Sumith Prasad
Lily Gladstone’s post-Oscar nomination slate is getting bigger! The actress has joined the cast of Andrew Ahn’s ‘The Wedding Banquet,’ a remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 romantic comedy of the same name. Gladstone will star alongside Bowen Yang, Kelly Marie Tran, Joan Chen, and Youn Yuh-jung. Ahn wrote the screenplay with James Schamus. The film’s shooting will start in Vancouver, British Columbia, on or around May 27 and last until June 28.
The plot revolves around Min, whose marriage proposal is rejected by his boyfriend Chris (Yang). Min then convinces his best friend Angela (Marie Tran) to marry him for his green card and offers to pay for the IVF treatment of the latter’s partner, Liz (Gladstone), in return. Although Min and Angela plan a “subtle city hall elopement,” their lives are turned upside down when the former’s grandmother arrives in Seattle to throw them an extravagant Korean wedding banquet.
Casting is currently underway for Min, who is a Korean queer man who is about to finish his Master’s in Fine Arts. With a keen eye for fashion, he is someone who can boast K-pop star looks while wearing his heart on his very expensive sleeves. Even though he is a “bit of a hot mess” at times and his sense of humor is dorky, Min is highly lively. As far as his career is concerned, his grandmother is ready to find a position for him in their family’s Korean conglomerate but only if he remains in the closet.
Gladstone has already announced two movies since getting nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’ The actress will reprise her ‘The Unknown Country’ character Tana in the sequel ‘Jazzy’ and lead the adaptation of Yoko Ogawa’s science fiction novel ‘The Memory Police,’ written by Charlie Kaufman and helmed by Reed Morano. Gladstone plays Cam Bentland in Hulu’s ongoing crime drama ‘Under the Bridge.’ Her recent credits include Hokti in FX on Hulu’s ‘Reservation Dogs’ and Roxanne in Showtime’s ‘Billions.’
Yang, who is known for his multiple roles in ‘Saturday Night Live,’ previously worked with Ahn in ‘Fire Island.’ The actor lends his voice to Nolan in ‘The Garfield Movie,’ which is scheduled to be released on May 24, 2024. Marie Tran is best known for portraying Rose Tico in the ‘Star Wars’ sequel trilogy. She lent her voice to Princess Raya in Disney’s ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ and Dawn Betterman in ‘The Croods: A New Age.’
Yuh-jung, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Lee Isaac Chung’s ‘Minari,’ is expected to play Min’s grandmother. She also appeared as Kim Sunja/Bando Nobuko in Apple TV+’s ‘Pachinko.’ The details regarding Chen’s character, May, are scarce at the moment. The ‘Twin Peaks’ fame played Lu Mei in FX on Hulu’s psychological thriller ‘A Murder at the End of the World.’
The movie is Ahn’s fourth feature. His previous film, ‘Fire Island,’ garnered immense acclaim from the critics. His second movie, ‘Driveways,’ premiered at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival. The filmmaker made his debut with ‘Spa Night,’ which was included in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
Schamus wrote the 1993 original movie with Lee and Ted Hope. The film won a Golden Bear at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award. Winston Chao, May Chin, and Mitchell Lichtenstein led the romantic comedy’s cast.
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