Welcome And Steve’s Origin Story

Greg Staffa 0:00

You're listening to the Staffa Corner Podcast, a Staffatarian look at entertainment and life with your host, Greg Staffa. My guest today is talented actor, writer, and improviser Steve Han. His television credits include Fox's The Big Leap, Chicago Med, and Showtime's Work in Progress. His background in Chicago's comedy scene includes Second City and I owe Chicago. Steve, thank you for joining us today.

Speaker 0:48

Thank you for having me.

Greg Staffa 0:49

So tell us a little bit about yourself. Are you born and raised from Chicago?

Speaker 0:53

Uh yeah, no, I um I was born in New Jersey, and then I lived in New York for a bit as a kid, and then we moved to Korea when I was young, and then I moved to Florida after that, and then I and then I went to um college in Chicago, which is what brought me there. What brought you to Korea? So I was in I was in New York during uh 9-11, and so I it just made my family want to move back, I think. And I was born in America, so I had not lived in Korea prior, but it made uh yeah, it made the family want to move.

Greg Staffa 1:30

You find yourself in Chicago. What was it about Chicago that was your final kind of nesting ground?

Speaker 1:36

Well, so you know, I live in LA now, but I would say Chicago, Chicago, I was in Chicago for seven years, and I was I got I went to the University of Chicago, which is a you know very like non, not that it's not comedic, but you know, it's not a place where people go to for entertainment. So, you know, it's a very like highly academic school. And so I went to the University of Chicago for my degree in biology, and I uh happened to take a second city class, my senior spring, as just like a like a fun, you know, just like a like a senior, you know, so whatever, like a senior blow-off class. And I really enjoyed it. And my teachers that I had encouraged me to continue doing, you know, not necessarily even pursuing comedy, but just like continuing taking classes at the very least. Yeah, that was kind of my start into it, but that's what got me that got my foot in the door at least with Second City.

Greg Staffa 2:28

And what is it about Second City? I mean, you don't have to be a fan of comedy to know what that is and the amazing amount of talent that has come out of doing something like Second City. What is it about that and being in Chicago that makes it so unique and special?

Speaker 2:44

You know, I think uh Second City is a, I mean, one, it's obviously it's a it's an institution. It's you know, it's kind of part of the considered to be, you know, one of the one of the birthplaces of improv. Technically, I would say like maybe the birthplace of improv could be considered to be University of Chicago, um, funnily enough, but it's a you know, in Chicago at least, I think the difference, you know, now that I've lived in LA and and you know, I've only spent like solid time in New York as a kid, but if we're looking at the three cities, I think that the thing about Chicago is that it is considered to be like the comedy mecca, I would say, for people who are trying to do comedy in some kind of way. And so it's like a lot of people will have spent some time in um Chicago training at the very least, if not performing. And I also think that there's because the city is smaller than LA and New York, it saturates more of the city. Like a bigger percentage of the city is taken over by comedy and improv and whatnot. And so it it also is one of the only theaters in terms of comedy theaters that do sketch, for example, that pays, you know, it's its actors once you get to a certain level. So, you know, it's a place where you're able to make a living from working at second city and stem capacity. And they do a lot of different types of gigs, especially when while I was there. So yeah, I mean, I just think it's like if you look at it from a saturation perspective, I guess it just takes up more of the city.

Greg Staffa 4:08

And

Chicago Comedy And Second City Culture

Greg Staffa 4:09

does doing improv make you a better actor, or does being an actor help make you be better at improv?

Speaker 4:16

That's a great question. I think for me, it's I mean, it's a piece of both, obviously, but I do think that being a better improviser has made me a better actor. I think when you're with with improv, it I mean, for me at least, you know, because I don't I didn't grow up really doing theater. My mom made me do some musical theater as a kid, but I did I grew up like really not wanting to perform. And I really did not like being in front of a crowd. And so when I first started doing Second City, it was really just like a exercise for me in like letting go and getting rid of stage fright, to be quite honest. But acting is, I mean, obviously it's a very different skill set because you're not doing it for a crowd that you're immediately getting the gratification from. You're doing it for like a crew and a camera and whoever you're acting with. But I think it does alleviate the fear of failure in a really, you know, I'm not the first person to say this, but like in a really nice, holistic way. And so I think improv was kind of the like first step for me in alleviating that. So I think because of that, I've been able to feel more emboldened to make choices on camera and to make choices in the audition room and and not feel like I have to stick so by the book because you know, with improv, obviously there is no book. So again, I think both, I mean, I do think that acting has in turn made me feel like I can ground myself a bit more in the improv style I do, but I definitely do think that like improv skills are more for me useful in the acting world.

Greg Staffa 5:46

And is there anything that you learned doing improv that once you became more of an actor for television and stuff like that, that you had the uh a habit that you had to break?

