Tron: Ares actress Greta Lee on making history as first Korean to lead a Hollywood blockbuster
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Korean-American actress Greta Lee in Tron: Ares.
PHOTO: THE WALT DISNEY CO
Follow topic:
SEOUL – Greta Lee could not hide her amazement at launching Tron: Ares’ global press tour in South Korea.
“I can’t believe I’m here promoting a movie like this,” the Korean-American actress told reporters at the press event at CGV Yongsan in Seoul on Sept 15, still processing her rise from indie darling to franchise star.
“For a Hollywood movie to have a Korean protagonist for the first time, possibly, it’s unbelievable.”
After decades of memorable supporting roles and scene-stealing turns in everything from Russian Doll (2019 to 2022) to The Morning Show (2019 to present), Lee has vaulted into blockbuster territory with Walt Disney Pictures’ US$150 million (S$191 million) next edition in the sci-fi franchise. Tron: Ares opens in Singapore cinemas on Oct 9.
As Eve Kim, a programmer who teams up with American actor Jared Leto’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered humanoid, she is the first Korean performer to anchor a Tron film since the franchise launched in 1982 – though Lee seemed just as eager to talk about mastering her motorcycle stunts as making history.
“The director and I didn’t realise how much running I’d have to do,” said the 42-year-old, laughing about the six-week night-time shooting schedule that had her racing through Vancouver, Canada streets until 1am, then catching a flight to the 2024 Oscars the next morning, where her film Past Lives (2023) was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
“Olympic athletes don’t have to do 20 takes running like their life depended on it.”
Such physical demands were a deliberate about-face from the quiet devastation in Past Lives. Where Canadian writer-director Celine Song’s romantic drama dwelled in stolen glances and unspoken longing, Ares – a sequel to Tron: Legacy (2010) starring Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde – throws Lee into full-throttle motorcycle chases and lightcycle battles.
“After something so intimate and naturalistic, it felt good to do something this physical,” Lee said.
Korean-American actress Greta Lee at the red carpet of A House Of Dynamite at the 82nd Venice Film Festival on Sept 2.
PHOTO: AFP
Norwegian director Joachim Ronning (Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, 2019) could not have picked a better moment for his AI invasion story.
In an age when tech giants warn that AI could spell the end of humanity and every other news cycle tracks another chatbot gone rogue, Ares’ premise – a super-intelligent AI breaking into the world through an expendable synthetic body – hits uncomfortably close to home.
The relevance was not lost on Lee.
“AI is something we’re all dealing with daily now,” she said. “Not every movie gets to be this connected to the here and now – both the good and potentially the bad.”
Ask her about the weight of representation as a Korean-American actor leading a Hollywood blockbuster and she pivots to something more fundamental.
Actress Greta Lee at a photo call for A House Of Dynamite at the 82nd Venice Film Festival on Sept 2.
PHOTO: EPA
“I try to think about the humanity and the person before anything else,” she said. “Before being Korean, Korean American or a woman – I’m thinking about the human being I’m trying to connect the audience to.”
If anything, the global embrace of Korean culture these days feels validating on multiple levels.
“It’s something we as Koreans have known all along,” she said. “In a lot of ways, it feels like this is just the beginning – the world doesn’t even know what else is coming.” THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Tron: Ares opens in Singapore cinemas on Oct 9.
