The Wedding Banquet may be based on Ang Lee’s 1993 classic, but director Andrew Ahn (who co-wrote the screenplay with original screenwriter James Schamus) updates the story in a unique and unexpected way. The story revolves around four close friends who are currently in two very committed relationships – romances that the actors contributed to by sharing couple secrets with each other at their director’s behest. Bowen Yang, Kelly Marie Tran, Lily Gladstone, and Han Gi-chan take the believable found family on the page and elevate it to new heights through their commitment to rom-com excellence.

Angela (Tran) and her partner Lee (Gladstone) are attempting to conceive through IVF, and their fertility struggles are compounded by Angela’s insecurities stemming from her relationship with her mother (Joan Chen). Meanwhile, Min (Han) proposes to his boyfriend Chris (Yang), but is rebuffed thanks to the latter’s phobia of commitment. To make matters worse, Min’s green card is about to expire, and his grandmother (Youn Yuh-jung, Minari) is demanding his return to Korea for the sake of the family company. The solution? A sH๏τgun wedding between Min and Angela in exchange for payment of Lee’s next treatment.

ScreenRant interviewed the lively cast and director of The Wedding Banquet about the rich backstory that went into the movie’s relationships. Han and Yang shared the secret meet-cute they came up with for Min and Chris, while Gladstone and Tran revealed the driving force behind Lee and Angela’s journey to motherhood. Ahn, meanwhile, explained some of his biggest casting surprises and his approach to the intergenerational dynamics in his fresh new rom-com.

The Wedding Banquet’s Relationships Have Some Rich History To Draw From

Director Andrew Ahn Suggested They Come Up With Secrets “To Help Gird That In Media Res Aspect”

Unlike more traditional rom-coms, The Wedding Banquet begins several years into the two primary romances. Rather than witnessing their respective meet-cutes, the audience is invited to join these established relationships along for the ride, which gives the actors room to play with their imaginations. In fact, Yang revealed that one of the director’s exercises for the actors was “creating a secret among the couples, just to help gird that in media res aspect to it.”

Min and Chris “had this really lovely story about how they met and who put the moves on who,” Yang explained before allowing his co-star Han to flesh out the details. “What if Chris was watching a bird again through his binoculars?” Han set the scene enthusiastically. “He was watching a bird fly away, and there was something shiny down there. ‘Oh, what was that?’ It was Min!”

“That was kind of the imagination beyond the script that we had. Andrew told us, ‘Make your own secrets without telling me,’” Han added. “Andrew’s a smart guy in that way; he knew that this could show up on screen more naturally.” And he was right, especially because it’s a first meeting (imaginary though it may be) that takes inspiration from an important facet of Chris’ personality, which is present in the film itself.

Tran shared Lee and Angela’s secret (“we have a cat”), but it was Gladstone who painted the picture. “We decided that we wanted a child because we missed our cat so much.” It was a detail that was informed by the work that went into the set dressing of their home, adding even more weight to their acting choices. “It’s a 10-year-old relationship, and there is a pH๏τo we sH๏τ with a cat named Sweet Pea that was not having it. She was like 16 years old and grumpy as hell.”

Gladstone concluded their tale with a touch of bittersweet humor. “I think we were cat moms first and decided that we had a big gaping hole, and that Jojo-sized hole can only be filled with a human baby.”

The Wedding Banquet Proves Lily Gladstone Belongs In Rom-Coms

“In My Own Life, I’m A Pretty Cartoony Person”

Audiences have become most acquainted with Gladstone through her work in serious dramas like Under the Bridge and Oscar-nominated movies like Killers of the Flower Moon, but The Wedding Banquet publicly unlocks a side of the actor that has been present all along. “My closest friends who have seen this film will say, ‘Oh, there she is. This is the most Lily character you’ve played so far,’” Gladstone confided. “When I started out as a little actress, I loved making people laugh. In my own life, I’m a pretty cartoony person, I would say.”

“It was nice to just spread my wings and be like, ‘I’ve got room to be just open to the goofiness here,’” Gladstone explained, with a laugh that underscored the truth of her words. She also wanted to lean into the lightness for a character-driven reason: “It was important to me that Lee and this whole home feel like a place you want to see children in. You want to root for this family to raise a kid, and I think part of that is giving myself permission to be my inner child self and get a little bit goofy.”

Gladstone was not the only casting surprise, as The Wedding Banquet feels like it was perfectly tailored to the actors onscreen. But the director insisted that he “did not write these actors for these roles, partially out of supersтιтion. I am always afraid I’m going to jinx it, but I’m so happy with the cast that we ended up with.” With the help of casting director Jenny Jue, Ahn “worked very hard to pull together a group of actors who would feel like a family.”

Ahn pointed to Han as one of the actors who embodied the “generosity and vulnerability” he was looking for in the ensemble, explaining how a Zoom audition convinced him to cast him as Yang’s love interest. “You know how some people have Golden Retriever energy? Gi-chan has French poodle energy, and Min is a French poodle.”

Academy Award-winner Youn, whom Ahn describes as “a legend of Korean cinema”, was on the director’s wish list – but her role changed to accommodate her perspective. “When we sent the script to her, she was very humble and said, ‘I feel a little old playing the mother of this character. What if I made her grandma?’” Small tweaks like that only strengthened the story. “We brought in the best actors and, even if some of the context changed, we kept the heart. And I think it really made for what feels like a very organic ensemble of people. “

Matriarchs Make Good Allies In The Wedding Banquet – Even If It Takes Some Time

“I Love That Ultimate Conclusion Of Compᴀssion And Understanding”

The two romances are the centerpiece of The Wedding Banquet, but the intergenerational storytelling breathes life into the narrative. While Angela’s mother (played by the incomparable Joan Chen) suffocates her daughter with her at times self-serving Pride, that dynamic is a cornerstone of Angela’s approach to love and her relationship with Lee. Similarly, Min’s grandmother (Youn) is a driving force in his decision to marry first Chris, and then Angela. In both cases, the matriarchs are presented as obstacles before being revealed as complicated humans.

Ahn described his approach to the elder generation beautifully. “I wanted to show how even though they might have conflict with their children or grandchildren, that it’s not coming from a place of hate. It’s actually coming from a place of care and just not necessarily knowing how that person needs to be cared for or what their priorities are.”

“I think that allyship is incredibly difficult, and it’s something that you have to constantly work on,” he continued, likening the role of an ally to that of a parent in some ways. “I think that process never ends, even once your kids become adults. You have to understand how to parent.” It’s not a spoiler to say the movie has an “ultimate conclusion of compᴀssion and understanding,” and a big part of that is the growth that Chen and Youn’s characters display.

Tran, who must appear visibly upset with her mother onscreen, had a humorous challenge to overcome. “It’s so hard because the opening scene where she’s just dancing with a lion, I just wanted to [applaud]! And she also went for it.” Gladstone also acknowledged the difference between on and off-camera. “Every scene, the actor in you has to be annoyed” because Chen is “making her daughter’s idenтιтy and very painful journey about herself while ignoring her accountability in it… But she did it so well. You’re just like, ‘You’re a genius. Do it again.’”

Source: Screen Rant Plus