E. Alex Jung

Bong Joon-ho’s work reflects anxieties he feels every day—about the climate crisis, the widening income gap. “My films generally seem to have three components: fear, anxiety, and a kekeke sense of humor,” he says, using the Korean equivalent of “ha-ha.” “Humor comes from anxiety, too,” he adds. “At least when we laugh, there’s a feeling that we’re overcoming some kind of horror.” In his view, our world is already a dystopia, and all tragedy and comedy flows from this fact.

“It was only because Helmut Newton happened to find me and happened to love scars that all of a sudden everybody wanted me for their fashion shows… It took another person who had power to look at me another way, to give me permission, that that was even available to me.”

Vulture staff writer E. Alex Jung profiles Sandra Oh, the first actress of Asian descent to be nominated for an Emmy award in the lead drama category.