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The Korea Times

By Dong Sun-hwa
As a child growing up in the US state of Texas, Korean-American actor Tim Jo was so quiet that he was practically invisible – the only other person he spoke Korean to was his mother. This all changed at the age of 16, when he went on a church trip to Korea.
“It was there that a new spirit was birthed inside me,” Jo recalled in a recent interview. “I immediately fell in love with my culture, people and country. In Korea, I finally learned to love myself.
“As soon as I came back to the US, I no longer wanted to be silent. I no longer wanted to keep my thoughts, my art, and my creativity to myself. I began to feel an unbelievable urge to express myself.
“Suffice it to say, I found that outlet through acting.”
Jo made his acting debut in his mid-20s with the 2009 film The 2 Bobs, and he has since appeared in productions including US musical romcom drama Bandslam and sitcom The Neighbors.


Still, as a minority, his acting journey was not a walk in the park.
“In the US, most main roles are written with white being the default race,” Jo said. “If you are a minority, you have fewer opportunities to play characters of depth and are usually given supporting roles.
“In Korea, I understand there are archetypes as well – the handsome leading man, the cute boy, the gangster. In the US, however, the biggest challenge is that my archetype is the colour of my skin.

“It is my responsibility to not be deterred by this fact and to focus on my unique artistry that is not defined by the colour of my skin, but rather the voice of my soul.”
Thanks to his persistence, Jo has been able to carve his own niche in the acting industry, joining the casts of acclaimed shows like Reasonable Doubt, a US legal drama produced by actress-producer Kerry Washington.
Jo, who played private investigator Daniel Kim in the first season, will reprise his role in the second season – which will premiere on August 22 on Hulu. Season one can be streamed on Disney+.


“For the second season, with my new-found acceptance and love for my character, my motto was ‘courage’,” Jo says.
“Daniel is a ridiculous and unpredictable character, so I gave myself the task of being exciting, unpredictable and loose. I love to follow rules, but with Daniel, I had to have the courage to show up to work and be willing to break them all.”
When Jo was originally offered the role of Daniel Kim, he was actually turned off because the character seemed to be an Asian-American stereotype.
“My mission statement for the first season was ‘surrender’,” Jo says. “As an Asian-American actor, many supporting roles are written as one-dimensional, comedic caricatures.
“I have spent so much of my career fighting against those archetypes because our community deserves more depth than many of the opportunities offered to us.”

He adds: “[So] when I was initially presented with the character of Daniel, I admit I was turned off. He was written as ‘an intelligent private investigator, a nerd who grew up to be hot, but doesn’t know it yet’.
“I resisted the opportunity because I did not want to play this archetype.”
But he changed his mind after talking to his wife, who told him that he was also “a nerd who grew up to be hot and still does not know it”.
“I decided to dig into the character and accept him fully and, in turn, I was challenged to accept myself as well,” he reveals. “Throughout the first season, whenever I felt the urge to fight against Daniel’s ‘nerdy’ qualities, I told myself to surrender and dissect the character’s humanity.
“What may seem like a simple, lighthearted performance was one of my most difficult because I had to constantly surrender my ego and learn to trust the story, the writers, and myself.”


Jo will be featured in the musical horror-thriller Art of a Hit, which will be released this autumn. It revolves around a faded rock band that heads to a French chateau to record their comeback album. Once they get there, they realise not everything is as it seems.
In the movie, Jo plays Timmy, a cocky, shaggy-haired, chain-smoking guitar prodigy who argues with everyone.
“I have never been given the opportunity to show this side of myself, so I am extremely excited to see the final product and am eager to hear people’s reactions toward the character,” Jo says. “Another fun fact is that I recorded all of the guitar and bass guitar tracks for the movie’s soundtrack.”
The global popularity of Korean culture, such as K-pop and K-dramas, has affected Jo’s life in many different ways.
“Growing up as an extreme minority for most of my life, I could never have imagined that people would be so passionate about my culture,” he says.
I am never happier than when I am back in my home country
Tim Jo
“Yoo Jae-won, my character in drama This Is Us (an NBC show streaming on Disney+), was specifically written to be Korean, with a Korean name … Daniel Kim in Reasonable Doubt was also specifically written as Korean.
“There are many fun moments and jokes in the second season [of Reasonable Doubt] where I make choices specifically inspired by my Korean heritage. Without the popularity of Korean pop culture, I truly believe that these characters would not have existed.”
For Jo, Korea is like heaven on earth.
“I am never happier than when I am back in my home country,” he says. “As proud as I am of everything Korea has done to impact worldwide culture, I hope that my work is able to make my fans in Korea proud as well …
“My only dream for the future is that I continue to stay in love with acting, and that my artistry continues to redefine and transform itself as I age.”
Read the full story at The Korea Times.


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The Korean-American reflects on how, after a trip to Korea, he ‘no longer wanted to be silent’ and how his wife convinced him to take a role


Being an Asian-American actor is no walk in the park, says This is Us’ Tim Jo. The Korean-American recalls an introverted childhood and a life-changing church trip, and considers the popularity of K-culture.
