I saw for the first time Minari at Sundance last January, just before the world changed forever, and despite the year we’ve had since, I couldn’t stop talking or thinking about the film – or more specifically, its incredibly early 8-year-old revelation star -old Alan Kim. Lee Isaac Chung’s funny, moving and semi-autobiographical story follows a 1980s Korean-American family whose determined patriarch Jacob (Steven Yeun) changes his wife Monica (Han Ye-ri) and their two children, David (Kim) and Anne (Noel Kate Cho), to a small farm in Ozarks in search of the American dream. Monica and Jacob are at odds over whether the move makes sense for their family – especially David, a naughty and adorable 7-year-old boy with a heart defect, an indomitable spirit and a tendency to have incredible 80s attacks. While they struggle with her marriage and her future, Monica asks her mother Soonja (Yuh-Jung Youn) to leave Korea and join them in her literal and figurative limbo.
The real joy of the film is watching David and Soonja play against each other: at first, David resists, insisting that she “is not a real grandmother” (she plays, curse prodigiously and does not cook) and plays insolent pranks involving the exchange of identical liquids, which, ultimately, only serves to bring the two together. Under the influence of Soonja, David becomes even more courageous, exuberant and mischievous. even though Minari ‘With an incredibly stilted cast, the two actors simultaneously eloped with the film, especially Kim, walking around the farm swallowing Mountain Dew in his oversized cowboy boots and exhibiting surprising emotional reach. It’s even more impressive because Minari marks Kim’s movie debut, and because, again, he’s in second grade. Before the film’s digital debut on February 12, I jumped on Zoom with Kim, who was extremely polite and resplendent in a Commes des Garçon button-down shirt and bright yellow bow tie.
Hi Alan!
Hi!
I love your outfit. Is it a heart on your shirt?
Thanks. I bought it while taking a picture and the photographer said I could keep it.
It is very cool. How is it doing all these interviews?
I think this … fun? But I get a little tired after a few minutes.
What made you want to be in the cinema?
Probably … my mom said, “Let’s make this movie.” So I’m like, “I think I’m going to make this movie! I think it can be pretty cool! “
What was your first time acting like?
This was my first time making a film and acting, but I had auditioned for some things, I think? Yes. I did something with Pottery Barn Kids.
Do you remember the audition for Minari?
Well, I went to Plan B and A24, and I went to a room where I met Steven [Yeun], Isaac [Chung], casting director Julia Kim and Christina [Oh], the producer. And Steven would teach me this Korean role game [called ddakji], you must make a square of paper and try to make your opponent’s square of paper turn. If you turn around, you win. And we practice some of the lines.
Were you nervous?
I think it was a fun day. But a nervous day. But more of a fun day than a nervous day.
What was your first impression of your cinematic family?
My first impression was probably, “Hello!” for all.
What was the first scene you shot?
[Thinks intensely.] I think it was when I peed Grandma. I think it was my first scene. No? [Alan’s mom whispers offscreen.] Oh, no, that was not my first scene. It was the part where I pointed to a new red tractor.
How was it to film the scene where you pee your grandma?
I’m going to watch my medicine as if I’m doing a face-to-face contest. I take my cup to the bathroom and pour out all the medicine. And then I pretend to take off my pants and pee. And it’s full of Mountain Dew. And I walk carefully because I don’t want Mountain Dew to spread. And in the movie, I don’t want the pee to fall into my hands.
So you used Mountain Dew to pretend to pee?
Yes. Yellow Mountain Dew.
Do you like Mountain Dew as much as David?
Not really, but after I tasted it, I think it was very good.
Do you think you are similar or different from David?
Hmm … 2 percent different and 98 percent the same.
What are the 2 percent that are different?
Well, he lives in a house on wheels, while I don’t. And he had a sick heart, while I didn’t. We both have older sisters. Besides, I have a dog and he doesn’t. He also likes to play tricks on people, like me. That’s basically it.
What was the good joke you played in real life?
