The Wedding Banquet, directed by Andrew Ahn, is now in theatres!
Ahead of the film’s theatrical release, I had the pleasure of chatting with Bobo Le, who stars as Kendall in the film. Kendall is the happy-go-lucky cousin of Chris (Bowen Yang) and brings some added fun and comedy to the film.
Raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, The Wedding Banquet is Le’s debut feature, and the actor was happy to talk about her experience working on the film. From Le’s reaction to getting the role to the elements of Kendall’s personality that Le gravitated toward, working with director Andrew Ahn and co-star Bowen Yang, Le had a lot to share about working on The Wedding Banquet!
Watch the interview with Bobo Le below:
As the film is Le’s feature film debut, I wanted to know what Le’s reaction was when she learned that she would be part of the cast of The Wedding Banquet.
“Oh my gosh, I was at home. I had just woken up from a nap, and my agent called me, and I felt like I was dreaming. Tears were coming down my face. I was screaming. I felt terrible – I was like screaming in her ear, and I was running up and down everywhere, all over my house, and I just couldn’t believe it. I was crying, screaming, running, sweating. It was all the things. I genuinely felt like I was still dreaming,” Le shared.
Kendall was a highlight of The Wedding Banquet. Many people who watch the film will love Kendall’s contagious energy and ability to see the best in situations. So, I asked Le if there was anything in particular about Kendall that she found relatable about the character, and Le revealed that she saw so many parts of herself within the character.
“Yeah, I love Kendall’s spontaneity and impulsiveness, and this desire to just see the best in every situation. Kendall will turn a bad idea into the best idea ever, even though it’s terrible. And I think that’s what I, you know, resonate with Kendall so much is that Kendall just stays in this kind of – Kendall will create their environment and make it so that it is for Kendall, you know? And Kendall will also apply that to Chris, Bowen’s character, and be like, oh, you know, Chris is having this existential crisis, and there’s all these things going on. But Kendall was like, ‘No, dude, this is the best thing ever.’ And I love that so much about Kendall, and I really see so many parts of myself,” Le told me.
Le shares most of her scenes with Yang’s character, Chris. The chemistry between the duo is fantastic, and they have great moments throughout the movie. Regarding working with Yang, Le has nothing but praise.
“It was so easy, you know? It I feel like with me and Bowen, it wasn’t anything that we had to work on. We just naturally connected so well together, and we spent so much time together on set and off set. And you know, Bowen really takes great care of me, and, you know, we take care of each other, and we have this trust. And it was just something that came so naturally. And I think that it really just translated on screen,” Le shared.
As her feature film debut, Le told me that she learned a lot about herself and her craft while working on The Wedding Banquet, particularly the importance of bringing herself and her authenticity to a character.
Le revealed, “I learned the importance of bringing myself and my own authenticity to this character. Because, you know, Kendall was initially a smaller role, and when I auditioned for it initially, and then I met Andrew, you know, I brought so much of myself. And you know what I was telling you about Kendall, and this energy, this kind of spontaneous, impulsiveness and love that shines through Kendall. And Andrew, our director, loved it so much that he saw like this chaotic sibling energy, and it inspired him to to rewrite Kendall and make Kendall Bowen’s cousin. And, you know, we got to explore so much more Kendall, and it brought out so many elements of Bowen’s character, Chris as well. So what I learned was that showing up as myself and bringing you know, my story and my experiences into this, it turned out to be, you know, even more than what I’ve imagined.”
While The Wedding Banquet is a dramedy, Le would like to find herself in future films in the world of sci-fi or fantasy.
Le said, “Oh, yeah! You know, I want to jump into, like a sci-fi universe, you know? I love whimsical stuff, things that are other worldly. Yeah, any kind of fantasy. I have a background in dance and also martial arts, so I’m open. I love anything that is, you know, just really, really out there, where I get to dive in and really commit and throw myself into this different universe. And I think that’s something that really speaks to me.”
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