John Cho ‘traumatised’ by horror film as a six-year-old; it took him 40 years to take a horror-series role. Now he’s star of The Grudge remake
- Despite avoiding the horror genre for years, Korean-American actor took a role in Fox series The Exorcist. Jordan Peele’s Get Out convinced him to do more
- He was attracted by the diversity of The Grudge cast, a rarity in a horror film, and explains how the genre allows him to do something different
John Cho is breathing new life into a deadly story. In the third version of The Grudge, the Korean-American star of Harold & Kumar is trading in comedy for a new kind of horror rooted in “very real adult grief”.
“It was a drama, a cast of characters that was pretty much over 40, and it’s just so unusual in movies today,” says Cho, 47. “And I think that’s what attracts me to the horror genre in general late in life is its ability to do things that aren’t being done in cinema right now.”
The Grudge follows the 2004 film of the same name starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, and the 2002 Japanese film that inspired it, Ju-On: The Grudge.
To prepare for his role, Cho admits he didn’t watch the Gellar films – and in fact has never seen them – but was only advised to check out the Ju-On franchise, to which this incarnation is “definitely an homage” and “pretty much directly connects”.
Ironically, Cho says he made a point of avoiding horror films for much of his life.