Paul Sun-Hyung Lee: Blindsided by end of Kim’s Convenience

[Reporter] To the world, he is Appa. The stubborn, blunt but well-meaning immigrant dad just trying to make a life in Toronto running Kim's Convenience but what started as a fringe festival play with Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and Jean Yoon in  the lead roles... You just have to be nice. I am nice. [Reporter] quickly became a much bigger deal. That's a rule. That's how they doing in that country yeah [Reporter] Season after season. They're gender-neutral. Who? I only see one person. [Reporter] after season. [Lee] When communities and people see themselves reflected up on the screens it means they've moved from the margins into the forefront and it gives them a voice [Reporter] But it all ended suddenly and under a dark cloud. The co-creators leaving. The production company deciding it couldn't continue and the cast members feeling blindsided. Angry even. It's left the show's fans with one big question: Why quit now? I sat down to chat with Paul Sun-Hyung Lee just hours before the last episode aired. I don't even know where to start to be honest with you because this must be an awfully weird day for you it's been very surreal right from the get-go not gonna lie how how are you feeling? um I'm okay I think it's it's funny because I think there are so many mixed emotions and so many things to unpack still I mean since it's been a few weeks now since the announcement the show isn't continuing and it's been a process like it's I and I akin to grieving a death in the family because you have these waves of emotions that overwhelm you at times and you're upset at how it ended but then you remember the good times and you want to build on that and so it comes and it goes as time goes on though it you know the pain hurts a little bit less but there are certain moments that just sort of flash you back like you know the final episode airing tonight it just makes it so final and so real in some ways and you think you've dealt with it but obviously there's still a lot of emotion involved but I'm looking forward to next steps I'm looking forward to the future I'm excited about possibilities and I want to take all the good from Kim's Convenience uh with me instead of just dwelling on how it ended well you talk about likening this to mourning a death and you know some deaths you see coming and some you don't did you have any inkling at all when you were filming the last episode of the season that it might be the last episode of the series? no no not whatsoever that that was the hardest that's been the hardest thing is feeling robbed of the chance of like even if we'd had some inkling maybe to just soak it in a little bit more or to just appreciate it a little bit more I mean we were shooting -- season five was shot under duress it was during a pandemic everybody was physically separated from each other through PPE through distance we weren't able to interact with each other the same way we had been in previous seasons and not only for the cast but for the crew and the administrative department and so it felt very disconnected shooting it but we were immensely proud that we've been able to pull it off in a sense and then to get the news that that's it uh is heartbreaking because   you never get a chance -- you didn't we didn't get a chance to say goodbye and we never got a chance to do our victory lap and to celebrate all these moments and to have that um closure in a sense and so when it suddenly yanked away from you it's very jarring and uh it's hurtful it hurts it hurts your heart because you this is something that was part of my life for five years ten if you count the play and for have it to have it end so unceremoniously um it was painful So what happened, paul? Uh, like on this decision to cut the series short so I've heard a few different accounts I mean some that the co-creator Ins Choi was sort of simply burning out on this but you've also said that that you tried reaching out to him and there was a time where he wasn't even returning your calls which sort of left a lot of us wondering so so what actually was happening yeah it's a I mean like everything it wasn't like a design plan to end the show and there was no mustache-twirling villain behind it it was just it's a complicated situation but I wanted to reach out to Ins and just find out, hey you know I didn't want to didn't want to try to change his mind he made his decision but I kind of felt that I would have liked to  have known uh or I felt like garnered the trust because after all this time spent together working on this project and championing it and championing him and everything I just kind of thought that would have been just for my own sake I would have loved that but uh he wouldn't return my calls so so to this day Paul do you even have a full understanding of why it all kind of fell apart I don't know the whole story I will be the first to admit that I know a bunch of it I know what I know um and that's from my perspective again it's very complicated you look at it from different perspectives there's so many different factors that come into play with the cessation of this show it wasn't an easy decision I don't envy the producers at all CBC was a great support they wanted the show very much so they had greenlit season six so it wasn't a network decision um but it's complicated it's really really complicated and at this time right now it's just I don't see the point of dredging it all up  right now I think it's just it's too raw it's too emotional I think with time comes perspective as  well uh cooler heads can prevail I know I'm still emotional about it some of the other cast members are as well but at the same token it's like to what end would that serve it I really wanted to sort of turn the page in a sense um and take the good from Kim's Convenience all the groundbreaking work that we did all the barriers that we broke through the representation that we showed and take that with me instead of how it ended now I think there's a time and a place  for that discussion too because I think for the industry to grow and evolve and to protect and nurture BIPOC artists behind the camera as well this is a hard conversation that needs to be had that's the only way to grow and it's not going to be it shouldn't be about finger-pointing or you didn't do this or you didn't do that this Kim's was the first show of its kind and the first show is always going to make mistakes but for us to grow as an industry we need to learn from those mistakes without judgment without people tsk-tsking we're all human beings and we made decisions that maybe weren't the best in the long run but worked at the time and so it's all a learning process and that's my biggest hope of everything that comes out of this this messy ending for Kim's is that with time in perspective we can learn from this and grow the industry and have so many more shows like Kim's succeed uh and sort of exceed where we went because they've learned the lessons from us I think that's best-case scenario and that's this is something I hold my heart that I truly want I mean I hear what you're saying but I still can't figure out why in my head like why there wasn't a way for this to continue right private matters are going to stay private I understand the departure of Ins Choi for whatever reason but