Unveiling Eugene Kim’s Odyssey as ’Paul Yung’ in Netflix’s ’Obliterated’

[00:00:01] Welcome to another episode of the Man Cave Chronicles Welcome to the party, pal! You're my boy, boo! Yo, I did it! I did it! A podcast with interviews of amazing guests from the world of pop culture, TV, movies, comedy, and more. From deep inside the Man Cave, your host, Elias. Eugene, welcome to the cave. Thank you for joining me today. Hey, thanks for having me.

[00:00:30] How does that feel? Number one show on Netflix right now. It feels surreal. It's an amazing feeling. I'm so completely grateful. And yeah, I'm on cloud nine. Did you have any ideas that you get this big right away? You know, that's a really good question. You know, when we were filming this, we all felt like that we were a part of something really special.

[00:00:57] I think even just from the get-go, from the moment we did our table read, I'm actually getting the chills just thinking about it. It's, yeah, we just knew that this was a family. Like, we all had a connection. And yeah, and then while we were filming, we could just, there was an energy for sure.

[00:01:23] So, but you know, being in the business for as long as I have, you want to allow those feelings to, you know, to appreciate those feelings, but you're also wanting to protect yourself. You know, just, all right, we'll see. We'll see. You know, that's right. Like I said, we'll talk a lot a bit more about the show in a little bit. Also, you mentioned you've been in the business for a long time.

[00:01:45] You know, it's a journey for you guys. You know, you've done acting, you've done voiceover work. I saw like, what pushed you into this? What made you jump into the entertainment industry? Gosh, well, should we go back to birth? Like, how can we go? I mean, I guess I've always been somewhat of a performer. You know, when I was four, I'm actually going back to birth. Wow. I used to stand on the piano bench and recite, you know, nursery rhymes.

[00:02:13] And, you know, my mom and my dad, my sister would just clap and I'd be like, you know, I'd bow. But then, you know, I did some plays in high school and then in college, I did not think I was going to be an actor. I worked with kids with disabilities when I was in high school and was, you know, was really interested in psychology and therapy. And, you know, I just loved the idea of mediating.

[00:02:42] And then, yeah, my cousin was in L.A. I went to school in L.A. She was doing commercials and I was like, wow, you can make how much doing a commercial? And I was like, I want to do that. And what do I do? And so she said, well, you should go to an improv class. And I looked up improv schools in L.A. and I auditioned for a school called The Groundlings.

[00:03:06] And I got in and I, yeah, just trained there, met some really funny people, got into sketch comedy. And then in the audience of the sketch comedy show that I was in there, there were three of like the best commercial agents in the industry. And they also the voiceover department was there, too. And so I went in for their meeting.

[00:03:35] They said, hey, let's let's let's try you out. There's a there's a game called 24 The Game. And and yeah, let's let's audition you right now. And so I auditioned and I booked all the North Korean characters and and then, yeah. And then I signed with them with commercially and voiceovers. And and I did a ton of national commercials. I did like five national commercials my first year.

[00:04:03] And then I booked a bunch of video games and and yeah. And then that that just snowballed into I got into an indie film, which it was my first lead in indie film called Sake Bomb, which then premiered at South by Southwest, which is like one of the biggest film festivals in the world. And that kind of brought me to a different level.

[00:04:28] And, you know, it was really difficult being an Asian in this industry, being in the industry for 20 years. I've seen it kind of it's changed quite a bit. And it was quite a struggle to to get anybody to to pay attention to a pudgy male Asian American actor. You know, it was it was a struggle.

[00:04:56] Um, but, you know, comedy was kind of my way in. Um, and I yeah. And voiceover wise, I could do the accent. And, you know, I was it was that was fun. Um, but yeah, it was it was it was a struggle. And it took one acting coach who really encouraged me. Um, Catlin Adams. She I will never forget her.

