"Acting can be scary" - interview with John D. Michaels.
Interview by SongYun Han (@songyunah35)
Photo by Daniel McKendrick (@danielmckendrickphoto)
Hair and make-up by Yvonne Flores (@yveeflores)
During his impressive but relatively short career as a performer, John D. Michaels has developed a reputation in local acting circles as a great source of knowledge and advice. He’s well known for his supportive and constructive direction and expertise.
He is also a gifted and commanding performer; a trait best demonstrated by his appearances in the critically acclaimed drama Squid Game.
Here, John talks to us about his journey through the Korean entertainment industry.
Can you describe what influenced you to pursue a career as an actor?
When I was really young, maybe 6 or 7, I remember having this fantasy that cameras were watching me all the time. Not in a scary way at all. It was just the nature of the world. And I would constantly be performing for the camera. I was an action hero. I'd do these slow-motion stunts, diving over the couch into a tuck and roll. And I did a lot of play-acting with my friends and cousins. So then, when I did my first play in 7th grade, it just felt really natural to me, like I'd been doing it all along. And then, I took drama in high school and college, doing plays and children's theatre. So I was always into acting, but I was also really into music, so, after dropping out of college, rather than pursuing acting, I moved to San Francisco when I was 19 and started playing in punk bands, and I spent my entire 20s performing and touring and putting out records. Most of the time, I was the frontman, and during shows, I'd usually chat with the audience a bit. Every once in a while, maybe when I'd had a couple drinks too many, I'd go off on these elaborate improvisations, dragging audience members into it and just seeing where it would lead. When it worked, it was incredibly thrilling, at least for me. The show would suddenly transform into guerrilla theatre. But my bandmate didn't always like it. Especially when I goaded the wrong person one night, in Cincinnati or Cleveland or somewhere, and they marched up to the stage and sent me crashing into the drum set right in the middle of a song. But that performance aspect of acting was always there.
Then when I was 30, I moved to New York, and that's where I started to work behind the scenes both in the theatre and in TV and independent films. I did some stage managing, I built sets, I worked sound and art department, just whatever I could to be in the industry. I did a couple of small roles on stage, bit parts in some little short films, but mostly I just took it all in, learning what I could about the different departments and watching the actors and the directors working their craft. But to be an actual working actor myself, it just seemed impossible. All the actors I knew had been living and breathing acting since leaving school, and yet still, it was a miracle when any of them found work. How could I expect to ever land a role?
It wasn't until I came to Korea in my early 40s, and fell in love with the woman that would later become my wife, that I took a serious look at acting as a career option. I had spent my entire life basically broke and on the margins, always pursuing a life in the arts in one form or another, as a musician, a writer, a photographer, a performer, all while working short temp gigs in the industry, or working as a carpenter and electrician doing renovations, or, most recently before moving here, working on a farm. And it was an interesting life, and I have few regrets, but from the point of view of Korea, where the first thing people would ask me, a grown-ass man in his mid-40s, was what my major was, I felt like a worthless nobody from Nowheresville. I wasn't a teacher. (At least not a real teacher. There have been times that I've made my living almost exclusively as a private English conversation tutor during a few acting dry spells. That's the equivalent for native English-speaking actors in Korea of being a waiter in the States.) I had no degree. No CV elaborating my climb up the corporate ladder. No money to speak of. But I had to find a way to survive here so I could stay with the woman I loved. It all started on Craigslist. First, it was voice acting, and then some small roles in viral videos. And I just kept at it, meeting more agents, networking with actors and directors. And while I've never stopped taking smaller roles to pay the bills, some of the roles that came my way started to get bigger. I was in dramas and movies. Speaking parts. Recurring roles. Meanwhile, I got involved in the local theatre scene, acting and directing for the stage. And then I discovered the local indie filmmaker scene, and I started acting and writing and directing there, too. And now, after seven years at it, I think I'm finally becoming comfortable calling myself an actor and not feeling like a total poser. Most of the time, at least.
What steps do you take to fully understand the importance of your character to the story?
