Quotes from John Cho

Typically, actors overplay jargon or toss it away in an extravagant display of casualness. Real people hit the important parts hard.

As long as the rent's getting paid, you don't think about getting out of the game.

As an immigrant, I learned by watching other people.

I'm not a good improv-er, which is what a lot of comedic actors are really good at. I have failed miserably when I've been asked to improvise.

You don't really see Asian men together very often. It's very rare in life.

I got sort of sick of seeing Asians being the blank, bland real estate agent or something. I didn't care. It didn't mean anything to me.

Sometimes I feel indie directors are in the game so they can make a film to get hired to do a big film - that we're all doing this person's reel.

I don't feel comfortable as an insider.

To be able to communicate with people on the other side of the globe is interesting, in an instant.

Even though there's a lot of horror from Asia in the American cinematic tradition, I hadn't seen Asians at the center of it.

The message of 'Star Trek,' if there is one, seems to be that we should try to live up to the very best that we're capable of.

I had a stereotype in my mind of what a 'Star Trek' fans is, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

What's impressed me about 'Star Trek' fans is how many generations they span and how many nations they represent. They are all over the place.

I think Hollywood acts like followers of culture and is constantly seeking to follow trends.

I'm not a natural-born actor. So it's been a very slow learning curve for me.

With acting, you are a small part of the creative process, and sometimes it is hard to feel like you are making an impact.

The thing about kissing men - how do people stand it? The stubble is maddening.

I've found that one's language abilities, especially for Korean kids like me, get frozen at the age you immigrated. So I've always associated Korea with being a child and being infantilized through my inability to speak.

I campaigned for Obama, and that was such a big component of getting the vote out, was social media.

You know, I always root for the older athlete. I root for the second album. I root for solo careers after the rock star breaks the band apart.

I grew up watching the Lakers.

When I started acting... the community was largely Chinese-American or Japanese-American, so even then I felt like a minority in the minority.

I just didn't see anyone on TV who looked like me, and then I saw George Takei being cool and piloting the spaceship on television.

Part of my mission as an actor has been to define what an American is.