[00:05:22] She's like a mother to me, um, who just said, you got something. I see it. You're you have to keep going. And, um, and I did. And gosh, like emotional thinking about it. But it was it was hard. And without my mom and my dad and my sister, I yeah, wouldn't be where I am right now. They were so encouraging. Yeah.

[00:05:52] Actually, that's my question was like, uh, like family support everything. You know, like we tell family you're going to go into the entertainment. So, you know, some families or parents are like, are you sure about this? You know, this is a big it's a chance. Yeah, yeah. It's a gamble. It's very atypical, especially for Asian parents, you know. Um, but you know, my dad, you know, he he's, uh, he he he came from a really, um, he well, I guess I can say this. He he's from North Korea.

[00:06:22] And, um, he encouraged me to continue because he said, you know, life is short. Right. You have to do what you're passionate about. And, um, all this is, you know, for him, you know, he passed away five years ago. So just kind of emotional about it. But I'm sorry about that. Oh, yeah. No, but you know, it's it's, uh, it's so it's so beautiful to feel the grief that I do, you know, for him because he was such a wonderful man. Yeah.

[00:06:52] Wow. Sorry. Off the gate. Really just intense and emotional. What more dad question that how was it when he first saw you like on TV or anything? What was his reaction? Oh, man, he was so excited. He was so excited. And, you know, once I broke into TV, um, that was really, really exciting for me. Um, he showed so much excitement, I think mainly because he saw how happy I was.

[00:07:19] Um, and I just know that he was always proud of me regardless of whether I booked or not. Um, and that's just the type of man he was, you know? So yeah. Yeah. So you mentioned earlier, like commercials and everything too. Like I've had guests on and they love doing the commercials. They, sometimes they call that the bread and butter while they're waiting for the next project, they're just jumping on commercials. You know, absolutely. Oh my God.

[00:07:44] Like you, you, you, you book one day and then it's just, you get the residuals and you're like, whoa, like it's just, it really is, uh, it's, it's like striking gold when you book one of those. Um, it's been a while since I booked one. Um, and I don't know, I it's, and it's fun, you know, it's just, it's, and it's so quick. Um, yeah. Yeah. Hopefully there's a couple more in the future. I don't know if I have time. Right.

[00:08:14] As an actor now, like, you know, you've done, you said commercials, improv voiceover, like what do you do to like make your craft better and better every day? Um, good question. You know, it's, you always have to be training. Um, it's, it's, it is a muscle and, uh, you know, every now and then I'll, I'll, I'll take a class at UCB just to keep sharp or, you know, you just hang out with, with a

[00:08:41] crazy crew like our cast and, and you're automatically just doing a show for yourselves because you're, you're, you're yes, and each other and you're saying stupid things. And that's what it was like on set. Like it was just, it was, I can't even tell you the magic that you could feel on set. Um, it was when, when, when we were together, it was like electric. There was, there's a point, uh, we're all together in the beginning. And then there's a point where we all kind of divide our characters.

[00:09:09] And then in like the fifth or sixth episode, I think it was the fifth episode when we get back together, uh, the Russian compound. Um, I just remember being in the shuttle with everybody for the first time in like a month or two and Nick just said, just, just called it out. And he said it like quite eloquently. He said it, this feels like Homer.

[00:09:32] Like this, this, this feels like home, you know, this, and, and I've been on many sets and I, and I've, I've never felt that much connection with a hundred percent of your cast. Um, and, and, and see Thomas Howell, Tommy said the same thing. He's been in the industry, um, longer than I have. And, and he, he said, this is something special. Uh, we love each other.

[00:10:00] It's funny you say that because I've had Cobra Kai guests on and they say the same thing about when they work with the big three on that show. It's like a big family. I think it's that, it's that chemistry, those guys that bring in, I think. It's these, it's these guys and, and it wasn't just, it wasn't just the cast. It was also the crew that they brought on. Um, the crew was amazing.