When you're a foreigner playing a character in a Korean production, that can be a very complicated thing to figure out. We are rarely given the entire script. Usually, we just get our scenes without any of the context of where they fit in the larger story, or who the other characters are and what their roles in the story are. Also, these scenes we get are very rarely translated by a native English speaker. In fact, they're often just passed through Papago or Google Translate, so if there are any idioms in the original Korean, you can end up with some pretty bizarre dialogue. Now for most of the roles foreigners get in Korean dramas or movies, your character is probably just there to fill some mechanical role for the plot, or you might just be there for colour or to set up a joke, so in those situations, the lack of clear translations isn't that big of a deal, your importance to the story is pretty obvious. But this practice of just being given poorly translated, out-of-context scenes can be the case for even sizable, seemingly important roles. So you have to do a lot of re-translating and ask lots of questions to the production, which all have to go back and forth through the agent, and there have been many times, just because everyone is so busy, especially if the show is already in production, that I still didn't know what my character's exact role in the story was until I was on set and we were blocking the scene with the director. Early in my career here, I could go a few scenes before I knew what was happening with my character. But I've become more comfortable speaking up when something isn't clear. After all, we're all working towards the same goal of making the best show we can. As you can maybe imagine, this can make it a little difficult to figure out how to play your character or who your character even is. If you're in your home country, playing a part written by someone that speaks your native tongue, to understand your character, you give yourself over to the script. For example, there might be a bit of dialogue that feels really unnatural for you when you say it, but that's actually a clue to the character. When the screenwriter was writing that character, they were imagining a character for whom that dialogue would be perfectly natural. So you look for all those clues in the dialogue, as well as in the kinds of choices and actions the character makes in the script, and you try to construct a character that would do and say things like that. You might try constructing a backstory for your character to justify their behaviour. And if you still have trouble finding that character, then you can ask the director or writer for insights in a timely manner, hopefully long before you start shooting. But working here in Korea, you're probably re-writing your lines on your own, and you might not even have approval of your re-writes until right before you shoot. And your re-writes might be constrained by what cues you have to give your scene partner, or how many subtitles can fit on a screen, or the order of dialogue in the scene. For example, the order of information you give in a scene might not make sense in English. Like we would say A before B in English, but the original Korean had B before A, and the script is a direct translation. And your scene partner, who is not a native English speaker, has already memorized their lines with your lines in a particular order, and they can't change them on the spot. So you might have lines that feel very unnatural to you, not because that's who your character is, but because of all these outside considerations. When I was first starting acting in Korean productions, this was one of the most frustrating aspects of the job. But now, I find it to be a fun challenge.
Who do you consider to be your acting role model whose career you would like to emulate, and why?
Ethan Hawke and I are the same age, and he probably has the recent career that most matches what I'd like to be doing, but others worth mentioning are Gary Oldman, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Viola Davis, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Bob Odenkirk, and really just so many others.
What do you consider to be your strengths in acting?
I don't know. Acting can be scary. Committing to a strong emotion, or playing a character with a questionable or disturbing nature, or showing weakness in front of other people all require a willingness to be extremely vulnerable. I think that's the most difficult thing about acting for me, and that's where I push myself the hardest. And I think you have to be very open so that your scene partners feel comfortable being vulnerable as well. And when you both are open like that, it's an incredible feeling. I think I'm in tune with that feeling and can tell when a scene is working, and if it doesn't feel like it's happening, I'll try to figure it out to get the scene there.
And being sensitive to the other people on set can help. You get feedback from them, too, even if they don't say anything. When you're acting on stage, it's more obvious. Even if the audience is completely silent, when a scene is working, you can feel them lean in, and then you know you've got something that feels real. Sometimes you can kind of sense that on set, too, even if you're alone in a scene. And that can help let you know when you're on track or when you need to make some corrections.
That said, sometimes you don't get any feedback from anyone, especially if it's late in the day and deep into production. If there's time, you can try to watch the playback to see how it's going, but sometimes you just have to power through the scene and hope for the best.
What's your favourite role so far?
