John Cho

I'm not a natural-born actor. So it's been a very slow learning curve for me.

Because I sidestepped all the stereotypical roles, in a way I've made a career out of not being Asian - a lot of my roles weren't written as Asian - so there's an impulse in me that wants to take a U-turn and play a very grounded, real Asian character, maybe an immigrant.

I've had an unusual career in that I've never had a big break, but the rent always seemed to get paid.

For me, the most interesting thing is longevity and sustaining a career, because that's what's truly difficult.

The worst thing for a kid is to move around and switch schools, but as an actor, you go from job to job, meeting strangers and becoming very close right away. I've become adept at that.

The scariest thing is to go into a new situation for myself, and yet I have a job where I do that every few months, meet a hundred new people, and then have to perform in a very highly pressurized environment.

Lost' was a phenomenon, like Elvis.

The Asian-American kids I meet respond to a democracy in the vulgarity of my roles.

When I saw 'My Fair Lady,' I was surprised at how mean and misogynistic Henry was. Maybe that's why it's dropping out of public consciousness.

I've found that one's language abilities, especially for Korean kids like me, get frozen at the age you immigrated. So I've always associated Korea with being a child and being infantilized through my inability to speak.

I have a few go-to moves like jazz hands, shake the booty, stupid eyes. It was once a mating ritual, but now it's all about looking silly and making the kids smile.

That's what it is: a 'Harold & Kumar' movie is a romance between two best friends.