[00:10:28] And every single one of them. Um, and I just remember talking to our makeup and our hair and our wardrobe because they're with us the whole time, like making sure we look okay, that wardrobe is, you know, they're, they're kind of tweaking us. I mean, I had, even though I had one outfit, I had like eight different versions because Paul goes through so much. It's in, and it's in the details. You, you see little things on my outfit and continuity is so important.

[00:10:58] Um, and these guys worked so hard, harder than I've seen most, um, wardrobe hair and, and makeup, uh, that I've ever seen on set. Um, but with that, especially with, with what I go through, what Paul goes through, there needed to be a lot of trust and there needed to be, um, uh, a lot of, I, I, I needed to feel safe

[00:11:24] as an artist to be able to, to truly go through what Paul went through, you know? And, um, yeah, we just kind of had a shorthand that he understood what I needed and they gave it to me. And yeah, it was the whole experience was like, it was, um, surreal. It was just magical. Speaking of Paul, do you have like a crazy story about your audition? Cause I heard Kimmy, well, Terrence first told me about Kimmy, how she didn't book,

[00:11:54] her right away. She's got a, a toilet accident in her house and everything flooding. That's what she gets to call. What's your story? What's your story with your audition? Oh man. I, uh, yeah. So I got the audition for obliterated and, um, I read, I read the tagline and I was like, this is, this is, this is very different. Um, and I read the script and I thought that it was so special.

[00:12:24] And, um, Paul, when I read his breakdown, I was like, okay, okay. This is, this is a big stretch. I'm not this guy by, by any means. Um, I know Terrence would probably tell you differently. I'm kidding. No, I, I'm, there are parts of, uh, there's very much a lot of Paul in me. Um, I'd like to think that, um, I'm a little cooler, but I don't know. I think Paul kind of thinks he's cool too.

[00:12:52] So maybe that's just extremely, it's the same. But, um, when I got the audition, I, I was excited. And then I looked at the sides and I got scared. Um, because I think it was like 14 or 15 pages worth of sides, lots of monologues. Um, there were four scenes. Um, and when you have that many scenes there, it's intentional. They want to see what you can do.

[00:13:20] Each scene shows something different. And with this, the, the, each scene showed different levels of what Paul goes through. I don't know if it is a spoilers or spoilers allowed. We get, yeah, we get spoiled. We've been spoiling it for the last two interviews too. So you see, so you see Paul in different levels of his, of his drugged upness. Um, and, uh, you know, as an actor, you're like, you know, like, I don't know if you've seen Tropic Thunder, but you don't want to go full F'd up.

[00:13:48] And so I was like, okay, let's be subtle about it. And so I did, I did the audition. I worked really hard. Cause you know, you have to memorize 14 pages and you gotta, you know, it's, and, um, and then two days later I get, I get, uh, a re because everything's on self-tape, a retape request. And then immediately actor self-deprecating actor, like, I messed up. But in reality, when they ask you to do that, it means they're interested, you know, cause

[00:14:16] they wouldn't, they wouldn't waste time on, on, on asking you to retape. And the note was, he needs to be way more F'd up in episode three. I'm sorry. Uh, in scenes three and four. And, um, and so I said, okay, I'll show you, I'll show you, I'll show you up if that's what you really want. And I, um, I've got this great reader.

[00:14:45] Like he's a good friend of mine. We, we, we were like, okay, what can we do here? And I, I actually, I start the audition with my eyes right up against the camera. And I just remember just kind of like going like that and then actually looking up and I created this world. Like I, I, you know, Catelyn's taught me so much as an acting coach. She's taught me so much about how to create this world and imagination. And she was a huge part. A lot of my stuff is green screen on the show.

[00:15:15] Um, and so, and a lot of things aren't even there when I'm acting, like the helicopter stuff with the, with the gremlin. He's, he wasn't like, that wasn't, he, he didn't, he, the, the, the, he didn't exist until like the fourth episode. So the helicopter stuff was just, he was a tape, like a piece of tape that I had to react to and they would go gremlin. And then I'd go, you know, and so I'd have, I'd have to react. And so it all had to be very specific.

