Emerson Min is all grown up and challenging stereotypes in ‘A Great Divide’

In between university writing and Korean classes, Min sat down with JoySauce to chat about his entry into drama and how filming A Great Divide lay the groundwork to explore his own Korean heritage and the way we internalize racism in the United States. 

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Lisa Kwon: How is your first year of college?
Emerson Min: Oh, it's busy. It's hard to balance both acting and school, but I really like the work here. Someone told me about the core curriculum at Columbia, and they said there are no tangible things where you could be like, “Oh, you improved in this or that.” But when you go through it, you end up a better holistic person with your outlook on life. I feel like that's already coming into play with a lot of the classes I'm taking or a lot of the things that I'm writing. 

LK: What's the earliest memory of you wanting to act?
EM: The first time I ever acted was when I was 5, and that was just for a favor for a friend. They needed kids (for a short film), and my mom was like, “Okay, sure. Just take them.” I was actually just told recently that in that short film, I did a really sad scene and it came so naturally. People told (my mom), “Your son might have potential to become successful in this industry.” So I got an agent and it was pretty fairly easy that young. My agent Domina is a pretty big agent who reps a lot of huge actors, but we started together from day one and grew together. I did commercials for seven years, and then I've been doing film and TV now for another seven. It's been a really fun journey. 

LK: I especially loved watching you in A Great Divide in this lead role that is so sincere and tender. What made you say “yes” to the script knowing it would be the first time you're in a lead role?
EM: The film was written based on Miya’s and my dynamic because we did Always Be My Maybe together. It meant so much more to me than just hitting your mark, getting a comedy line out in Black-ish, being paid a lot and having people like it. This felt like it had more depth and meaning. Actually, I talked about this in my college apps: this film is why I want to pursue acting. It transformed acting from a passion to a profession. That might sound crazy, but there's just so much more substance when you're telling an underrepresented story or you're saying stuff that really matters. Of course, comedy's amazing. I feel so blessed to be able to do what I did in that field and I want to continue doing that, but playing a character like Benjamin felt so much more meaningful to me. 

LK: What do you love about Benjamin?
EM: How thoughtful he is. He shows but doesn't tell a lot of his things. Through anything that he does, like killing the snake or anything like that, that's all internalized. As Emerson, I feel like I'm fairly extroverted. If someone says something racist, I'm like, “Hey, you can't say that,” and I talk to them about it. But Benjamin takes everything in. He's so deep in that way. On the surface you have this Benjamin who tries to get along with parents, then there's the college layer, then there's the racism layer, and then there's him internalizing every single thing that's happening to him and trying to find a way to let that all come out. That's my favorite part of portraying him. As an actor, it's so rewarding when you can have someone with that much depth to really portray, even if it's a subtle look to Ellie (played by Cech) or Isaac (played by Jeong). It feels so powerful, in some ways, when you don't have to be yelling to get a point across. 

LK: You mention that you are a little bit more extroverted than someone like Benjamin. Were you bringing in some of your own personal observations or experiences to bring some fullness to Benjamin?
EM: I can relate to Benjamin a fair amount. At the time (of filming), I was pretty stressed. It was my junior year, and everyone was thinking about colleges. I channel a lot of that kind of anxiousness. But I never like to draw from traumatic experiences when I'm dealing with racism. I try not to think about my past in order to try to regurgitate that feeling. I definitely stay present. Anything that happens, especially in that car scene when the (white) man comes up to us, I'm in the moment as if there are no cameras around me. That's how I usually do a lot of my reactions, and a lot of my emotions are based on convincing myself that the entire environment that I'm in, and everything that's happening, is real. I'm experiencing it for the first time every single take.

LK: Throughout the movie we follow Benjamin getting to know his family's history. While working on this film, is there anything about your own personal Korean lineage that you've discovered or gotten more curious about?
EM: Definitely my grandparents’ story. My grandparents have so much lore. I figured out my grandpa was a gangster and he was supposed to kill someone in a church, but then he found God, and then he went to Seoul National University, where he met my grandma and then they moved to America. I think that my grandma’s entire narrative was so interesting to me because before Korea split, I was from North Korea. Figuring out how (she) crossed and how they came to America was really important for me as a person, outside of just acting. We have such a deep and rich culture that I never really thought about. They were just halmeoni and harabeoji to me. They make food and they take care of the dogs. But (filming) incentivized me to look into their story, see everything that they went through, see my history, and navigate my life with that knowledge. It’s so important to recognize where you come from.

LK: Your grandparents’ lore, is that something that you'd uncovered before you started to get into shooting or was it coming in parallel with your shooting this film?
EM: I know a decent amount about my family history, but after shooting, it made me very curious. When (my grandma) was telling these stories about the wars and everything she went through, I did have conversations with them at their house. I brought Jersey Mike’s—they love Jersey Mike’s, I don't know why—we just talked about their experiences. There's a little bit of a language barrier there. Actually, my next class is Korean class. I'm learning Korean for them.