My favourite character I've ever gotten to play on-screen is probably Colonel Nash Dirkman, who's featured in the upcoming short film Conception, which was written and directed by my good friend Calvin Yeager. As for higher-profile roles in dramas or movies, I don't think I can separate the roles from the experience of shooting them, so I've got a few that are favourites for different reasons.
I recently did six episodes of the MBC drama The Spies Who Loved Me (나를 사랑한 스파이), playing the head of the Korean office of the CIA, and all but one of my scenes were with Kim Tae-woo. He was an incredible scene partner, and they gave us a great deal of freedom in re-working the scenes. We really got to play. And Kim Tae-woo is a true master. It was amazing watching him work. One of the most natural actors I've ever witnessed up close. Samjin Company English Class (삼진그룹 영어토익반) is my biggest movie role that's come out so far, which is actually still not that big, but I was on set for many days, and that was one of the warmest and friendliest sets I've ever been on. The leads, Go Ah-sung, Esom and Park Hye-su, were incredibly welcoming and gracious, and the director Lee Jong-pil, was so nice. Open to collaboration, but with a sure and steady vision as a director. Definitely one of my top experiences in Korea.
Playing Commander Brown Bell in Designated Survivor, 60 Days (60 일, 지정생존자) was another incredible opportunity to work with a slew of extremely talented actors, like Ji Jin-hee and Heo Joonho. But it was the director, Yoo Jong-sun, that made that job so special for me. He was the first director I worked with in Korea that really treated me like a collaborator and made me feel that my voice and contribution were important.
Man to Man was my first recurring role on a drama. I played a Russian billionaire named Chairman Victor, and we shot several of my scenes in Budapest, Hungary. I had never been to Europe before. My character's 'house' was a museum across from the Hungarian National Assembly, and they had these 2- meter tall portraits of me hanging up all over the place. It was hard to wrap my head around. And that show came out just as the whole THAAD controversy was heating up, and China had put a ban on cultural imports from Korea, so rather than going to China after its release, Man to Man ended up becoming the first ever Korean Netflix Original drama. I only wish I'd known that when we were shooting because if I had, I would've attempted a Russian accent. And I'm Not a Robot was a lot of fun. My scene in Mr. Sunshine was a blast to do. For Stove League, I got to go to Hawaii for four days. Space Sweepers was just incredible to be a part of. I've worked on amazing, elaborate sets and in beautiful locations all over Korea. And I've worked with so many other great actors that I had already admired before working with them, like Yoo Ah-in, Lee Byung-hun, Richard Armitage, Kim Min-jung, Daniel Henney, Hyun-bin, Park Sung-woong, and so many more. And so many great directors, too. So it's really hard to narrow it down to one. I really, truly love doing this work.
You have directed some short films. How has being an actor impacted your interest in directing or influenced your position as a director? And is directing something you would like to pursue more in the future?
I think writing and directing are probably my favourite things to do, even more than acting or playing music. Similar to how I felt about acting back in the States, directing just seemed like something I'd never be able to do, but once I found this group of like-minded filmmakers here in Seoul called the Seoul Film Club, that all changed. I bought a GH5 and shot my first film in 2017. I'm not sure how acting affected my decision to direct. It was something I'd always fantasized about. But working as an actor definitely affected the way I direct. I'd actually directed in the theatre here a couple of times before I made my first film, and I think that experience, along with my own experience working with different directors gave me a clearer sense of how I wanted to direct, as well as how I definitely did not want to direct.
Directing is definitely something I will continue to do. If you're curious, you can check out all my films at my website seoulcellarproductions.com or on my YouTube channel.
Do you believe there are any particular struggles that you have faced, particularly due to being a foreign actor in the Korean entertainment industry?
There are plenty of struggles on the business side of the industry, which I'll touch on in the next question, but in general, I think there is a prejudice against foreign actors being considered real actors.
