Southern Fried Asian: Christine Ko

On a new episode of Southern Fried Asian, Keith welcomes Hawaii Five-O actress and Atlanta native Christine Ko.

Christine recounts her time growing up in Atlanta (2:00) and what compelled her to become an actor (8:00), including a stint acting in Asia before coming to Hollywood (11:30). Keith and Christine then get into an extended conversation about her experience in the industry, from being cast on The Great Indoors for a role originally written for a white actress (18:00) to now being on Hawaii Five-O and no longer being the only Asian on set (27:00). Christine also discusses the traits that make her southern (36:00), the pride of seeing Atlanta becoming the hub for a lot of Hollywood productions (39:00), and feeling represented on screen for the first time (44:00). Finally, she reveals why her father’s braised pork shoulder brings her back to Atlanta every time (55:00).

Catch Christine’s return to Hawaii Five-O as Jessie Nomura this Friday on CBS at 10:00pm.

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Our official theme music is the song “Top Down” by  Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz. 

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.