Star Trek Beyond star John Cho on Sulus big surprise, Anton Yelchin, Trek turning 50 and more… Den of Geek: Congratulations on the film.
It really brought back a lot of the spirit of the original show.
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John Cho: Oh, cool, cool.
Thats what I wanted to hear.
The film reveals a side to Sulu this time around that we had not seen before.
What was your reaction when that was pitched to you?
I had probably three main concerns when I initially found out.
And I wondering whether he would feel like that was proprietary about that.
It turned out that wasnt the substance of his objection, but thats what I was afraid of.
I wanted George to be on board for this.
That was a concern of mine.
That was a concern of mine.
Not to say that concerns should prevent you from doing anything you artistically feel like.
So that was another thing that went through my mine.
Now, we werent saying that.
But I think its been positive and that people are understanding what we tried to put forth.
So Im pleased with it.
And Im pleased with the way it was done.
Matter of factly, nonchalantly.
I mean we never saw Sulu…
Yeah, he was an unknown quantity.
Its never come up.
I mean Ive been wanting to see a personal side of Sulu.
And thats what I appreciated about this, was that it gave some personal weight to the mission.
It was good to have some backstory on him.
But the version that George played was straight.
He had a daughter…I cant remember in what iteration that happened.
I think it might have been a novel.
But in the canon, he has a one-night stand with a woman and has this daughter.
In removing that element, I think George would appreciate expanding the scope of what we see in Sulu.
He obviously objects to the sexual orientation, which is cool.
But I choose to believe that Roddenberry might have appreciated in continuing his mission to diversify the cast.
Sulu has always struck me as a captain in waiting.
We saw him become a captain inStar Trek VI.
Do you think thats something you would want to see if you guys make more movies?
I mean now Im a big fan of Sulu the character.
I want what he wants.
I think Sulu is ambitious.
Thats what Ive always gotten from him.
The bad side of ambition is the hunger, but I think he is.
And I think that would be cool if he were to become a captain maybe in this timeline.
That would be great.
I would support that.
Again, because I think Sulu wants it bad.
I think he really likes sitting in the chair.
Hes like, Oh, good.
Theres a lot of trouble.
Ill take over the chair.
You go beam down and wrestle someone.
Ill take the chair.
(Long pause) Listen, I just loved being with him.
He was just a brother.
He was honest, so smart.
He was a very beautiful soul.
Sometimes I just felt like he was not of this earth.
He just thought differently.
He was different from us.
I dont know what else to tell you.
We continue to be devastated.
How was it having Simon as the writer this time?
Theres some shifting in the team.
Obviously J.J. was out.
We had a producer step out.
So we had some key elements change.
(Roberto) Orci and (Alex) Kurtzman were not writing the script.
So were like, Well, who?
Who is doing this third movie?
Simon came on board and it made a lot of sense.
He provided some continuity.
I happened to love Simons oeuvre.
Hes a great filmmaker.
I knew he was going to bring some wit into it as well.
So it just seemed like everything we wanted.
And then Justin came in and was also a fan ofStar Trek.
Obviously hes going to bring some action.
The question is always does it bind, all those elements?
But it seemed like, OK.
This is going to be great.
Emotionally, what was best about Simon was, like, he just knows us as a cast.
He knows the characters very well.
And he has this almost paternal hes become kind of our dad now, now that hes a writer.
He just took care of us.
Thats the best way I can think of to say it.
And the second part of that question is, what do you think makesStar Trekendure?
But this seems to keep going.
Thats a big question: why is it around after 50 years?
Its very elastic in what it can do and what it can discuss and talk about.
I think theres something hopeful.
It appeals to our better nature as a species.
And I think we would prefer, at our core, to believe it.
I feel very privileged to be associated with it.
Im an immigrant and I admire the American space program.
It was always just the promise of what America could do if they put their mind to it.
Star Trekis this vision of America, I feel like.
Its a pop culture version of the best kind of America.
I just thought that this was something beyond making movies.
I remember working with LeVar Burton a long time ago.
He directed me in one my earliest gigs, which is a television movie about Tiger Woods.
I play Tiger Woods best friend, Jerry Chang.
And LeVar Burton directed it.
I was so blown away because I admired LeVars career.
He was inRoots,Star Trek, andReading Rainbow.
I thought, Man, this guy is making a contribution.
You know what I mean?
Hes making a fricking contribution to American pop culture.
Im similarly proud of being in this.
Whos the biggest Trekkie in the cast?
Close second is Karl.
Third…me and Zach are in third.
Zach, me…Well, maybe Anton would have been up there.
Star Trek Beyondarrives in theaters this Friday (July 22).