First of all, Koreans tend to think that if you were a 'real' actor, you would be in Hollywood or London or something. Anywhere but Korea. And secondly, Korean and western acting styles can be very different, especially in comedies and in Kdramas, and it can be jarring either seeing both styles on the screen at the same time or seeing a non-Korean acting in the Kdrama style. And I've already mentioned the problems with the scripts we're given. Also, the pool of available talent in Korea is relatively small, so you get a lot of people that have not acted much before suddenly being thrown in front of a camera and told to deliver lines, and not everyone is gonna give an Oscar-worthy performance in that situation. But I think things are starting to change. A lot of the actors already here, including myself, have become more dedicated to improving their craft by studying, taking workshops and acting in indie shorts. And more and more talented people from all over the world are coming here, wanting to ride that Hallyu Wave. And because of movies like Parasite and platforms like Netflix, directors are becoming more discerning when it comes to casting foreign talent. We have a long way to go to change the prevailing view of foreign actors in Korean movies and Kdramas, but it's happening.
Any parts of the industry you would like to help improve or change?
Just like in Hollywood, or New York, or any other city that attracts dreamers in search of fame and glory in the industry, dangers abound. There are so many new people arriving here all of the time, and,
like in every major industry town around the world, so many scammers, abusers and corrupt agents are waiting to take advantage of them. This steady influx of newbies that don't know their true worth and are desperate to get their shot in front of a camera is a constant drag on pay rates, which, despite some supposed oversight, are effectively unregulated, and this allows a certain level of abusive behaviour to persist within the industry, physical, mental and sexual. I would like to reach out to every single one of these talented new arrivals and make sure that they understand their worth, and to let them know a little bit about how the game is played here, so they can stay safe, avoid getting ripped off, and thrive.
With that in mind, I reached out to a friend in the Korean arts community that also advocates for the rights of immigrant artists, and she sent me a list of websites where foreign artists living and working in Korea can find knowledge and support. The websites she shared are for immigrants and/or artists in general or are for the departments in the Korean government that regulate the industry, and most of them are in Korean, though some have options for other languages or can be translated in-browser in Chrome. For English-language information specific to acting and modelling work in Korea, there's also a Facebook page called KFAMA (Korean Foreign Actors and Models Association) that has a lot of useful info. Here's her list:
https://m.home.kocca.kr/mcop/main.do
https://www.kofic.or.kr/kofic/business/main/main.do
https://www.arko.or.kr/
https://www.mcst.go.kr/kor/main.jsp
http://www.kawf.kr/
http://durebang.org/
http://global.seoul.go.kr/index.do
http://mtu.or.kr/
How do you feel that being a foreign actor has influenced people's perspectives of you in your entertainment career?
What entertainment career? The 50 people in a Facebook noise rock group that know who my old band is? Being a foreign actor in Korea IS my career. Korea made me the working actor I am today, and I am forever grateful for it. The foreign actors in Korean dramas and movies have always gotten razzed by the foreign Kdrama fan base. But I think as Korean dramas and movies rise in prominence throughout
the world, and we are exposed to an ever-wider audience, we have an opportunity to change that perception of us. I hope we can. 화이팅!
Would you like your career to stay mostly based in Korean media, or would you like to branch out internationally?
I really love travelling for work, and it would be exciting to see how filmmaking is done in other parts of the world, so I'm definitely open to acting anywhere they'll hire me. And it would be nice to get a job in the States every once in a while and visit family and friends. But Korea is my home now, and I have no plans to change that anytime soon, so I hope this will always be my main market. I don't like being away from my wife or our cats for too long.
Do you have any upcoming roles or projects that you can tell us about?
A new drama, Squid Game, just came out on Netflix. Emergency Declaration, which recently premiered at Cannes, will be released theatrically in the fall, I think? And I've got Confidential
Assignment 2: International also coming out sometime by the end of the year. Plus, I've got a few different independent short films coming out soon that I'm super psyched about. For upcoming projects,
I'm currently collaborating as a writer on creating an animated series, I've got a couple of short film scripts ready to start shooting once I figure out some funding, and I'll be shooting another Netflix drama, as well as my first web drama, later this fall. And I do commercials, voice acting jobs, lifestyle modelling jobs, music videos, motion capture jobs for video games, and whatever else comes my way whenever I can. It's an endless hustle, and I kind of love it.
For more information on John D. Michaels, follow him on Instagram
