“But really, just to be part of this crew with an all-Asian and Asian-American cast. So for me, that was really the most exciting part about it.” –Ali Fumiko Whitney
The upcoming romantic comedy Worth the Wait will be available on Tubi in a few days. The movie follows four couples on various relationship journeys and showcases the ups and downs of love in an emotionally heartfelt way.
With a phenomenal all-Asian main cast including Ali Fumiko Whitney (Find me Falling) as Riley and Ricky He (FROM) as Blake, Worth the Wait is definitely one you’ll want to watch!
Ahead of the film’s premiere on Tubi, I had the fantastic opportunity to sit down with Whitney and He to talk about their experiences working on the film, including their chemistry reads, learning they would be part of the cast, and working with Sung Kang, who portrays Whitney’s uncle in the movie.
Watch the full interview with Ali Fumiko Whitney & Ricky He below:
Whitney vividly remembers doing the Zoom chemistry reads with He about two years ago. She shared with me that she knew right away that He was definitely going to get the part of Blake.
Whitney said, “I remember doing a Zoom chemistry read with Ricky. Gosh, it was like, what? Two years ago. And I remember getting off the call and immediately being like, ‘Oh, he’s gonna be Blake.’ Like, I knew less about my experience, but I was like, ‘Oh, this guy’s gonna book it. He’s perfect for the part.’ So I have a very visceral memory of meeting him for the first time.”
Asian Representation in Worth the Wait
In addition to thinking that He was great for Blake, she expressed her excitement in landing a part in Worth the Wait because of the film’s all-Asian main cast.
Whitney shared, “Honestly, for me, I kind of just – I met with Rachel [Tan] and Dan [Mark] and Tom [Lin] a couple months before meeting Ricky, and I was just so excited to play Riley. But really, just to be part of this crew with an all-Asian and Asian-American cast. So for me, that was really the most exciting part about it.”
He joked that he knew he would get the part, “Yeah, I remember getting off the chemistry read with Ali, and also thinking like, ‘Wow, I’m going to get this job.’ I’m so good at this.”
He continued, “No, it was – there was something about like the chemistry read in particular. When we got on, I think just like the night before, we did a screening for a thing, and so I was, like, completely discombobulated. But then I hopped on the Zoom, I met the team again, and then met Ali, and it was just kind of like…it felt like she grounded me from all the discombobulation. And so, we just kind of locked eyes and locked in right away. And yeah, I was really excited.”
Not only do the dynamic duo have great chemistry with each other, but they also have great chemistry with Sung Kang, who portrays Riley’s Uncle, Curtis, in Worth The Wait.
Regarding creating that bond, Whitney said, “I would say Sung was great, because I was actually shooting another project in Vancouver, and I remember I was on set coordinating with Sung and Ricky because we really wanted to get together before our first day of shooting. You know, for a film like this, it’s so important that you have chemistry. And given that, you know, he’s my uncle in the film, he really made a big effort to get to know me. We got ice cream together. He took me to dinner.”
Of course, it’s hard to walk around with Sung Kang and not be noticed. Whitney shared, “We walked around Vancouver, which, as everyone knows, Sung Kang is famous. So I felt very famous. Everywhere we went, people would stalk us and try to take pictures of us, and I would just be in the background, like, ‘Hey, that’s my uncle.’ So that was my experience. I feel like I was very starstruck, but not starstruck because he was very grounded. And also, like having Ricky around, it didn’t feel as scary.”
He had a different experience since he didn’t have Whitney with him when he met Kang for the first time.
“That’s a great point, because she just wrapped the movie she was doing, and so when I met with Sung, it was just me and him. And so, I didn’t have Ali to bounce off of. And I was definitely nervous. I definitely made a fool of myself,” He said.
He continued, “But yeah, there’s something about Sung that he has…he exudes this…I think the first time we met, he was wearing this like all white linen. You know, his hair is flowing in the Vancouver summer wind. And it just felt like I was walking next to, like, Korean Jesus. And that was pretty powerful.”
Favourite Scenes: No Spoilers
Regarding their favourite scenes from the film to shoot, there wasn’t much Whitney and He could say without giving too much away—still, the pair did share some moments where they particularly enjoyed their time on set.
Whitney shared, “It was really easy to go to work every day because all of our scenes were either just us two or with Sung. So maybe, like, one of the coolest days was a scene where we got to work with people outside of our little trio. That was kind of cool.”
He followed up with, “I think there’s a scene where I climb out a window, there’s a scene where I scream out a window, there’s a scene where – there’s a lot of window-oriented things that I’m excited about.”
When Whitney remarked that He also “falls a lot” in the movie, He replied, “Oh, I do fall! I fall once? Twice. I fall twice. I fall once, and then the second time I fall for Riley in the movie.”
Be sure to watch Ali Fumiko Whitney and Ricky He in Worth the Wait on May 23, exclusively on Tubi!
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