Hmm. Probably scaring people. Because if I type, sneak, I’m like [makes whooshing noise] a ninja. I try not to make noise. And if I do that, I pretend to be my dog and then say, “Buu!” And then my sister said, “Wow!” She didn’t really say “wow”, but she did jump.
Do you scare your parents?
Just my sister. My mom, aunt, and dad can see me a mile away. Even though I’m a small point.
Who was your best friend on the set?
Everyone, I think.
What did you do fun with Steven?
We probably ate snacks, relaxed, practiced some lines, and when I peed on the spoiled seed, all the water went up to my panties, so I had to wear different ones, and then I put my pants back on, and then I put them in the van to dry, and Steven said, “Whose underwear is this ?!” That was super funny.
Did you and Noel play together when you weren’t on camera?
We kind of play video games and watch Captain Underpants together.
Is that your favorite show?
Well, not exactly, but I think it’s close to my favorite.
How did you memorize your lines?
My mother would help me to practice.
How did she help you?
She said the Korean lines, and I repeated them, and if she still didn’t understand, she would do the movements, like [acts out the following words, later translated by his father]: 엄마 가 eomma-ga [my mom]; 이렇게 ileohge [like this]; 기도 하면 gidohamyeon [if you pray]; 꿈 에서 kkum-eseo [in dream]; 하늘 나라 를 haneulnalaleul [heaven]; Su 수 있 대요 bol su issdaeyo [you can see].
Did you and Noel ever improvise? Or was it all memorized?
No, not much. But when Steven and I were in the field, and Steven was digging the giant hole, my screams really came out of nowhere. He said: “Scream more! Higher! “So I was like [whisper-screams loudly].
You have some scenes where you have to pretend to be asleep. Did you really fall asleep?
In bed, I pretended to fall asleep. But in the car, when we were going to the store, I was so tired that I fell asleep. So, when I wake up, I think, “What am I doing in the movie car ?!” I was like, “Oh, right, I was making a video recording.”
Why do you think David is afraid of his grandmother at first?
He was not afraid, he was just shy. He didn’t want his grandmother to come because if his grandmother came, his parents would start fighting a lot. Yes. So he was kind of scared.
In the scene where you are playing with your new friend, and you dunk tobacco, what were you really putting in your mouth?
When we first put tobacco in, it was real tobacco. How did I feel? [Dramatically gags.]
Was it real tobacco?
Yes. Disgusting! [Dramatically gags again.]
Did you like to eat or drink something while filming?
I would like to drink lemonade. But since they didn’t, I only drank water bottles. I was fine with that. And since we hate smoking so much, I ate the sausage. I would put it in my mouth and swallow it.
You can wear a lot of great clothes in this movie. Did you like the cowboy boots?
Well, cowboy boots would be kind of stiff if I kept wearing them. That’s why I put my heel where my leg was supposed to be, and my leg got higher. If I did that, it would be like, “I grew up!”
At the end of the film, your character witnesses a horrible fire. How was it to shoot this scene?
It was terrible. Because the smell was really bad. I’m like, “No! That smells so bad! “
Was it real fire?
No, it wasn’t real fire when I was there. They just put on lights that looked like fire. And when I wasn’t there, they really burned everything.
Who do you really want to be in a movie with someday?
Honestly, I would go with anyone.
Do you have a favorite movie?
Probably close to Minari, it is Harry Potter.
You are already shooting another movie, right? What’s going on in that?
At the Latchkey Kids, I get home, I’m lactose intolerant. Therefore, I must not drink milk or ice cream. But in a scene I think I eat ice cream? I get home and watch TV and order a pizza and eat the pizza. And yes.
Is this similar to your real life? How is a normal day in your life when you are not making a movie or doing interviews?
Wake up. Choose a random outfit. Go down the stairs. Have breakfast. Do the school. Give a break. Work harder, I think. And then … mostly sleep, I think?
Do your friends think it’s cool that you’re in a movie?
[Shrugs.]