I don't want my dad to say, 'My daughter is an actress on a TV show.' I want him to say, 'My daughter cares about people.' I would love to know that I'm a role model in Hollywood.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When I started as a child actor, my father didn't tell me anything.
I actually did want to be an actor when I was younger, but my father didn't want to hear anything about it. And you know what? I went with his decision. I said, 'Yeah, maybe you're right. I don't know anything about acting.'
Even as a child, I would get film offers, and all my friends would tease me saying, 'You will also be an actor like your father,' or 'Don't forget us.' I always took it as a joke, but subconsciously, I felt maybe this was my true calling.
I want my kids to see me as Dad, for God's sake, not a television personality.
I thought people would think I only wanted to be an actor because my dad was, rather than because I had an innate calling.
I remember running up to my dad and saying, 'I want to be an actor when I grow up!' And him saying, 'Yeah, well we'll talk about it.'
I told my extremely conservative, uber-traditional Korean father, 'Hey, Dad, I know what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to be an actor.'
When I came to America, I told my dad I wanted to be an actress.
Whenever I'm in theatre situations I will go out of my way not to talk about my father, but in the film world I can be really proud of my family and say, 'You know what: my dad's a really, really famous theatre director,' because nobody has any idea.
My role model is my dad.