James Hong admits he didn’t understand ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ after reading its script

November 4, 2022

Legendary actor James Hong recently admitted he did not understand the script of the hit mind-bending film “Everything Everywhere All at Once” after he first read it.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter (THR) to talk about his film and TV legacy, Hong, 93, shared his criteria for saying “yes” to a role and used A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, as an example.

“I have to know who’s in it and that it’s not slandering any minority groups,” Hong explained. “That’s the most important thing: that there are good people behind it, whether it’s the stars or producers or directors. Look at ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’”

“That came to me, and I said, ‘Boy, this is some project,’” he continued, adding, “Although I must admit to you, upon reading the script, I couldn’t understand it.”

In the sci-fi comedy-drama, Hong plays Gong Gong, the demanding father of Michelle Yeoh’s Evelyn Quan Wang. The trippy action thriller, which premiered in March, became A24’s highest-grossing film after it surpassed $100 million in global ticket sales in August.

Besides the hit film, Hong also spoke about how fellow actor Daniel Dae Kim surprised him with the fact that Hong had already amassed over 700 credits under his name in the span of his 70-year career.

Kim helped Hong fund his Hollywood Walk of Fame star by launching a campaign in 2020. The star was unveiled at an event held between Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood in May.

“The thing is, those credits are mostly different roles,” Hong told THR. “In other words, it’s not like I got a series and 40 of them are of the same character. I’m trying to get in [the] Guinness [World Records] as the actor with the most [guest] features in television.”

Hong’s first credited role was in the 1957 movie “China Gate,” but even before that, he had already appeared in several uncredited roles, such as in “Soldier of Fortune” (1955) and “Blood Alley” (1955). He became known earlier in his career for his role as Hannibal Chew in the 1982 film “Blade Runner.”

Hong recalled that his “Everything Everywhere All at Once” co-star Jamie Lee Curtis once questioned him about his earliest roles, asking, “James, were you relegated to sinister characters in all those movies?”

In his response, Hong told THR, “I would have to say possibly 70 percent of the early roles were villains. But the fact that I played an evil guy and also a doctor or the eyeball maker in ‘Blade Runner’ gives you an idea of the range of roles I could play to accumulate almost 500 credits.”

Featured Image via MaximoTV

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