Why Randall Park Wasn’t Trying to Make a Statement With His Directorial Debut ‘Shortcomings’ (Exclusive)

Randall Park once dreamed that maybe he'd get to star in a possible adaptation of Adrian Tomine's 2007 graphic novel Shortcomings. When the film finally became a reality, Park had aged out of the character, but he landed an even bigger role: Director.

"I read it when it first came out, and I remember being just floored and mesmerized by it," Park tells The Messenger (ahead of the SAG-AFTRA strike) of Tomine's work. "It felt like such an accurate reflection of the lives of my friends and I, the places we would go, and the conversations we would have. From the moment I read it, I thought, 'Oh, this would make a great movie. Maybe one day I could star in it as Ben. Or at least play a hand in getting it made.' But, at the time, I was in no position; I was just a struggling actor. And there was no chance the industry would make that movie. But, 15 or so years later, it all came together."

In 2007, when Park discovered Shortcomings, his most stable gig had been a one-year run on MTV's Wild' n Out. "I was too busy looking at craft services, just eyeing chips I could fit into my pockets to take home," he jokes of how focused he was in his early days on possibly directing. Fittingly, it's been a wild ride ever since, as he emerged as a comedic scene-stealer, notably on The Office and Veep, before his breakout roles as ruthless dictator Kim Jong-un in the controversial The Interview and as lovable sitcom dad Louis Huang on Fresh Off the Boat. He soon found himself becoming a Marvel staple and punching Keanu Reeves.

Suddenly Park thought he might have enough juice to bring Shortcomings to the big screen — until he actually tried. "It was tough," he admits. "When we were trying to secure financing to make it, everyone said 'no.' Like, everyone turned it down. There were all these factors that made it, I guess, less appealing to financiers and studios: It was me, a first-time director, directing, it was really important that we shoot in the Bay and New York, and it was a very specific story."

Shortcomings follows struggling filmmaker Ben (Justin H. Min), who runs an arthouse movie theater in Berkeley, Calif., and lives with his girlfriend, Miko (Ally Maki). But their relationship is teetering due to many ongoing issues, including his obsession with blonde, white women and his condescending views on cinema. Things only worsen when Miko heads to New York for an internship, and he's forced to figure out what he really wants. Joining him on this journey of self-exploration is his best friend, Alice (Sherry Cola).

Asian-led films are finally becoming more celebrated in Hollywood, but Shortcomings isn't Minari, Parasite, or Everything Everywhere All At Once. But, as Park has pointed out, those Oscar-winning projects have some "traditional markers," whether it be the immigrant experience or wise elders. "Why does everything have to be some big 'statement' about race?" Ben asks in Shortcomings about a film-within-the-film that is a sendup of Crazy Rich Asians. Even with commentary like that, for Park, Shortcomings was something Ben would appreciate.

"What I love so much about the movie is that it's not making this grand statement," he says. "It's just this intimate human story. And there are a lot of things that these characters talk about that could be very clickbait-y, headline kinds of things, but it's not what the movie is about. It's really about this guy who's just super resistant to change and personal growth, and as the people in his life grow and move on, is he going to follow suit? And I think that's very universal. But the culture we live in really wants to find those hot-button things, and there certainly are hot-button things discussed in the movie, but that's not what excites me most about it."

Armed with a story he was passionate about and a script by Tomine himself, Park set out to find his leading man. At 49, the actor-turned-filmmaker was just outside the age range to play Ben. Park wasn't surprised that the part attracted "so many amazing, talented" Asian-American actors, including many of his own friends. "This is a really nuanced, complex character with a lot of layers and levels," he says, "and we don't get to play these kinds of characters."

But it quickly became clear during the audition process that Park saw his Ben in Justin H. Min, known for breakout performances in The Umbrella Academy and After Yang. "I think the novice kind of actor would just see all the loud, angry tirades and really lean into that, but you can't sit for an hour and a half and just watch a person be a dick from beginning to end and expect to be invested in this movie," Park explains. "There has to be a real human quality and pathos to the character that makes him relatable, and that's something that Justin just brought. He's such a thoughtful, skilled actor, who really did the work to make sure we saw the vulnerability peeking through."

Ben often comes off as selfish and unlikeable, but the vulnerability that Park alluded to is on full display in Shortcomings' climactic scene. After following his friend Alice to New York, Ben realizes that Miko has started seeing someone else, leading to a confrontation that feels raw and real, as they say things there is no coming back from. "I just had the best thought," Miko says with a laugh. "I never need to listen to this sh-- again." Park knew that scene, which ran roughly eight pages long in the script, was crucial to the film's success.

"That was always a part of the casting rehearsals and chemistry reads," he reveals. "It really is a turning point in a lot of ways for our characters, and so we allotted a lot more time to filming that scene than what would've been normally needed. But when Justin and Ally came in on that day, we did the first rehearsal for cameras, and they just got it. They were so locked into their characters at that point and had really, really worked on that scene. It's a real testament to Justin and Ally. Again, they knew that these were the types of roles, and this was the type of scene that we don't get to do that often, so they really took the bull by the horns and just slayed."

Shortcomings, which also stars Debby Ryan (Jessie) and Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man: No Way Home), opens Friday in theaters.