Actor Rodney To chatted about being a part of the comedy “Easter Sunday” and the digital age.
He is starring alongside comedian Jo Koy in the highly-anticipated comedy “Easter Sunday,” which is in theaters as of August 5. In “Easter Sunday,” Jo Koy’s character returns home to celebrate Easter with his riotous, bickering, eating, drinking, laughing, and loving family. To plays one of the family members, Tito Arthur.
How was your experience in “Easter Sunday”?
Working on “Easter Sunday” was – and probably will be – the greatest cumulative professional experience I have had. Working on a film of this magnitude (Amblin, Rideback, Universal for crying out loud) centering around a Filipino American family, surrounded by a cast of Filipino Americans, and being able to portray ourselves makes this the most authentic storytelling I’ve done to date.
What did you love most about playing your character?
I just love Tito Arthur’s pride in being an American. And his pride isn’t foolish either. Tito Arthur is living the immigrant’s dream. He doesn’t take for granted the gifts being an American affords and he always sees the value, honor, and importance of opportunities (like being a postal worker or a security guard) that oftentimes fall under the radar.
It really reminded me that there are people throughout the world who would do anything to have jobs honorable jobs such as being a postal worker and it was the kick in the pants I needed to appreciate everything in my life that I, too, often take for granted.
How does it feel to be an actor in the digital age? (now with streaming and technology being so prevalent)
Being an actor in the digital age has made things infinitely easier and more complicated at the same time. On a practical level, as actors, we are able to create our own work with ease and we have access to many different platforms to put our work out there.
So these days, we actors are becoming multi-hyphenates by default. That being said, this kind of access also affords many more artists to flood the marketplace, and consequently, it’s become much more competitive than even 10 to 15 years ago.
It feels saturated, but I’m convinced that the cream always rises to the top. It’s not always easy playing the waiting game, but for artists who are talented, dedicated, hard-working, and patient, it will pay off.
What do your plans for the future include?
I’m excited about the current Netflix show I am working on, The Brothers Sun starring Michelle Yeoh.
Working with her has been a bucket list item for sure. Of course, I look forward to continuing to grow as an actor, but more than that I want to continue executive produce and, hopefully soon, be a showrunner. I think my brain is set up to do it.
I love shaping worlds and storytelling with a team, but I’m also great at putting out fires and pivoting on a dime. And I’m also firm, but pretty even-tempered. In my bird’s eye view of fronting a show, I believe these things are paramount.
Which actors would you like to someday work with as your dream acting partners?
I’m gonna say what’s expected of course – stars like Chow Yun Fat, Regina King, Meryl Streep, and Leonardo DiCaprio. But to be honest, there are a ton of Filipino actors that I am dying to work with. They are personal heroes and sheroes of mine: Reggie Lee, Jon Jon Briones, Conrad Ricamora, Liza Lapira, Lea Salonga, the list goes on and on.
I’ve been lucky to work with a lot of extraordinarily talented Filipinos – including everyone in the Easter Sunday cast – but I don’t want it to stop there. If every project I work on from now on affords me the opportunity to work with fellow Filipino actors, I’d be thrilled. I’m putting that into the universe! Oh and let it be known that I think Evan Peters is the greatest actor of his generation. I wanna work with him!
What does the word success mean to you?
As a professor at USC, I always tell my acting students “I don’t like to use the word ‘success’” To me, the notion of success is so relative. To one person, one’s ‘being on top’ is another person’s ‘being at the bottom’. To me, it also gives a sense of some sort of endgame in showbiz.
For true artists, I don’t really know if an endgame is possible. Oftentimes I hear “If only I do this or get that or book this or earn that…” Completing any of those things never satisfies an artist. We always want more. We should always strive for more. So to me, ‘success’ is simply being able to continue doing what you love, for as long as you love doing it.
What would you like to tell our readers about “Easter Sunday”?
I want to tell readers that this is not just a Filipino story. I don’t want anyone to think that this story is somehow different from their own. If that is what viewers walk away from our movie thinking, we didn’t do our job. I want – and I know Jo Koy wants – our viewers to relate to the family that is on screen.
Yes we are Filipino, yes the cuisine or the accents may be somewhat unfamiliar, or you might not have a statue of Baby Jesus in your house, but it’s in those details that you are asked to reflect on your own idiosyncrasies and family dynamic and find the commonalities in every family. Specificity breeds universality.
The more details we can pick out, the more relatable our story becomes. So I hope people walk away finding a lot of their own family in ours. If that happens, we have done our job well.