[00:15:45] And, um, and so Catelyn taught me how to do that. Um, and so with this audition, I, I, I had imagined, um, dragons and then thinking about, you know, I don't have a daughter in real life, but I had a substitution for that. And like, Oh, if I don't do, if I don't save her, then this is, then I, I just, the urgency and you, I didn't play drugged up.

[00:16:11] I played what it would really be like if there was a dragon there and my, and my sister was taken and I need, I need to save, you know? Um, and, uh, it was so much fun. And then I, I, and then the fourth one, they had this crazy monologue, which they took out of the, of the, of the show. And I actually, like, I, I actually texted Hayden and I said, I love this monologue.

[00:16:41] This needs to go back in. And, and he, he, he, it didn't completely go back in, but he, he brought it back. He brought it back in. It's, um, the monologue of, uh, it's the rant that I give Kimmy, Maya, that kind of amps her up to do what she's about to do. Um, the boathouse it's the, you know, I don't even know if I'm talking right now. Like you could be a cactus, you know, that it was monologue and which ended up being a

[00:17:08] great moment, um, for both of us and which, you know, um, got Maya to do what she was going to do. And then after this audition, I didn't hear anything for three weeks and I was like, oh, okay. So I messed up. I effed up by being too effed up, um, and didn't hear back.

[00:17:31] And then the week, a week later, I see the trades, Shelly Hennig books, Ava, you know, on deadline. And I was so, I was like, what? I've known Shelly since she was 16. I've known her like before she was even an actress, like randomly. It's just so it's random. I, uh, a dear friend of mine, um, was miss teen USA and I went and I saw her crown Shelly

[00:17:59] and I had an interaction with Shelly where like, I just, I remember her. She, she was, she had a Bunda Von Dutch hat on and, uh, she was, she was super charming, hilarious as she is. Um, and, and yeah, and then we just kind of like became friends, like through my friend throughout the years. And then when I saw that she booked it, I was like, oh, that would have been nice.

[00:18:23] Um, and then on that third week, I thought there was, it was a time when I was like, man, I'm getting so close to all these roles and I'm not getting it. I wonder if this, I wonder if I should quit. Like, I actually thought like, man, this, this is really like, I, I don't know. I don't know if this is for me. And then that day I said that out loud. And that day I get a call from, um, my manager and they're like, producers want to see you tomorrow.

[00:18:51] And I was like, what? For what? And they're like, obliterated. I'm like, what's that? And they're like, it's the, the chopper pilot. And I'm like, oh, oh. And then I'm like, oh wait, I have to relearn 14, 15 pages in less than 24 hours. And, um, yeah. And then I auditioned for them. Um, they, we like immediately just love the guys.

[00:19:16] Like I just, I, we had such, there was so much chemistry between us. Um, they were giving me notes. They were talking, they were like, do that. I think again, when your eyes like right up against the camera and, um, and yeah. And then I, uh, and then I call my managers and I say, I think that audition went well. And they said, yeah, you're, you're, it looks like you're testing between you and two other guys. And I said, okay, great. I wait, I wait, I wait. It's eight o'clock at night.

[00:19:46] I'm like, are you sure? And they're like, we still haven't heard. And then the next morning I get a call from my manager and, and, and he says, Eugene, I'm, I'm sorry, you're not testing. And I was like, okay. Like, I'm, I'm like 20 years into this. I'm used to that, you know? And he said, they're not testing you. Netflix is straight offering you the role. Wow. And I was like, wait, what? What? What? And I, I, I was like shaking.

[00:20:16] I was crying. I was like, wait, wait, what? And yeah. And then I, I moved myself to, to New Mexico over the weekend. That's what Kimmy told me. Kimmy's like, I didn't even have a suitcase. I had to go buy a suitcase. She only had like 24 hours to be on set or something like that. Well, no, I was there when, when the whole thing went down, it was like crazy. It was crazy. And then when we finally met Kimmy, it was like, oh yeah, of course, of course. Yeah.

