Meet J. Elijah Cho

We had the good fortune of connecting with J. Elijah Cho and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi J. Elijah, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’m a Korean-American writer/actor who was born in Florida, but my family didn’t stay in Florida long because my parents were in the U.S. Air Force. We moved to North Dakota where my brother was born, then we moved to Yongsan Army Base in South Korea, then to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, then BACK to South Korea where I graduated from high school. I then went to the University of South Florida where I studied Theatre and I continued doing theatre in the area until I booked my first television role that filmed in Atlanta. Now, I’m in Los Angeles! I’m grateful to have had such an embarrassment of riches in terms of life experiences (thank you, Mom & Dad!), but I feel the most impactful time in all of that was the stretch where I was working as an Asian-American theatre actor in Florida. Those years were uniquely trying and oddly rewarding and I’ve tried to capture some of those complicated feelings and the lessons I learned while in Florida for my next play, The Jackie Chan Fan Club.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I knew that I wanted to be an actor at a very young age when I saw Ke Huy Quan in The Goonies. And while the dream was always to be in movies, I’m grateful to have taken the detour into theatre along the way. I mentioned doing theatre in Florida earlier and while I’m grateful for the opportunities I received while I was there, I did find myself wanting to do more than just what I was being offered. I wrote my first play while I was in Florida, a solo show called Mr. Yunioshi written for an Asian actor to play Mickey Rooney as he prepares to play Holly Golightly’s Japanese neighbor in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I performed the show at the New York Fringe Festival and again at the Hollywood Fringe Festival where I was directed by Joe Wagner and won the award for Best Solo Performance. Since then my producing partners, Ari & David Stidham, have helped me take the show to theatres all across the country. I’m teaming up with Ari again for my next play, The Jackie Chan Fan Club, a comedy set in the late 1990’s about a Korean-American video store clerk in Florida who has to deal with his coworkers starting a Jackie Chan Fan Club.

The biggest challenge for me has always been one of taking up space. I’ve always found it surprisingly easy to be creative and vulnerable, probably due to the people and experiences that have shaped me. Something that’s much less easy for me is talking about and promoting my work and its value (he says in the interview about his work and its value). I try to clear that hurdle on a daily basis and something that helps is remembering something my Dad said to me along the lines of, “you are just as important as everybody else.” That’s been a really nice reminder.

I’d love for people to see my work and be deeply moved and/or pleasantly surprised. I try not to be clever for clever’s sake and while I enjoy challenging an audience, I really don’t aim to offend. I hope people can enjoy the stories I tell and connect with the characters in ways that might make it easier for them to connect with others. I think feeling and empathy are like muscles and I like giving people an opportunity to flex those parts of themselves.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My current favorite spot is The Pack Theater which just moved next to The Clubhouse, so there’s kind of a Comedy Row in that plaza now. It’s really lovely because you can see sketch, improv, stand-up, clown, music, and theatre on these stages and the community is really energizing to be around. I also recommend The Pack because depending on when I have people visiting, I may be doing a comedy show, either as a guest or with my sketch team “Surprise B*tch!” I also love The Yard Theatre (where we’ll be doing The Jackie Chan Fan Club)!
I have two favorite theatres at the moment, East West Players in Little Tokyo, and The Broadwater. East West Players is an institution that I remember reading about when I was studying theatre in Florida and I feel so lucky to get to see shows there. My Mom and I saw their production of Mamma Mia! The Broadwater is where I did my solo show in the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival and there’s always cool shows happening there and there’s now a resident comedy theatre called The Hit!

Finally, my favorite place to eat is Torung Thai Restaurant. I remember when my friend Nick Pupo visited me in L.A. for the first time, we picked up food from them four or five nights in a row. Also, Jesse Boy Korean Fried Chicken is right by The Broadwater and they are super delicious!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I always get so anxious about these types of questions because there are so many people that have helped to shape and mold me into the person and artist that I am today and I’m always worried that I’m going to forget somebody! Okay, lets try this. I hope I have enough space!

My first shoutout is to my Family! My Mom & Dad for always being supportive of my dreams, my Brother for giving me the best tough love pep talks and still the funniest person I know, my Aunt Susie for believing very early on that I would become a writer. My Cousins and Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles that have all shown me love and kindness throughout my life.

Shoutout #2 goes to my Friends. All of my theatre friends in Florida that helped shape my taste in telling stories and cracking wise: Jack, Gi, Emily, Brandon, Scott, Jonelle, too many more. The friends that I’ve met in Atlanta and Los Angeles: Nick Pupo, Brian Kim, Joe Wagner, Marcelina Chavira, Ari Stidham, my sketch team, Surprise B*tch!, everyone over at The Pack Theater.

And finally, all of my Teachers, starting with Ms. Pell, my 8th Grade English Teacher. Shoutout to my theatre instructors at USF and my past directors… Shoutout to anyone that has taught me anything ever! Thank you! And once again, my Parents because they’ve taught me more than anyone.

Website: www.jelijahcho.com

Instagram: @jelijahcho

Twitter: @jelijahcho

Facebook: facebook.com/jelijahcho

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4xsmMAfIH8 

Image Credits
Guitar photo – JL Ducker Headshot – Van Der Swain Sketch Team – Carli Lind