In what ways did that Americanness come through?

It's just the way that I moved, the way that Ben has different movements. But it's kind of just knowing that he doesn't have to adhere to a system, and I think [you notice that] in people who are well traveled. Or if you're from the east, that you've touched the western world and experienced it. You know how to live in that space where the truth is. Like, we don't belong anywhere, and it's a sad and scary truth, but it's also the truth. If you can just accept that then you actually become this being that can coexist and exist in any situation. So it's kind of that feeling.

How long were you in Korea for that?

Five months.

Was that the longest you’ve spent in Korea for a film? How long were you there for Okja?

Okja took a while but it was scattered. So it was like a month and a half in Korea, a couple weeks in Canada, New York.

So that feeling of not really belonging anywhere, I grew up in Southern California but my family came to America from the Philippines. We went back to visit in 2015 and I was acutely aware of my Americanness everywhere we went. Do you still feel that in Korea even though you’ve spent a lot of time there?

These days I'm less aware of my Americanness over there, and more aware of just my otherness everywhere.

What do you mean?

I mean I can walk down the street here in New York, and someone can remind me that they don't think I'm from here. Then you go to Korea and you look the part, you speak the part, and they think you are. And then you realize that your deep-seeded connection and real understanding of the emotional depth that Koreans operate from... you don't know that.

I imagine not being able to internalize those subtleties made it a challenge to play Ben in some ways.

Yeah, well I think when I was playing Ben it was just so immersive that I actually tricked myself into feeling that I was Korean. And I am Korean, but you know what I mean. So I was like: I was born here, I'm a part of this place, and I am. But I'm not. So you're reminded by your mistakes or you're misunderstanding of specificities in culture. And I remember feeling incredibly sad when I was reminded about it that way. I couldn't connect to that deep, deep feeling of what it's like to be connected to a nation like that.

I mean, it must feel strange to be famous in two parts of the world simultaneously.

You realize like we're all trying to get to a metropolitan, cosmopolitan way of life. Some people are warring against it. But we're trying to because we see the writing on the wall, right? The world will get smaller, and it will get more together, and borders will come down, and a film that is in the Korean language with an American actor will play at the New York Film Festival, and Americans will be watching it. That's a weird vantage point to be in.

Do you feel like you're at a place where a villain role this nuanced would be offered to you in America? Or do you feel like that's something that you had to go to Korea for?

Shit, I don't even know if Korea would offer me that. Where I have to be very honest is that I [don't think] I've built up the framework for the depth of work, that I necessarily deserved for someone to give me a role like that. I think this is an anomaly and I'm very fortunate to find myself here.