Randall Park on Shortcomings: why the film’s protagonist is ‘a jerk’, and how his directorial debut contains conversations Asians ‘don’t get to have’

Park, of Fresh off the Boat and Aquaman fame, directs for the first time in the movie Shortcomings, about Asian-Americans navigating interpersonal relationships

Talking with the Post, he opens up about Justin H. Min’s ‘layered’ but not always likeable lead, letting Sherry Cola loose, and not filming ‘a lot of takes’

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Randall Park, director of “Shortcomings”, talks to the Post about his insistence on “complex” Asian characters in his directorial debut, and filmmaking on a budget. Photo: Storm Santos

Published: 4:15am, 2 Aug 2023Updated: 12:07pm, 3 Aug 2023

Life isn’t working out for Ben, a 20-something wannabe filmmaker who manages a failing cinema in Berkeley, California. His girlfriend Miko has left for New York, followed by his queer buddy Alice. All of his choices lead nowhere and his options are disappearing.

That is the premise of Shortcomings, the directorial debut feature of actor, musician, writer and producer Randall Park.

Park’s ferocious work ethic is the opposite of Ben’s lethargy, with the actor having appeared in sitcoms like Veep and Fresh Off the Boat, in the Netflix hit movie Always Be My Maybe (which he wrote with his co-star Ali Wong and producing partner Michael Golamco), and most recently as the voice of Hunter in the animated feature Strays.

Park is also one of the few actors to be a member of both the DC (Aquaman) and Marvel (Ant-Man and the Wasp) universes.

Born to Korean immigrant parents in Los Angeles, Park started an Asian-American theatre company while attending the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He continued to pursue acting while forming musical groups and finding a following on the internet.

The decision to direct had always been in the back of his mind, he tells the Post on a Zoom call.