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At first,John Chodidnt want to doSearching.
It was the first time I had ever spoken to a celebrity.
I told all of my friends and family that I was getting on the phone with John Cho.
I was so nervous, Chaganty says over the phone.
Lo and behold, a few days later he comes back with a no.
What he wanted to say was thatSearchingwould be the Mementoof screen movies.
I gave him the best vision of this movie that Ive ever given.
Thank you so much for taking the time, and he shook my hand and left.
And I was like, Okay, we lost John Cho again.
Then, the following Monday they got a call from Chos agent saying hes in.
Searchingwent wide this past weekend, and the box-office numbers are really strong.
How are you feeling?Its such a surreal experience that it feels incredible.
Someone asked me, How would you measure success on this movie?
Is it box office?
I thought about it and thats probably the objective measure that other people have, that Sony had.
I would probably have too for any other movie, but in so many ways we already won.
I was 23 to 25 years old.
It was comfortable, it was fun.
I was making stuff the world got to see stuff I was proud of.
I had my entire life in New York.
The only thing I didnt have was the life in feature filmmaking and thats the thing I always wanted.
So I quit that job, basically to make a movie on a dime.
Regardless of the money that it makes, we won.
And it really also helps that Sony thinks that we won too.
Its been a really great weekend.
[Spoiler alert from here on out!]
I have to ask: WasUpyour reference point?Mm-hmm.
We called itUpmeets a Google commercial.
For me, that was the objective.
This film had two screenplays.
It wouldnt make sense.
So we just used that on a macro level.
Why John Cho?Because hes an amazing actor.
I never met anybody who goes, I dont like John Cho.
I felt like we should surround the film with people who are doing something new.
I think thats true for John, I think thats the case for Debra.
I wanted to do that with people that looked like us.
We dont need to talk about it, and in our own little way that was our statement.
Its not a movie about any of this stuff.
I think a lot of it has to do with the timing of our release withCrazy Rich Asians.
I feel likeCrazy Rich Asiansand us are part of the same argument, were just from completely different spectrums.
Was there any pushback or hesitation around casting an Asian-American family?Yeah.
Im trying to do this in a way thats sympathetic.
Its pure financial principles.
And so for this movie, what we were asking to do was cast an entire family of unknowns.
How do you direct actors to look at a computer screen?
And oftentimes Im playing the person that hes talking to.
He has an earpiece, and Im literally doing lines with him.
We even started shooting a frame and they literally made the movie before we made the movie.
This was Sevs idea.
He needs to only be aware of not only acting but also looking at exactly the right place.
Great take, but next time could you look just a little more to the left.
It was just this technical and emotional challenge.
[Warning: The next question isextremelyspoiler-y.]
Youve said that all the clues for the end of the movie are in the first 15 minutes.
One by trying to find Margot, and one by trying to keep Margot hidden.
But thats a good thought, and I havent really thought too much about it.
I think right now, where we are with social media, we are in an era of techlash.
Its that point where we are realizing that its not a utopia, because nothing is a utopia.
But at the same time, it can be great.
And I think what youre talking about is really instances that arent.
Were getting closer to that, and thats going to be its own version of reeling it back in.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
