It’s only been two years since Selfie—the little-seen but dearly beloved ABC sitcom—was abruptly cancelled before its time. But in that time, there’s been a bit of a sea change when it comes to John Cho. Thanks in some part to a viral meme called #StarringJohnCho, wider audiences seemed to recognize what Cho lovers, Selfie fans, and Vanity Fair) knew all along: this actor deserves to be a leading man. And now, thanks to a new project at USA Network, Cho may get another crack at TV stardom in a con-artist drama called Connoisseur.
Like Cho, USA has also undergone a fairly rapid rebranding period. With the launch of the critically beloved and award-winning Mr. Robot, “USA Network con-artist drama” no longer means what it once did for the home of shows like Suits and White Collar. Variety reports that the series would star Cho as a con artist named Clay Park who makes sport of duping “the wealthiest, most powerful people in the country into paying millions for fake wine.” As these stories often go, Park’s con gets him in trouble with both the authorities and dangerous criminals, and “unearths the details of a tragedy that fractured his family years ago in Korea.”
With an increasingly vocal pushback on Asian whitewashing in Hollywood, it’s enormously encouraging to see a proposed drama that allows a charismatic Korean-American actor like Cho a leading role that actually explores his own cultural heritage (Cho’s father was born in North Korea). If picked up, Connoisseur could go a long way towards widening the perception of what Hollywood thinks of as a leading man and building on the increasingly diverse world of television. As rare as it is to see major roles for Chinese or Taiwanese characters on the likes of Fresh off the Boat and Japanese characters like Cho’s in Star Trek, Korean characters are even rarer.
And don’t expect this project to lean on any lazy racial characterizations. “I experienced racism, and in my professional life, I try to take roles (and have always tried to take roles) that don’t fall within the parameters of any Asian stereotype,” Cho wrote during a 2014 AMA on Reddit. “And so to me, hopefully, that’s a positive thing I can put into popular culture and so maybe in some bizarrely tiny way that helps people not think of Asians in one particular way.”
Debonair con artists today—who knows what could be next? Cho himself dreams big. Batman, maybe? “After Ben [Affleck] retires, I call next,” Cho joked in 2014. “A serious Asian tech billionaire maybe? Who moonlights as a caped crusader? I’ll buy it!” It seemed a little far-fetched at the time, but with Cho’s star finally (and deservedly) on such a rapid rise, nothing should seem out of reach.
