It looks like John Cho of Harold and Kumar fame is going to be the new Sulu for the next Star Trek movie, according to multiple news stories and StarTrek.com.
Yes, I am a Star Trek fan. I'll admit it publicly (stop giggling). So, I was curious as to who would be chosen to take the part George Takei originated. I would imagine every male Asian actor in Hollywood was fishing for the part.
The plot for the movie is a closely held secret, but it will be a prequel revolving around the early days of Kirk, Spock and the rest of the Star Trek crew.
I hope they portray the early Capt. Sulu as a strong leader he eventually becomes rather than the more meek, sidekick-type of Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) from the Star Trek: Voyager TV series.
Look for Cho as well in Harold and Kumar 2, maybe my second most anticipated movie of 2008.
Posted by harry at October 12, 2007 11:32 AM
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Hmm... Hikaru Sulu... Kaito Nakamura... John Cho... All stoners... k! Works for me! I think he'll be good! It's going to be great fun. I don't know if I can keep a straight face looking at him.
hi harry,
trekkie to trekkie, i think garrett wang/ensign kim and the entire voyager series happened in a post-TNG/post-DS9 ST franchise creative downswing (let's not even talk about what crap ST:enterprise was).
that said, i think the voyager characters were pretty much squandered or initially ill-conceived. so yes, harry kim was a major disappointment (i'm going to be writing about this for a multi-ethnicity journal).
also though i'm not sure how i feel about ST writers going retro/ret-con, rather than forward. still i'm thinking the writers know they have some serious expectations to meet.
Yes, this whole retro thing has killed the franchise, as evidenced by Enterprise.
But with J.J. Abrahms (Lost, Alias) in charge, maybe he can jazz things up.
oh, barb, you break my heart! voyager was my favorite! the ship was always led by a triumvirate of strong wimmin, two of whom, in the latter half of the series, were multiracial!
plus, harry kim started out poopy, agreed, but developed into more of a leader--and a lover--in the later part of the series. plus, he was the only main asian xtr in TNG serieseseses (i don't count "enterprise." ugh.
but i agree that the retro thing stinks. harry, i didn't know abrams was heading it up. it could go either way with him, but at least it'll be fun to see.
i'm a little torn, however, about sulu being played by a koream, as i was about a chi-am playing harry kim. all look same!
Nothing against John Cho, but I wish they cast something else...but it could have been worse...I was half expecting the character be 'reimagined' as a chick and we'd get Lucy Liu...
I am a huge fan of John Cho and the Harold and Kumar movies! He recently did a very interesting interview on Fancast:
http://bigpicture.fancast.com/2008/04/interview_john_cho_speaks_on_t.html