Theresa Kang & Michael Ellenberg Interview: Pachinko | ScreenRant
Apple TV+ continues expanding its foothold in international stories with historical epic Pachinko, which premieres March 25 for an 8-episode season. Crafted as a first part out of four, the show is an adaptation of the New York Times best-selling novel by Min Jin Lee. The sweeping tale commences in the early 20th century during the Japanese occupation of Korea and spans years and countries to wind up in Japan during the late 1980s. At the center of the story is one Korean family who immigrated to Japan and withstood both poverty and discrimination in order to flourish in their new home.
Creator Soo Hugh, who wrote for The Terror and See, emphasized the authenticity of this family saga by using Korean, Japanese and English to tell it. All its moving pieces and clashing cultures are held together by the fortitude of the family matriarch, Sunja, who is played at different points by luminous newcomer Kim Minha and by Oscar-winning veteran Youn Yuh-jung (Minari). Pachinko chronicles everything from her birth to her passionate but illicit romance with Koh Hansu (played by Kdrama star Lee Min-ho) and even her beloved grandson Solomon's (Jin Ha, Devs) dilemma in the world of modern business.
Executive Producers Theresa Kang and Michael Ellenberg spoke to Screen Rant about how they first began working on Pachinko with creator Hugh, what makes Sunja such a compelling protagonist, and which aspects had to be present in the show's first season.
Theresa, I believe you sent Soo Pachinko several years before, which shows foresight on your part about the Hallyu wave coming to sweep over western countries. Why was she the right person to adapt the work and what spoke to you about it?
Theresa Kang: Initially, Michael and I were already working together, and I was also working with Soo. I was both of their agents, so that's how we all ended up connecting. But at that time, I sent the book, which I was very passionate about, to several Asian American screenwriters. And everybody passed, because this book was very hard to get made into a series.
We felt it needed to be told in three languages, which was unheard of at the time. Just to take you back, this is when Crazy Rich Asians was just about to come out, and a few years before Parasite. So, even though the Hallyu wave was in existence, this was the first of its kind. And we hope that changes.
Soo also read the book, and initially she wasn't sure she could take it on. We talked a lot about, "Soo, if you don't tell the story, it's going to take another five to seven years for another Korean American writer - a woman - to rise to the ranks of get where you are." Soo is a masterful writer and producer, and I just felt she was the right person to tell it. Michael felt the same, and so we all ended up collaborating and took it to networks. And we ultimately ended up at Apple.
Michael, Minha and YJ both give such fascinating performances as different aspects of Sunja in different life circumstances. What would you say are the characteristics that you wanted Sunja to have throughout? What do they share that made them right for that role?
Michael Ellenberg: It's a great question. I think they are different points in Sunja's life, so at the beginning - meaning at the beginning of Minha's journey, when we meet her and we're meeting YJ as a mature woman - we actually wanted to see the gap. We wanted to see young Sunja as an innocent, as a believer, as a bit naïve but always intelligent and always smart. There's an intelligence that both women have, that you read in both of them immediately.
But we also wanted you to go on this journey over the season of wondering, "How did young Sunja become older Sunja?" And so, as the events of the season progress, the weight of what Minha goes through begins to resonate more and more with what we're seeing of YJ. By the end of the season, YJ's Sunja is both wise and intelligent, and she's also wry. She has a bit of a sense of humor, and she's the boss. She has command.
And by the end of the season, you watch the journey with Minha where in the very last sequence you see that version of Sunja begin. Minha, I think, built a brilliant and daring performance, where you have to go on that journey steadily as an audience moment by moment by moment until you see this new version of her emerge.
YJ is just one of the great actresses on the planet Earth and from day one inhabited the role and inhabited the history of the show. We knew, every time you cut to her face, you would need to in essence feel she's remembering everything. Only an actress of YJ's skill can really do that. Just looking at her quietly washing the dishes, you see the weight of the world on her face. Anyway, they're awesome. They're awesome is the short answer.
Pachinko is so rich and full of story that, of course, it would take more than one season to tell that story. But were there aspects that had to be in season 1 for you?
Theresa: Absolutely. For one, we all believed that it needed to be told in Korean, Japanese and English. And at the time four years ago, that was unheard of. Now, it's a little bit different. But this is a first of its kind, in that it is in three languages and we have an international global cast. Of almost 637 cast members, almost 95% of our cast are Asian from around the world.
At the end of the day, it is a huge epic. But really, deep inside, it's about everyday humans. It's about the courage of immigrants, and it's really about the sacrifices that one generation makes for the next. I hope when audiences watch it, they feel there's a sense of being interconnected to one's family; to one's roots; to where we're going.
[Regarding] the question you asked about Sunja, one of my greatest motivators is my future self. And I think you see that all in the series. You see when Sunja's born all the way to when she's a grandmother, and we often never get to see that kind of story of a woman; a young woman. And that's why I really hope that audiences worldwide feel it's universal. You don't have to be Korean to love the show, but if you're Korean, we hope you really love it. At the same time, I hope you find it universal.
Michael Ellenberg: In terms of story for the season, obviously, you had to see Hansu and Sunja - both their short affair and their separation. We wanted to take you on a journey for season 1; to really see young Sunja make her way to Japan, and [experience] the shock of coming from such a small rural community into one of the biggest, most powerful countries in the world and most dynamic cities in the world. To be a stranger in a strange land, a minority in that world, and see that initial struggle with Isak.
We wanted to take you through the birth of Sunja, really, as a woman and as a mother. And Soo really had this clear idea that by the end of the season, you'll have seen that who Sunja became has happened and that now we're on the journey with her. That was a key landmark.
Theresa Kang: The only last thing I'll add, as it relates to Sunja, is that it's really a story about a young Korean woman. When you see the show, visually - the visual language of it - we actually shot in Korea. It's a stunning portrayal of this beautiful country.
And I think to see that over multiple generations, from Korea to Japan, [you realize] this is a history that many people don't know about: the Japanese occupation of Korea. Koreans know it, and certain people know it, but it's not fully known. But this is really not a political piece; it's really a human drama at the core, and about everyday people under extraordinary circumstances.
Pachinko's first three episodes premiere March 25 on Apple TV+, followed by one episode weekly for the rest of the season.