The pot-smoking, burger-craving duo from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle return for more adventures in Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Although it took four years for John Cho (‘Harold’) and Kal Penn (‘Kumar’) to revisit their characters, Cho confessed it felt “natural” to return to the role of Harold after a few years break. “It was good,” said Cho at the film’s Los Angeles press junket. “For me, it was just a good time with my friends, really. We went off on location and worked on something that we thought was really funny and that we believed in, so it was kind of simple.”
The first film followed the two buddies on a bizarre journey to the nearest White Castle burger joint in order to satisfy a supreme case of the munchies. This time the pair find themselves held as terrorists after trying to sneak a bong onboard a flight to Amsterdam.
Having done one film together already, it was much easier for Cho and Penn to get into their Harold and Kumar characters. “…We’re actually friends and, with the first one, we were concerned, ‘Boy, we don’t know each other and we’re supposed to be best friends.’ We tried to cram in some good get-to-know-you time with the first one when we got up to Toronto, where we shot, for rehearsal. But, yeah, it was easier this time, much easier and his drug problems seemed to be in check,” added Cho, laughing.
Not only did Cho and Penn have the opportunity to go to Amsterdam to film part of the movie, they also had the pleasure of working on a ‘bottomless party’ scene. All in all, not a bad gig for the two actors even if, as Cho claims, the partially nude scene is all a blur. “Ironically, I said to Kal before the very first shot of the bottomless party - which was us knocking on the door waiting for the girl to open the door - I turned to Kal and said, ‘You know, we should take some care in remembering what tonight is like because I think every man will ask us about it for the rest of our lives. Remember about two or three things.’ Having said that, I don’t remember much. I just remember like being really embarrassed. It’s embarrassing to be surrounded by nude people. It’s weird,” explained Cho.
Cho believed the first film would attract an audience, but never anticipated just how popular it would ultimately become once it was released on DVD. “I felt like we made a good movie,” explained Cho. “I thought there would be a core of people who dug it. I didn’t know that it would eventually get this wide, the circle would get this wide, and I didn’t know it would get this intense. People who like the movie really like the movie. There aren’t many people who are like, ‘Oh, it was okay.’ People really like it or they hate it.”
The popularity of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle dramatically increased Cho’s fanbase. “It’s sort of my calling card now, I guess. People on the street called me Harold all the time, which is funny because it’s based on a real guy Harold Lee that’s friends with the filmmakers. Now Harold and I are friends and we go out on occasion. We had dinner last week and so we go out and people say Harold and both of us turn around - and it gets a little weird,” joked Cho.
As for the possibility of a third Harold and Kumar movie, Cho believes it all hinges on a couple of factors. “We didn’t know we were making a sequel for some time, over two years we didn’t know. We were just waiting and there was some talk of it going straight to DVD, which nobody wanted. So, I kind of thought the project might die, the sequel was never going to happen. But it did and we’re in the same boat. If this does well, then maybe they’ll talk about a third one.”
“The second problem it presents is whether we can come up with an idea that rivals the second one. I’m proud of this movie because I feel it’s a true sequel in that we top the first one in every category. The gross out jokes are grosser and there’s more nudity and the politics, we take it further and the racial stuff, we take it further, so I don’t know what we can do for the third one. I’m really at a loss. Maybe we go backwards and make a cautionary, morality tale from the Middle Ages or something. I don’t know.”