Also, I talked to Ken and (producer and writer) Jeff Yang about why we can even be in this position to tell these stories. It's through the tenacity of hundreds of people throughout the last 70 years who literally went through hell by playing the worst characters to finally have that breakthrough in representation so that I can have opportunities like going out for the live-action of How to Train Your Dragon, or even being in the room for these things. A lot of the opportunities that I have today are because of so many people who have struggled in the past, so it’s really important to acknowledge and take that forward with me as I hopefully do the best I can at Columbia and acting.

LK: I'm sure Wyoming was a “culture shock,” so to speak. What was it like to spend time there to shoot versus Pasadena, where you come across a lot of different Asian communities?
EM: Wow, it was crazy. Do you remember that one dining scene? None of that was set up. That was a real restaurant. They didn't even show half the stuff in there. Ken actually started tearing up because it was brutal. Everything that was said—all the racist remarks, the slurs, everything around us—was all real. 

I remember Ken was talking about the scene where we're talking to the ranger and he's like, “We're kind of trapped.” That was Ken's first serious scene. (The film) showed a lot of stuff that we went through as well, outside of our characters. You do feel kind of cornered, especially being a mainly Asian crew. When we went places, we were rolling 50 people deep in towns where I probably only saw one or two other Asians when I would go skiing.

Three months after we shot, I went skiing and I had a racist encounter where this group of boys in a truck were yelling slurs and saying, “Go do my homework,” and stuff I won't say. It was surreal, but that really cements why I'm making this film. It happened to me. I thought I'd yell back, but I didn't. I literally panicked. It is crazy because it's in the exact town, in the exact square, that we shot this film, but it was just a few months later. It's really important to me now to tell these stories to represent not only other people but also showcase my perspective of that. 

LK: That resonates with me because we also need to protect ourselves when these things do happen. How do you take care of yourself while being in such a raw and vulnerable place, both in real life and while shooting?
EM: It's all about community. Miya and I leaned on each other. There were long and difficult days on set. We shot ridiculous hours, and everyone would be so tired. The snake scene was shot at 4 a.m. in 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and all I had on was a T-shirt while holding (the snake). I couldn't move my hands. And then there’s the emotional layer on top of the physical layer. You lean on the people who are around you. It felt like a family. No one ever complained. We'd all eat lunch and dinner together, and we'd spend our weekends going rafting together. Every time we finish a scene, we'd all laugh and make jokes, even in the craziest situations. It didn't feel like a traditional production site. It felt like we were all helping to uplift this story and we all put in 100 percent effort. Without them I couldn't have gotten through it. 

LK: You were embedded in the different ways that we internalize racism, from Ellie or Ken’s character, which comes out later in the movie. Is there anything that you personally worked through while filming and being around characters who internalize things differently?
EM: This is portrayed through all four characters. That's why the script has so much depth. Benjamin internalizes, Ellie is naive, Isaac's trying to cope by laughing it off, and Jenna stands up to the extremely different ways that they encounter racism. They all navigate that in different ways. (A Great Divide) shows this cohesion of people who react and think differently about racism, and as they all navigate it together, who do they have? It's their family.

LK: Whether it’s this movie or your past roles in Always Be My Maybe and other comedic roles, is there a piece of advice from someone you've worked with that you've taken to heart?
EM: It wasn't even when I was acting. You know Sung Kang? I PA’d on his directorial debut and I stayed at his picture house. We slept in the same room. He was my mentor for two weeks while they were shooting it. One of the biggest things that he told me is to uplift others around you. Entertainment in general is a toxic and selfish industry, so the more that you can uplift your friends and community with you, the better structure and foundation you'll have in your own career. You will have all these people to support you when you're down, or if you don't get a role, or if you get cut from something. You have your community and structure, so that while you're up, you can pull everyone else up with you. That's one of the biggest things (Kang) did with a lot of Asian actors by giving them so many opportunities. 

You will have all these people to support you when you're down, or if you don't get a role, or if you get cut from something. You have your community and structure, so that while you're up, you can pull everyone else up with you.

LK: What would be an exciting challenge for you?
EM: There's a film coming out that definitely will be more physical. A lot of the roles I played are about perfect comedic timing or really good drama, but getting the physicality of acting is really interesting. So yeah, stay tuned for that.

Oh, and I love rom-coms. Starring in a rom-com would be my favorite project ever. I think morality and messages can be seen through certain mediums. I like those fun lighthearted things, but at the same time, I would want a rom-com that's funny and entertaining, but also more three dimensional characters that feel different or have more nuance. 

LK: Is there one that you recently enjoyed watching or you remember loving growing up?
EM: I really like Love Hard. It's very sweet and heart throbbing and cute, but at the same time Jimmy (O. Yang)'s performance felt very real and emotional as someone who's not as confident stepping out of his shell. It definitely felt more real than two super-attractive actors having sex with a bunch of different people and their friends, and then eventually ending up together. (Love Hard) was really genuine and meaningful.