Jin Ha, Anna Sawai, and Minha Kim talk roles in Apple TV+ show Pachinko

Apple TV+ has become the gold standard of TV series, and the upcoming release of Pachinko proves that Apple TV+ continues to be a step ahead of the rest.

Pachinko is based on the New York Times best-selling book that follows the hopes and dreams of four generations of a Korean immigrant family. The series stars Academy Award winner Yuh-Jung Youn, Lee Mino, Jin Ha, Minha Kim, and more.

Upon watching the series, I believe this is one of the most impactful and grounded series that Apple TV+ has produced today. Pachinko highlights this incredible span of so many different generations and puts you at the forefront of what a conversation would look like if you could talk amongst each other. In addition, it highlights the variety of different things that are impactful to Korean culture and one of the things I learned the most was the importance of food within that culture.

Hidden Remote had the pleasure of talking to a few of the show’s stars in Jin Ha, who plays Solomon Baek, Anna Sawai, who plays Naomi, and Minha Kim, who plays Teen Sunja.

Check out the video version of the interview here.

Interview with Pachinko stars Jin Ha, Anna Sawai, and Minha Kim

Hidden Remote: The story of Pachinko follows four generations of Korean immigrants. You play Solomon, what attracted you to this role?

Jin Ha: I think everything attracted me to this role, to be honest with you. So much of his story. So much of who he is and how he interacts with the world and how he tries to fit into all the different worlds and cultures and identities that he carries within himself, that felt incredibly resonant to me, as an Asian immigrant. Trying to fit in trying to find myself in a world where I didn’t see myself often.

That was maybe the first point of connection for me. And then on top of that, there was as I did more work on him, as I prepared more, there was just countless different threads and ways that I felt surprisingly connected to and related to Solomon. Without giving too much away, I suppose but in so many different, varying aspects. He felt like the other side of a coin, you know, what I’m saying? Like the other side of the same coin is sort of what he felt like with Solomon. And also to tell the story, right, like to tell this incredible story of this community, in a Western media, in a, you know, in a western production, English speaking production is really exciting.

Hidden Remote: How do you prepare for a role like this of Naomi?

Anna Sawai: Well, I saw a little bit of myself, I’ve been told, really unforgivable comments before in the past because I’m female. And I talked to my mom who’s from the same generation as Naomi and I talked to her friends, and they all told me the same thing about having to kind of deal with the fact that women were supposedly not as good and you know, when that’s not true, and how to maneuver that. And it doesn’t go from zero to 100. You can’t change you can’t be the only one changing that and so with Naomi, you can see that she’s trying to find her voice. She is direct, but she’s also very internal. And so I got a lot of inspiration from my mom and her friends.

Hidden Remote: There are three different ages of Sunja in this story, when reading the book and playing the role, did you find yourself learning from all variations of this character?

Minha Kim: Yes. While I was reading the novel that I have to read or write, so like, I can see the difference through the generations, but while I was actually performing this role, I get to I try to acknowledge all the differences and the development and the differentiation. So yeah, I tried to focus on what she was, what Sunja was thinking and feeling. So yeah, totally. I did.

Check out the video version of the interview, below:  

Pachinko debuts on Apple TV+ on March 25, 2022.