He meets Casey (Haley Lu Richardson), a local who has forgone her dream of studying architecture in order to watch over her mother (Michelle Forbes), a recovering addict. Casey and Jin, both caught between freedom and obligation, are bracingly honest with one another from the start, and they find solace in an unlikely friendship as they talk and tour the town's famed mid-century architectural sites. The story is illuminated by the wry, gentle humor and shared curiosity of Jin and Casey's bond; it's never entirely weighed down, despite the characters' ever-present fear of loss.

Columbus draws much of its tension from wrenching, all-too-familiar questions: What do we owe our parents as we get older? Do you ever stop being a child where your family is concerned? How does distance grow between loved ones, and when is healing possible? "It was very relatable for me," Cho says. "I'm at an age when you start thinking about when your parents will get sick … That scene when [Jin] examines his father's things in the hotel room—I was a boy again, looking at my father's desk."

Cho says Columbus reminds him "in spirit" of films he saw at the revival movie house when he was a student at Berkeley—films like 400 Blows, the Up Series, and La Belle Noiseuse, which he credits with sparking his love of cinema as an art form. He discussed personally influential films with Kogonada and found, in the director, a kind of brother. "Sometimes you expect a kinship based upon what the world would see as common qualities—'you're both Korean men, you're in the same business'—but we had this kinship based on love of movies," Cho tells me. "I would follow this guy to the ends of the earth. I want to be part of every line of poetry he writes."

GQ: Okay, I had no idea Columbus, Indiana was famous for its architecture before this film. Did you know that?

John Cho: No. In fact when I read the script I Googled Columbus, Ohio and was confused. I'm glad I wasn't responsible for my own travel; I would have ended up in the wrong city.

The movie introduces us to these incredible works of architecture in a way that feels connected to who the characters are, where they're going.

It was a real privilege to film at these sites—it was an education for me. My favorite was the North Christian Church, built by Eero Saarinen. I grew up in churches, and they'd say, "The church is the people, not the building." The North Christian Church is in the round, and the speaker is set below the congregants—so when you look around, you're looking into people's faces, and it's obvious the church is the people in that space. Each space we filmed at was like a stage, a set, and gave a lot of personality to the scene.

The way the central relationship was portrayed was interesting—Casey is a young woman living a life too small for her, and Jin makes her feel like she can go after what she wants.

What I liked about it was it's a male-female relationship based on brains...there is an attraction that's maybe adjacent to sexual attraction, but not quite there. This kind of relationship isn't one you often see on film, and yet it's so deep. It's also based on the knowledge that they're strangers; it's ephemeral, here and gone like a tropical rain. I've found it to be true that sometimes a stranger can give you advice that stays with you, utter truths the closest people in your life have trouble saying.