it seems like so many of the major players wanted this to keep going so so why couldn't it keep going? It's again it's a really it's complicated and I think when you have human beings in the equation it gets messy it gets messy I mean I certainly wanted this show to go on I know a number of the cast wanted the show to go on um the network did but we were running out of time basically and to put on uh a high-quality show at the caliber that we're used to uh we would have needed more a little bit more time and um you know it's a big blow when the show creator leaves the show it's that's a big blow to the show I mean there are instances in uh you know in the industry where showrunners have left the show and they're replaced by other showrunners but Kim's was so unique because you had an all Asian cast and if you don't have someone who's Asian who's part of the producing team the optics look terrible too and you want that authenticity we need that authenticity for the show unfortunately the industry the way it is it's very difficult to find somebody of that calibre to step in and replace someone like Ins Choi um and so it's it's it's it's a whole uh a convoluted mess of you know really and I think it really highlights the need to be training and developing and growing BIPOC producers, showrunners, writers because they need we need the experience we need to build up uh our experience and our craft as well so that we're in a position to succeed instead of just being plucked up and dropped into the deep end and it's sink or swim that is that does a disservice to everyone I think and so I've always argued that too we want to set up people to succeed and it's a lot of work and it doesn't happen overnight but steps have to be taken and we did take steps at Kim's but obviously they weren't enough so that's a lesson to be learned I'm not saying that there was no attempt at all but what we did at the end of the day we didn't have anybody from within who's qualified enough to step up or so the producers believe the legacy of Kim's is absolutely jaw-dropping you know I could tell you what I see when I see the show but I more want to know what you see when you see not just the show but when you see a billboard with the Kim's family on it right when you see a subway ad when you see a tv commercial what do you see? I see my family I see my peers I see community people who haven't had a voice it fills me with pride um it's overwhelming it's over and it just accents the fact that this type of representation matters more more so than ever the normalization of entire groups of people shouldn't be an issue in the 21st century we're all human beings at the end of the day and this politic of divisiveness this scapegoating this blame this blaming of others is in my mind heartbreaking and so infuriatingly lazy because when you refuse to see a group of people for people as individuals it's heartbreaking because it's too easy to just throw blame to something else and not put any critical thought into it or really examine why you're upset and instead seeing what's going on this permission to act out that's heartbreaking for me and I think we've developed this culture where it's okay to be like that it's okay to be nasty, to punch down and what we really need more and more is kindness shows like Kim's Convenience were about family were about love we're about kindness um and so when I see posters of that I'm filled with immense pride one of my favourite things of going to CBC is to see that big poster Kim's Convenience and my big stupid face up there um because it it brings me joy and I think it brings a level of comfort and joy to a lot of other people I am so proud of the work that I've done on that show I'll always hold my head up high for that and there's something that no one can ever take away from me when I see the show that is exactly what strikes me every single episode that this is a family of people that that looks like you that looks like me and they are normal people they are kind people they are warm people on the other hand, you know you mentioned this too I think of the pandemic I think how I see people who look like you and people who look like me getting hurt and I'm left wondering like what am I supposed to think here right like how many steps forward have we taken how many steps backwards have we taken you know yeah I it's heartbreaking again and it's infuriating and it's maddening and it's bewildering it's shocking I mean why um and it feels like it's just flaring up again and it's I think it just goes to show that as forward-thinking as we think we've gone become as a society there's really a lot more work to do and I think right now too with mass media with everybody holding a studio basically a television studio in their pockets able to record transmit let their thoughts go out there you can amplify uh just as much as you can amplify good thought you can amplify a negative thought and we need as a society to learn to navigate that to really be critical in our own thinking I only have time for one more question so I gotta ask about what's next for Paul Sun-Hyung Lee? I mean like I'm looking behind you I see stormtroopers I see I see a lot of really cool stuff that I wish I could get a closer view of what's next for you ? Well, we'll have you over once a pandemic is over you know I've got a lot of things on the go right now I can't talk about some of it uh others I am able to talk about um I'm leaning into the whole geek culture this is a part of me that I've had carried for so long and a lot of people are still really surprised about because they know me as Appa and so I love that juxtaposition of being a total nerd it literally in my basement with all these geeky collectibles and toys and playing this patriarch uh internationally who's known as being a bit of a hard ass and who doesn't understand this culture at all so I love that so I'm leaning to I've got a youtube channel called Bitter Asian Dude Inc. and I've got a segment called My Geeky Basement uh in fact tonight after the episode i'm doing my first ever live stream and I'm inviting all the fans and I've got some OG Kimbits Fans from the very beginning and they're going to be my guests because I think the fans have made the show and from the bottom of my heart to all the fans out there who've spread the word who've lived with us who've let us into their homes thank you and that's the biggest thing too I'm going to take away from Kim's is all the wonderful people and fans I've met and the friends that I've made through it and so that's what's next is just sort of rediscovering me and getting me out there um and just connecting with people well Paul, uh thank you and I don't just mean that for this interview I mean it generally thank you thanks appreciate it

Channel: CBC News: The National

Views: 101,181

Rating: 4.8886032 out of 5

Keywords: Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee interview, Kim’s Convenience, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Andrew Chang, Kim’s Convenience CBC, last episode kim’s convenience, Appa actor, Jean Yoon, Andrea Bang, Simu Liu, CBC, The National, Andrew Chang, Bitter Asian Dude, kim's convenience season 5, kim's convenience interview, kim's convenience actor

Id: 0eYg6FL5D7k

Length: 15min 22sec (922 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 14 2021