Speaker 5:57

Yeah, that's a great question. I did definitely I think with improv, the the the first thing with improv at least is that you can kind of and you know I think that there are people who may disagree with this, but I you know, like with improv, like I really don't believe in there being that many rules within improv other than just don't know but and you know as long as you're yes anding, and that can look different for every single person, but as long as you think you're yes anding and you're taking care of yourself on the stage, you can you're pretty fine. But at least in terms of how I improvise, I you know, I tend to mess with it a little bit. And I like I like to break the fourth wall, for example. And so in acting, I think because acting is so, and especially on camera acting, because some of it, so much of it is so like it's like a huge group project, right? Like you're not you're working with your director and you're working with the DP and you're also working with like a whole crew behind that. You're just like one small cog on a machine. Whereas in improv, like you can kind of if you mess up, it's you know, like easily fixable. Whereas on camera, like, you know, you can mess up and that's still fine. But I think I had to learn like a bit more restraint in terms of like when I could stop, when I could like when I felt like something was over, but if they hadn't yelled cut yet, I still, you know, obviously have to continue. Whereas with improv, like if you feel like a scene is over, I mean, ideally you have your teammates edit for you, but if not, you can find a way out of it. So I think it was just like relinquishing the control that in improv you just have a little bit more of because it's an art form that allows for more fluidity, but also it's like generally speaking, a bit like there's less stakes makes it sound like there's like, you know, there's like some pecking order, which is not what I'm implying. But you know, it's like it's live theater, so it's it can live, breathe, and die on stage that day. Whereas with on-camera acting, it like lives on afterwards, and then when they're editing, you know, you're trying to make an an easier job for your editors and for the director who has to make the final cut and whatnot. So there's just like more pieces involved with acting that I think I had to again remind myself of restraining.

Greg Staffa 8:06

Now, this next question might be a stupid one, but you brought it up, so I'm gonna put it out there because I I don't know the answer to this. But you had made the comment about the the philosophy of using the term yes and and uh recently on Ted Lasso, a TV show on Apple Plus, that was a topic that came up. It was being a good coach, you use yes and, and it was Jason's today's character, Ted Lasso, who brought that up. Jason also went to Second City. I have to wonder, is the yes and philosophy something that's highly taught at Second City, or did the parallels just appear and it just is something that you would have learned elsewhere?

Speaker 8:50

Yeah, definitely. I mean, yes and I'm sure. I mean, I I'm sure Jason, and I'm sure the writers, you know, a lot of them probably have some kind of improv um experience, if not a background. I'm sure that yes, yes and comes from the improv world. I'm sure, especially if they I haven't seen this episode you're talking about, but if they're talking about that exact phrase. But yeah, I mean, Second City, any improv theater, it's kind of like the first tenet that you learn, which is the idea of yes and when I, you know, I teach improv at with Second City, and when I teach level one in particular, like that's kind of the main the main concept. Now, I think that the idea of yes and oftentimes is like thought to be like you can't disagree on stage or you can't like have an argument on stage. I think some teachers really don't like that. But I'm of the philosophy personally where yes and just means that you are accepting what they are saying as truth and you are going to add more information on top of that, which sometimes means as the character denying what they're saying, right? But like the example I give my students is like, you if I say, Hey, can you hold my baby for me? You as your character can say, no, I don't like, I'm kind of afraid of holding babies. I'm afraid I might drop it. That's still yes and in, because you're saying, yes, that's a baby, and I'm gonna add more information to the scene. No butting would be the opposite. And to no butt that scene would be like, that's not a baby, that's a pineapple, you know, and then that's when it's like you're denying the reality. So I always say, like, the Michael Scott school of improv in that episode of The Office where he's doing improv and he keeps pulling out guns, that's a great example of like no butt. But in general, you know, like the idea of yes and is yeah, it's like a uh definitely attended taught at Second City and I.O. for sure, which are just the two places that I've taken classes. I perform with UCB out here in LA, but I've I haven't taken classes here. But I'm sure at any of the improv theaters that you take classes in, that's for sure going to be like the first rule that you'll learn. Interesting.

Greg Staffa 10:43

I was just curious if it was an improv thing given his background and that was it was prevalent in this episode, and then to hear you say it, and both of you have ties to the same group, kind of made me wonder, and I didn't

Yes And As A Real Skill

Greg Staffa 10:56

know the answer.

Speaker 10:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Greg Staffa 10:58

What is it about improv that's almost universal? Uh, my brother is an American born and raised white kid. Uh, he lives in Japan where he runs an improv show, uh, which you wouldn't expect a you know American to be be doing. What is it about improv that's almost universal?