[00:20:45] So like, you know, and Paul's great too. Like you can tell he's serious about his job. He loves his family too. Always checking in on him. And then of course, when he's stoned, it's even the story gets even better. I don't want to give out too much. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I love Paul and identify a lot with him. You know, Paul, you know, he's, he's the air force chopper pilot that brings the crew around straight edge, sober guy.

[00:21:12] And you know, he, he just wants to do the right thing. You know, he, he struggles with balancing work with family, which I think a lot of people can relate to. I've been getting a lot of love on, on social media. It actually really touches me when people like sends me, they send me messages under, under my posts and they say they, they, they love Paul or they identify with him or that, that he, they made him cry and they made them cry or whatever. But I think it's because I think people connect with him because they, they understand it's,

[00:21:40] it's really hard to juggle the, the moments of like the, the, the trials of life, you know, you have work and family and in the beginning, you know, he has, he, he, he can't seem to fit family in with his work. And then, you know, and then the, you know, the, the, the alternate, uh, the alternate happens later.

[00:22:03] Um, and, uh, and yeah, no, I, I just, I love, I love Paul so much. And I love the opportunity that, that the guys, um, gave me and the writers gave me to, to do what I did with Paul. Did they, did they bring anybody on set to like train you to like how to be a pilot pretty much like any tips? Yeah. Steve Stafford.

[00:22:26] Um, uh, he, he's the one who got, he got the, the helicopter, uh, is owned by Vince Gilligan, who, who's the showrunner for breaking bad. Um, and the first thing Steve showed me was the fact that it was, um, signed by Buzz Aldridge, Buzz Aldridge. Um, and I looked at that and I looked at this massive helicopter and it was weird because it, when I met, when I saw the helicopter, it was almost like meeting a cast member.

[00:22:55] I can't explain it. It was like part of you. He's part of you. The helicopter part of me. That's absolutely right. And it, and I, and I walk up to it and I'm like, I almost like felt like saying, hi, I was like, hi, Hey. I was like, so you're the vulture, you know? And, um, yeah, like was my scene partner. Um, and, uh, and when I saw the Buzz Aldridge signature, I, I just remembered, I should not have asked this, but I was like, so how much is this thing?

[00:23:24] And he's like, it's about seven or $8 million. And I was like, oh, okay. So this is, this is what I'm going to be in like for most of the, for most of the season. And he said, yeah. And you know, um, yeah. So I, I just, I remember telling him like, I'll take good care of her, you know? Yeah. What, what's your favorite Paul moment you think in the, in the series? Oh my gosh. There are so many great Paul moments.

[00:23:51] I mean, the freak out in the helicopter, I mean, multiple freak outs. I mean, me screaming at the, at the, at the team, like was so much fun. Um, how about hugging the cactus there? The hugging the cactus was hilarious. You know, for me, I think my scene with Kimmy, where I, I, I kind of, you know, tell her that she could be a cactus is a really great moment. Um, my gosh.

[00:24:17] I mean, the sniper rifle, like shooting, shooting across that lake was really fun. I mean, oh, you know, the best moment was, is it was the, it was my moment with Caesar Augustus, uh, when he turns to me and tell, talks to me in Latin. Um, that was, that was really, it's an iconic part of Vegas right there. And I've passed that statue so many times in my life. And I would have never thought that I would ever do a scene where they would block off

[00:24:44] that atrium and block off ballet for me to do a TV show for Netflix, the biggest platform in the world. Really just, it's just unreal. If, if we get a season two, is there anything you would change about Paul or add to the, to his character? Um, no, I mean, I, I love, I love his idiosyncrasies. Um, I love every bit of him.

