The Sundance Film Festival hit Seoul Searching features an all Asian cast, many of whom were first time actors found through a Facebook audition search. Teo Yoo had acted before, but he was pretty much born for the role of Klaus. Klaus is a German-Korean because his family moved to Hamburg after the Korean War. Yoo was also born in Germany.
Klaus joins a group of teenagers in Seoul Searching sent to a camp in 1986 to get in touch with their Korean roots. The camp was real for kids of emigrates but short-lived because of teenage hijinks even crazier than the ones in the film. Seoul Searching is modeled after the ‘80s John Hughes movies with comedy and heart for teens. Look for it in theaters after the buzz from Sundance. I got to speak with Yoo by phone from Korea.
Are you based in Korea, and how did the audition for Seoul Searching come up for you in Korea?
Teo Yoo: “I was born and raised in Germany like the character. I spent my time in Germany until I was 20 and after that I moved to New York where I studied acting. Even though in the film I look like a teenager, I’m actually 33 so I’ve been acting for quite some time now. I lived for a short time in Berlin but most of my time in New York where I did theater, a lot of indie film projects. Then in 2009 I moved to Korea where I’m based now.”
Could you relate to the story of Seoul Searching, getting back to your roots?
Teo Yoo: “For me it was very clear cut because he told me the real Klaus actually wanted to be a banker. He adapted that into the script. He’s kind of ashamed of his heritage because his parents are more on the lower end of society in terms of their jobs and their income. He wants to break out of that social status. Based on that, he helps an adopted girl find her biological mother. Basically that relationship affects him and makes him think about how good he has it. I tried to work on those emotional clues. I tried to work them into his physicality, so small technical things like the way he carries himself in the beginning, he totally transforms and carries himself at the end in an entirely different way. I tried to work physical moves into it and show the character arc. He’s stiff and he loosens up and becomes romantically involved with this girl who basically changes his world.”
That sounds like a very intricate performance. Did your acting background help you make those decisions?
Teo Yoo: “Yeah, this is my first time playing a lead character in a film and I feel like up until this point, it was more like a trial and error kind of thing. I did a lot of short films. I did a lot of theater. In feature films, I had a lot of bit parts. It felt like it came together in this project. I got really lucky.”
Did the cast have a camp together before the movie started to get to know each other?
Teo Yoo: “A few of us who had more time in pre-production, like Justin [Chon], Esteban [Ahn] and also Sue [Son] I think, we met two weeks earlier to rehearse. So by the time we started shooting, we were really comfortable with each other. I feel like the off screen chemistry that we developed shows on screen.”
Has the buzz from Sundance opened any new doors for you?
Teo Yoo: “For me, I’m hoping for a wide distribution in the U.S. but also in Korea because I’m based there as well. I’ve got to say, I think I was a little naive coming to Sundance because I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t know how big a deal this could be. There have been a lot of good responses and a lot of people stepped forward to help in terms of representation and me getting to know other producers and directors. So I extended my stay for another three weeks, so I’m staying here until March. It has been good.”
I saw the second screening of Seoul Searching, so what was your premiere like?
Teo Yoo: “Well, it was amazing. We had standing ovations. People were reacting at all the right spots and subjectively it was overwhelming to see all of us in those bright ‘80s colors with the music and with the wardrobe and the costumes. It was just a ride, and the reactions have been great. The general audience loved it and we were kind of betting on that. We were hoping for it but we haven’t expected the kind of response that we actually got. People were coming up to us and actually asked us if they could vote for us. Thankfully we were in the Premiere section but movies from the Premiere section are not up for voting. So that was kind of sad but it has been great. I heard the last screening went great as well, so we had standing ovations for all three of them.”
