00:00 Isaac really showed me what Mountain Dew really was.
00:04 Let's give them Mountain Dew.
00:06 Before, I didn't even know what Mountain Dew was
00:09 and I didn't even know it existed.
00:12 (laughing)
00:15 (speaking in foreign language)
00:19 (speaking in foreign language)
00:26 (dramatic music)
00:29 Isaac, I was wondering, pretty broad question,
00:38 but what exactly is Monadi symbolic for to you in the film?
00:43 You know, to me, that's a great question
00:47 because I don't really explain it in the film
00:50 and it's because it symbolizes something
00:53 I just don't know how to express myself.
00:57 And I feel like it's very inexpressible.
00:59 And it's a feeling I have with my grandma, with my family,
01:04 with all these different things in life that I hope for.
01:08 And I see it growing.
01:11 It's something I wanna see grow
01:13 and that's kinda how the film ends.
01:14 And I can't really tell you what it is.
01:17 It's a strange thing.
01:19 (speaking in foreign language)
01:23 First of all, you don't see Minari growing
01:27 on a well-organized field.
01:29 You know, it's the grandmother just carelessly
01:31 throws out the seeds and it lays down roots
01:34 in wherever it landed for the sake of this family.
01:37 And just as Sunja says in the film,
01:41 you can eat Minari wherever and whenever.
01:43 So I think it kind of represents how Sunja feels
01:49 and what Isaac wanted for this family,
01:54 which is for them to thrive anywhere they land,
01:58 even if the environment is a little rough,
02:00 just like Minari.
02:02 - That's beautiful because everyone has
02:03 their own interpretation of it.
02:05 And it's cool when the filmmaker
02:06 doesn't even have a concrete answer.
02:08 It's like, you know, open to interpretation.
02:11 Steven, you're a brilliant comedic actor.
02:16 Even Glenn, in a lot of ways, was the comedic relief
02:19 for the first couple seasons, you know.
02:21 - It'll be the fall that kills us.
02:24 I'm a glass and a full kind of guy.
02:26 - And then now you've worked with Bong Joon-ho
02:29 and given the attention that this film is getting,
02:32 is that where you saw your career trajectory going?
02:35 And what does it mean to have cemented your place
02:38 in Korean-American film like this?
02:44 - I can never guess what's happening.
02:46 I have had the question, like, what's next?
02:51 And like, how do you choose?
02:53 And I heard this one quote that Michelle Pfeiffer said.
02:57 It's like, "You just hold off long enough
02:59 until you can't stand it, and then you freak out
03:01 and then choose the best one of what's available."
03:04 And I was like, that's so real.
03:08 That's so real.
03:10 That's kind of what's been happening.
03:12 Just so fortunate.
03:15 And, you know, I could never see
03:19 myself having been a part of these things back then.
03:25 I oftentimes don't even know what I'm capable
03:28 of engaging in until it happens.
03:30 And then I freak out and I take it on and I come over it.
03:33 And I'm just really lucky
03:35 that I get to experience these things.
03:36 And for this, yeah, I feel even more fortunate
03:39 that I get to be part of something that I think is
03:44 perhaps something that I wanted to say.
03:47 And I think Isaac, when we talk about it,
03:49 like something that our generation really wanted to say
03:52 for some time.
03:52 There's something about the liberation
03:55 of understanding your parents as human beings
03:58 that helps you to see yourself a little bit clearer.
04:01 And there's something really cool about that in this film.
04:05 (speaking in foreign language)
04:09 - I was wondering, given the fact that this is
04:19 a film about the Korean experience
04:22 and so vividly about the American experience,
04:26 how much of it, how much of the script did you feel
04:30 was representative of your own personal life experiences?
04:34 - I'm in this business such a long time.
04:37 So when I get script, of course,
04:40 and then I just see the script and if it touched me
04:45 or if it moves me, I decide to just do this role.
04:50 So to me, it's just doing my job.
04:54 So I'm not thinking about representing,
04:57 you know, something or something.
04:59 I'm not like, I'm not the director.
05:02 (speaking in foreign language)
05:04 - So I've never lived in the States
05:05 and I've never been an immigrant,
05:07 but while talking with Isaac,
05:09 I realized that we had a pretty similar childhoods
05:13 and I have six aunts and I was able to reflect on
05:17 how they lived their lives in those times.
05:19 And I realized that I still carried a lot of memories
05:22 of them through performing Monica.
05:26 And also my mother had us when she was very young
05:30 and raised us when she was young
05:33 and I was able to really sympathize
05:35 and understand with her.
05:38 And I realized that she was quite similar to Monica.
05:42 (speaking in foreign language)
05:46 - Alan, you would never make your grandma drink pee, right?
05:53 (speaking in foreign language)
05:59 (laughing)
06:01 - No, I was so guilty.
06:03 - You should, that's terrible.
06:05 Alan, when you, this is your first feature film.
06:08 When you took on the role,
06:10 did you have any idea what a sensation it would become
06:13 and how much popularity it would get?
06:16 - No, I was just expecting it to just be,
06:21 well, a movie, but this is really good.
06:27 - Yeah, that's, yeah, to put it short,
06:30 it is very, very beautiful.
06:32 Congratulations guys, I appreciate it.
06:34 - Thanks so much, Jeff. - Thank you so much, Jeff.
06:35 (dramatic music)
06:37 - Are you pretty boy?
06:40 Pretty boy?
06:41 - I'm not pretty, I'm good looking.
06:44 (music)
06:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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