“I really leaned into that idea that this is Kendall’s first and only life,” says The Wedding Banquet’s Bobo Le. The Vancouver native gets a breakout role in Andrew Ahn’s refreshing reimaging the 1993 romantic comedy. It’s her big screen debut after small parts in series like The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. Le plays opposite Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang in the Vancouver-shot film and has a great rapport with the actor as Chris’s cousin and confidant.
Le shares that Kendall’s enthusiasm for living her best life helped shape the character, as did her chemistry with Yang, who liked to shake things up each take. The actor admits that having Yang throw things at her helped to inspire Kendall’s natural vibe: Kendall often seems like she’s stoned or just waking up, or somewhere between the two, but she’s mostly just processing her co-star’s vigour as Chris worries about the sham wedding that his boyfriend Min (Han Gi-chan) is staging with his best friend, Angela (Kelly Marie Tran), to secure a green card and pay for her partner Lee (Lily Gladstone) to get in-vitro treatment in return. Kendall’s chaotic energy harmonizes the yin and yang of these two equally chaotic couples.
That Shelf connected with Le via Zoom to learn more about her breakout role and how fame is treating her so far.
That Shelf: What first attracted you to Kendall when you were reading the script?
Bobo Le: Kendall is this hilarious ride or die, super spontaneous, very impulsive person, but also pure and genuine. I really related to Kendall in that this is Kendall’s first and only life, and if that’s how it’s going to be, we’re going to go all the way and support every idea, bad or good. Everything is the best idea. That’s what I love so much about Kendall.
What were some of the things that you really thought you could add to the character and helped Andrew cast you for this part?
In these little moments where Bowen’s character [Chris] is going through this existential crisis, Kendall sees it as an opportunity: “This is not a crisis. This is good.” This is how I try to see everything too. When something comes up, I’m just like, “How do we make the best of the situation and how do we make this super, super fun and chaotic in the best way?” That’s how I went into reading for Kendall and bringing that kind of energy. I think what Andrew saw in me was that I was bringing this chaotic sibling energy, and that’s what inspired Andrew to rewrite the character. Kendall was supposed to be Chris’s friend and then is now the cousin. It was beautiful that Andrew saw that and he wanted to dive into this relationship, which I think brought out so many more incredible qualities of both Kendall and Chris.
You and Bowen have such a good rapport in the film. How was working with Bowen?
It was so amazing working with Bowen. We had so much chemistry and so much love. We spent a lot of time off-set together. We went to the outdoors and we went to see some community theatre. Onset, we watched Couples Therapy between takes. We ate hot Cheetos and ketchup chips. We had Cheeto dust all over us. Me and Bowen share a lot of similar hobbies. We both love playing Final Fantasy together. He loves to improvise and throw so many things at me, so it’s an honour to work with Bowen.
What are some of the things that were improvised?
Bowen did a lot of the ad-libbing. He does something different every take. A lot of the time you can see this in the movie: just my face processing what he’s saying, pretty much 80% of the time. I think that’s such a Kendall quality: Kendall doesn’t always know what to throw back right away. Kendall is there to listen and to be like, “Yeah. YEAH. YEAH!” That’s our vibe. We have this scene where we’re playing video games together where Chris is talking about the kind of duck that they’re going to bring. [As a ritual for the wedding.] And then Kendall’s just sitting there like, “What about an American buck?” It’s little moments of just processing.
What was the vibe like when shooting the wedding scene? It’s such a great centrepiece for the film.
We shot it at Hycroft Manor [a heritage site in Vancouver] and on the day, it was so special because all of us came out in our wedding attire and Andrew saw us and he just bawled. It was really such an emotional moment to be there on wedding day because this is the wedding. It was very surreal for me to be there and to experience. I’m like, “This is our moment.”
Had you seen the original Wedding Banquet? How do you make this return to The Wedding Banquet new for another generation?
I have. Our characters are quite different. There wasn’t really a character in the original Wedding Banquet that resembled Kendall in any way. It was really nice to just create a character and bring them into this modern world and see how things play out. They’re completely different stories with different characters, different scenarios, and they’re both very beautiful stories.
The film has had some pretty big premieres so far: You did Sundance, BFI Flare at London. How is the whole fame thing for you so far?
It’s been so incredible and amazing. This is my first time doing something like this, going to Sundance, being in London. It was my first time in Europe and right now I’m in L.A for the first time. It’s amazing because I get to share all of these moments with my incredible ensemble: Bowen, Kelly [Marie Tran], Lily [Gladstone], Han Gi-chan, Youn Yuh-jung, and Joan Chen. They all love me so much and they all see a bit of themselves in me with their first times and what it was like for them. I’m so ecstatic no matter where I am—we’re in a limo or car together, I’m sticking my head out the window and I’m like, “Look at that: It’s Big Ben!” I feel so happy to have these experiences with my friends. That’s the coolest thing about this.
