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Andrew Ahn has a talent for allowing a feeling to linger onscreen like an afterglow on the water.
In person, Ahn is warm and inquisitive.
I hate us, he laughs.
Love for Asian Americans ripples inside his work.
His advice to young queer Asian American artists is to find one another.
I just wanted to meet as many queer and/or Asian American people as possible, he says.
Because I think thats how you feel less lonely.
My understanding is that the first time you went to Fire Island was to shoot the film.
What was that like?It was always colored by the fact that this was a job.
The ferry ride over is magical because theres a sense of anticipation.
I need to find connection.
I need to have fun.
The bears were bear-ier, the twinks were twink-ier.
The Machamps were Machamp-ier.Charizards and Blastoises.
Theres no Squirtle here.No Squirtles.
I felt like Squirtle, you know?
I was fascinated by it.
I was inspired by it.
Theres also no denying its natural beauty the flora, the fauna.
He got hit on more than I did.
They just do it.
What underwear did you wear?I was a little shy, and I ended up wearing swim trunks.
You were the Darcy!I was the Darcy, and I find it really funny.
Felipe and I were shot-listing in our trunks and then we ran into Joel.
I loved seeing him out in the wild because he looked so happy.
What happened?I didnt get the job; it went to Stephen Dunn.
I met with an exec at Quibi, and I was fully prepared to do the full pitch.
Then they just talked to me about their app.
When I didnt get it, I was bummed.
It just feels like vindication that I got it as a movie once it got set up at Searchlight.
How did that happen?Stephen Dunn couldnt do the movie version because ofQueer As Folk.
I was a little bit anxious.
I was like,They said no to me once.
I always wanted the project to have heart underneath the comedy.
I think Searchlight responded to that.
Would you say you and Joel come from similar worlds?I dont think so.
I have an extreme love and bond with Joel because of this project.
We have different social lives.
We have different ways of going out.
No, boo-boo, youre still two out of the three.
I had a conversation with Joel where Im like, Are you femme?
Im not totally sure if thats true from my perspective.
And hes like, No, its really true for me.
And I was like, Okay.
Also Keegan is actually femme, so I feel like they probably wouldnt say that.Right.
I get it: Joel is writing it from his perspective.
That line is still in the movie; its not like I changed it.
Its part of my process to be able to have those conversations.
We do come from very different perspectives as gay Asian American men.
My group of friends here are gay Asian Americans.
So from the get-go, my gay identity was involved with my Asian American identity.
We could have made an all-POC version, but it would be very inauthentic.
The movie did become very Asian American through casting, though.It was the circumstances.
When we cast Conrad Ricamora and Margaret Cho, it became really Asian American.
I was rooting for it, but it happened organically.
We wanted to meet with Conrad because hes a great actor.
And he was the only actor that flustered Joel.
Every other actor we chemistry-tested against Joel, Joel had the upper hand.
With Conrad, Joel forgot his own lines.
You could see him spar and struggle.
We went to Hamburger Marys and then GAMEBOI.
I thought one of them was supercute.
That opened me up to a queer Asian American community that felt really exciting, safe.
One of the guys invited me to a friends poker group that was all gay Asian Americans.
I found my housemates through that social circle.
But we had stupid parties that were a big reason why I wanted to makeFire Island.
We had a black-light party called Asian Glow.
We had a Christmas-themed party called Homo Alone.
We had a Shen Yun party.
Joel really responded to that.
They werent like the Koreanyoohaksaengs[international students] in college.
Because my Korean identity is wrapped up in family, its also very heteronormative.
Ive had to find ways to transform Korean culture so that it sits well with my queerness.
Thats why I loved GAMEBOI because it just felt so uncomplicated.
This is very annoying to say, but every boyfriend Ive had has been Asian American.
Oh, I know.Yeah.
And Im like,Calm down.
Youre protesting too much.
And thats totally fine.
What was that like to shoot?I really wanted to direct the shit out of that scene.
Ive always thought of that scene as super-important.
Its interesting that Noah says, Were the same, like, you and me.
I love that Howie calls him out on it, like, Were not the same.
We are seen differently in this world.
We have a different set of priorities.
That was the first week of shooting.
We took our time with it.
I wanted Joel and Bowen to keep digging deeper.
With Joel, it was about having your emotional rock be taken away.
For Bowen, it was a question of confidence and self-worth.
When youre faced with your own image, youre always thinking about your value.
Theres a quick moment earlier in the movie where Noah is in the bathroom at a party.
He washes his hands, and he looks at himself.
You dont know how he feels about himself.
How did you decide on the camera framing?I really wanted to see the space between them.
Were not in close-ups that often in that scene because I didnt want to separate them.
I wanted to see Joel and I wanted to see Bowen in the same frame.
Its like,This friendship has to get there.
Was there a struggle with the notes process with the studio?Yeah.
I mean, the studio has a different set of priorities: entertainment, first and foremost.
And I get that that is what studio filmmaking is.
I could complain as much as I wanted to, but I cant begrudge them their notes.
Which were?Faster, funnier, basically.
But I also knew it was my job to protect what is really special about the film.
I really wanted to hold on to those moments.
I get that note, but I also was like, This scene shows ushowthey can fall in love.
And so I held on to it for dear life.
Im really thankful the studio ultimately was like,We get it.
But it was a tough process.
They had a certain kind of expectation of what a gay film should be.
There were music cues where they were like, Do you want to throw in Dua Lipa in there?
And I was like, I love Dua Lipa I dont know if this fits in that moment.
Which Dua Lipa song did they want?Levitating, of course.
Which is totally a banger.
But Searchlight is way ahead of the curve because they just green-lit this thing.
I wasnt used to every actor, every location being scrutinized.
I had to explain every choice because it was their money, and that slows you down.
It makes you second-guess yourself.
Im so glad I got to make two indies before doing that.
What if this had been your first?I wouldve gotten chewed up.
Its that uncomfortable balancing of art and commerce.
So if you want certain art, it does need to play with the capitalism we exist in.
For the rest of my career, its always going to be this odd tension and balance.
Did the studio want stars?Sure.
I mean, its their job, right?
They were pushing every fancy, popular gay actor, celebrity, reality star our way.
Thats not my job as a director thats the studios job.
Joel and I had to really fight for who we felt was right, for even the smallest roles.
Did they fight you on the gay-sex scenes?I was like, I want a dick.
Like, youre going to see dick.
But I remember asking, Can I have two soft penises, one for each orgy?
And to their credit, our producers were like, How many?
And I was like, You know what?
Ill take that deal.
I could have put more butts in it.
Although dicks are all the rage right now.Where are they showing up?
Like every HBO show.Oh yeah.
Im dying to put taint on the screen.
I just want a good taint.
Its such an underrepresented erogenous zone.
It makes me want to make a GAMEBOI movie.
I want Cascada and Kesha and Vengaboys all over the soundtrack I want Boom, boom, boom.
