Interview: James Kyson Lee

When you were 10 you moved from South Korea to America,

have you ever been back there?

I have been back there three times.

Did you like it there?

It was interesting, the last time I went back was last October when they had a big film festival called Pusan film festival and it’s pretty much their version of the Cannes so it’s a big deal over there and that was my first time back in about 14 years, so seeing and experiencing their version of Hollywood, it was a pretty big deal.

So would you call your self South Koran or American?

American, definitely. This is my home. I do still speak Korean though and it helps to be bilingual.

What first got you interested in acting?

I went to college out at Boston, here in the states, and I was studying broadcasting, entertainment and communications and I just never really thought about acting until I tried out some improb with some friends and it got me interested because it was the first time in a long time that I was having so much fun just playing and it got my imagination active again and I had always lived on the east coast, so with growing up in New York and living on the east coast the whole of my life I just felt like I needed a new environment to just explore myself a little more so that’s what brought me out here.

And it’s worked out pretty well for you in the end.

[laughter] It did. It was very hard, I gotta tell you. LA is a very big city and it was very overwhelming and I basically came with a one-way ticket and a suitcase and I just remember feeling so lost and overwhelmed [laughter], wondering if I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life but it was actually the best decision I’ve ever made. And I think maybe not knowing anything about Hollywood worked in my favour because I was excited to be learning about acting for the first time and discovering a whole new side of myself.

  Last season of Heroes your character finally got an ability, did

  that feel good for you?

  Yeah it did. What is cool and what I I am glad about is I got it later

  so I was able to develop the character for the first two series and

  it’s a cool power you know; I shoot lasers out of my hands, the

  “Ando blast” or the “crimson arc”. Ando develops it in the next

  season; he will get to learn how to use it better and in a stronger

  way.

  Last season your character nearly had the chance to wear a

  superhero costume, would you of liked to have a chance to

  wear it?

  I don’t know about those spandex tights [laughter]. I think the cool

  thing about our show is that even though it has a lot of supernatural elements to it it’s really about everyday characters that are trying to fit into a normal life. So yeah I think we’re definitely better off without costumes and tights although I did love the Ando cycle.