- Stephen Park described “friends” as a “toxic environment” when he played during a recent interview with Podcast.
- The park played in the seasons two and three of the “friends” and said that he had heard racist comments on the set.
- “No one felt the need to correct this or to say anything about it. It is therefore normal behavior.”
Despite his reputation for one of the most famous sitcoms of all time, a star guest “friends” said that the environment on the set was uncomfortable for Asian actors.
“It was at the time, for me, I felt that it was a kind of toxic environment,” said Korean-American actor Stephen Park in an episode of “Pod meets the world“A podcast.
Park appeared in a small role as a data processing colleague of Chandler Bing (late Matthew Perry) In the episode of season two “the one with chickenpox”.
He described hearing racist insults on the set while making his second appearance in the show, in “The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion”, which was broadcast in 1997 and also played James Hong (“Blade Runner”, “Mulan”, “Everhything Everywhere All Amm OFST”).
“James Hong was the actor who was also on the episode with me, and (the deputy director) called him on the set and you know, saying essentially:” Where is the oriental guy? Get the oriental guy “”, recalls Park on the podcast.
Matthew Perry, Matt Leblanc and Stephen Park in “that with chickenpox”. Gary NULL / NBCU Bank / NBCUNIVERIVERSAL photo via Getty Images
“It’s bigger than this show,” added Park. “This is not the first time that it has happened, you know, but it is the environment where it is as usual in Hollywood in 1997, I suppose it was. And nobody felt the need to correct this or to say anything. It is therefore normal behavior.”
Tedged by the incident, Park wrote a “mission statement” describing racism in Hollywood and sent it to all those who had registered with its distribution list.
“As an Asian-American actor, I continue to fight to find roles for me who are not insulting and stereotypical,” he wrote at the time, according to archived versions available online.
“I just finished working as a star guest in one of the best rated on television programs, which brings me to my next point,” continued Park. “Working with the people involved in this show was an extremely painful experience for me. A disturbing lack of generosity of spirit and fundamental human courtesy, in addition to a racial incident on the set, forced me to express.”
Park said that the email had made a big impression in Hollywood circles – that it “had become viral before” viral “was even a word” – and ended up being published in several other publications, but ultimately did little to repress its concerns.
“I had become so concerned about the race and so angry that I looked at everything through the goal of the breed,” said Park on the podcast. “I had the impression that there was no freedom. I felt no freedom. So I had no idea what I was going to do, but I just decided to give up. I said to everyone:” I was no longer playing. “”
Park’s break did not last forever. He will then appear alongside Robert Pattinson in the highly anticipated dystopian comedy by Bong Joon-Ho “Mickey 17.”
In recent years, he has also appeared in several Wes Anderson films, including “Asteroid City” of 2023 and “The French Dispatch” of 2023 and the 2013 thriller of Joon-Ho “Snowpiercer”.
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