[00:25:10] Uh, I don't know, maybe he could, I don't know. I would say he could be, he could let loose a little bit, but I kind of like, I kind of like how he's, um, he's, he's a little, he's, he's a straight edge kind of like, he's got a serious, serious, he's very serious. And he's, but it's funny too, the way he's serious. So, um, yeah, like, yeah, there is a bit of me in him. I mean, I think even when we were doing tactical training with, with the guy, with, uh, with

[00:25:40] the, with, with the guys and Shelly, like it was just, it was, uh, they would laugh at me because they would turn to me and they'd laugh because they would ask all these questions. I'd be like, so I would, because I wanted to get it right. So I asked every single question and the moment I would raise my hand, like T and, and, and Nick would just bust out laughing. Cause it was so, it was a very Paul thing to do. Yeah. Now from the cast and working with the cast, like, is there somebody that if we see a

[00:26:07] season two that you get more scenes with that you didn't get a chance to work with in the first season? Um, you know, they, they did a really good job with kind of. With, with, uh, pairing us up, you know, in different, in different episodes. Um, I mean, Tommy, that scene with Tommy in the beginning was like, was my first experience with Tommy where he grabs my face and I didn't even know he was going to kiss me.

[00:26:36] Um, he, he had actually, he was going to ask, he was asking me, Hey, Eugene, I think I'm going to try something. And I remember saying, don't tell me what you're going to do. Just do it. You have my consent. Just do whatever you want to do. And let me just react naturally. And we did that in one take. And I remember John with his, his eyes bugging out and being like, Oh, that was amazing. Like he was like, that was insane. Like, yeah, we're moving on. That was it.

[00:27:03] Um, but you know, I would have liked to work with, with, with Paola a little bit more. We have a moment in episode eight together, which I love because it, I mean, I don't know. It's just such a bad-ass scene, um, in the helicopter. Um, yeah, I probably, I'd want to work more with Paola. I think we didn't really work that much together. Uh, me with Terrence and Nick, we had our own episode together, which was so much fun.

[00:27:33] Arguably maybe my favorite episode, um, on set wise. Um, that was just so much fun to work with those guys. We have so much chemistry. So, so this season was Las Vegas. If we see season two, where are you hoping for it will be? You think it'd be Las Vegas again, or you think it'd be somewhere else? Um, well, from what I hear, it's, they want it to be kind of like, you know, kind of like white Lotus where it's in a different location and every season. So different mission or even a mission we're just together. And then it just happens.

[00:28:02] You know, I think, I think, um, you know, I think that's still kind of all up in the air. Um, there are rumblings about Miami, but I'm not sure. I, you know, obviously Ibiza would be, um, would be kind of like a cool, like party destination, but maybe two on the nose. Um, maybe going the complete opposite of, of like a party city, um, like Paris or like someplace refined. I don't know.

[00:28:32] I, I, I, I, that's a really good question. I think, yeah, yeah, probably something like Paris, but that might be shooting really high. So Eugene, uh, now what, what's next for you now? Now you're just soaking this in, are you still auditioning or you have another project coming up that you're allowed to tell us about? Uh, yeah, I'm going to be, uh, the lead of, of, uh, my own show, uh, limited series next year. I haven't auditioned for it yet, but it's coming.

[00:28:59] Um, uh, I'm just putting that out there. Um, but no, yeah, as of now, I think, you know, the strike has kind of been, um, uh, kind of put a, put a pause on things, but, you know, things are getting really pretty crazy right now. So, um, yeah, I've been pretty busy this week. Um, so they're playing catch up. So I, I, I, something soon. There you go. Eugene, now how can the listeners and the viewers find you on social media, keep up with you? Yeah.

[00:29:28] So, um, I am, uh, at Eugene, Sam Kim on both Instagram and now on Twitter. I'm just starting that up again. So yeah, look for me. That's right. Eugene, this is great. Uh, good luck. Let's get a season two. Let's get you back on the show or any other projects. It's great. Let's do it. That's a wrap. That's a wrap, everybody. That's a wrap. Thanks for listening to the Man Cave Chronicles podcast. I finally get my man cave.

[00:29:58] You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at the MCC podcast and our website, the MCC podcast.com. Until next time.