Ken Jeong and the Boys of K-Town Talk New Film, Flirting With Old Korean Men

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  • What’s Trending host Shira Lazar interviewed the gang of “KTown Cowboys” at the Samsung Blogger Lounge at this year’s South by Southwest festival. Ken Jeong, Danny Cho, Daniel Dae Kim and director DPD were on hand to discuss the new film and shed light on a part of Los Angeles many people may not know much about.

    “I think a lot of people from Los Angeles, they pass through the streets of K-Town,” director DPD said. “Maybe they eat some dinner there. But there’s all these buildings and things just on the other side of the wall that they don’t know about.”

    “We want people to understand what kind of debauchery happens there,” DPD said.

    The film, which is based on a web series of the same name, caught the eye of Ken Jeong. “The Hangover” star is executive producer of the movie.

    “I talked with DPD and Danny [Cho],” Jeong said. And when the possibility of making the movie came up, Jeong said, “I wanted to be a part of it.”

    Daniel Dae Kim felt the same way about the series. “Seeing a bunch of Asian-American men doing something for themselves, I wanted to support them in any way I could,” Kim said.

    Jeong, who appears in the film, never expected to be an actor — let alone an executive producer. The doctor-turned-actor says he owes it all to the break he got as a doctor in the film “Knocked Up.”

    “I was so happy to be in ‘Knocked Up.’ That really opened the door to everything. If it wasn’t for ‘Knocked Up’ there would be no ‘Hangover’ and I wouldn’t be here with these guys.” Jeong said. “I’m just so happy to be a part of this and never thought in a million years I’d be sitting here talking to you.”

    “KTown Cowboys” is shot in Los Angeles’ Korea Town, and getting access to locations was sometimes a struggle.

    “Locking down [locations] was really difficult,” DPD said. “We had to have Danny half function as location manager. A lot of bowing down and using polite words with older Korean men.”

    “There’s a specific way of buttering up old Korean men,” Danny Cho said. “It’s not like a sexual thing. But there’s a specific way and I’m an expert in it.”

    “It’s kinda flirty. But man flirty.”

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