Speaker 11:17

Yeah, I mean, you know, I think a big part of it is that it is a I think a lot of times people feel like they are unable maybe to let go, if that makes sense. You know, I think a lot of times um improv the you know, the reason why I got into it, for example, is that it felt like the first time, it felt very liberating to me. It felt very like allowing myself to play. And, you know, the history of improv is that it was born from Jane Addams Hull House by a woman named Viola Spolin, whose son Paul Sills, I think is his name, um, who went to the University of Chicago, took a took her book of short-form exercises, short form exercises that she wrote, and then you know, played, did the exercises on stage with his friends, and that's what was the first like quote quote short form improv show. But she wrote this book of short-form exercises to teach like immigrant children and you know, children of immigrants, you know, who might might have been born in America. But she like was teaching kids basically how to play again, you know, and like that's that's stuff something that was taught to me by my first second city teacher, and that's something that I teach my second city students is that it's you know, that's like kind of the birthplace of it to remind people that it this isn't like an art form that is created to like uh create the best scenes ever or whatever. I mean, that's like obviously an amazing feeling if you do. But the origin of the art form and why it might feel universal is that it is a it's born from a like need to teach people how to play. And I think a lot of times as adults, like, you know, we don't have outlets for play. I think that's something that like feels almost restricted to just kids and youth. And I think a lot of times as adults, we yeah, we just like don't find or seek those moments of play. I think nowadays I think more adults are actually seeking those moments, which I'm I'm grateful for, but I think a lot of times people aren't seeking that actively. And so I think improv feels liberating for a lot of people because again, it's just the first time that they've been able to play in a really long time, more than having to create art that needs to be seen.

Greg Staffa 13:20

Can you give us a little bit better definition of what improv is? Because I think a lot of people, when you first hear of it, you think of bonus clips of Jim Carrey doing a scene over and over, or it's something where it's it's silly and exaggerated and and you know, kind of a mockery of real acting. But can you tell us a little bit more of a definition of what you see improv as being? Does it always have to be silly? Does it always have to be kind of outlandish and over the top, or is that just the ones that stand out?

Speaker 13:55

Yeah, great question. I mean, I think in the same way as like of the question of like what is acting or or what is writing, I think there's a lot of types of it, but I would say improv ultimately is just the art of coming up with something that has not been done before in front of or it doesn't have to be in front of people, but just the art of creating something. I think that's like the simplest form. I think a lot of times it's in front of an audience. I think a lot of times it's with at least one person. You know, we call two people that do improv, just the two of them, two prov, but you know, there's three prov with three people and and whatnot. Um, there's different types of forms of improv. There's long form improv, which are like scenes that you would see people do where you've probably seen like clips of people like running in front of a group of people to like what we would call edit the scene, which means like start a new scene. We have short form improv, which is if you've ever gone to like a corporate gig and like an organization like Second City has come there, they probably have played short form games with um in front of the audience, which are like very structured games that that the components are like you make up the answer, but the games themselves are very structured for an audience. So there's different kinds of improv, you know, but I again at its core, it is just making stuff up. Now, if it has to be like exaggerated, no. I mean, improv can be dramatic. There is such a thing as dramatic improv. There's such a thing as obviously there's a lot of really like heightened satirical improv. There's improv that might feel over the top. Um, improv is funny because like a lot of times I think improv get gets laughter from it, I guess is the right way to put it, because people are like seeing actors discover something real time with the audience. And so that's a really special thing. But also a lot of times improv is uh, like you said, like it's like a facsimile of real life, but just something's heightened in there. And so it allows improv to say something in a very real time way, which I think is why also again, it's really fun, is because a lot of times we get suggestions from the audience that inform, like that's informed by their lives, and then it helps us inform the scene, but it allows them to see like a version of what they're just they've had described to us, but just again in like with a more comedic lens. But yeah, I mean, improv can totally be dramatic. There's a lot of, I mean, if you look at it in movies and TV shows, like a lot of choices that actors make are improv in that they're making that up. It's it was not written and they're choosing to do it. And I think a lot of great, I mean, I'm I'm I can only think of comedic improv scenes right now that have been incorporated into movies and TV shows. But again, a lot of them, a lot of some of the best scenes and some of the best lines in history from like film and TV have been improvised.

Greg Staffa 16:36

And I think some of that, and I agree with what you said, I think some of that is as a viewer, there's almost like an internal light switch where you can tell an actor went off script and and you think to yourself, he had fun with that. Or that was that was Jim Carrey kind of letting go a little bit. I think there's a realization internally, whether we fully kind of understand it or not, where something veered off just a little bit, and I think we're able to appreciate that without fully understanding that it was off script or it was you know improvised. I think we're able to detect those in a way. I don't know if that makes sense or not.

Speaker 17:17

Mm-hmm. Definitely, yeah. I think detect I mean, that's again that joy, I think, is what makes us some of those moments really memorable. I mean, I think like the my one of my favorite improvised moments, I guess, is like in Pretty Woman when Richard Deere like snaps the box, the box on Julia Roberts. And that's like her genuine reaction. Like that's just that's like not her as her character. That's like Julie Roberts, like surprise that he closed it on her hand and she starts laughing at a surprise. And they kept that take in, you know. And so I think that's like it's like again, improv doesn't have to be spoken, also, you know, it can be acted and and whatnot.

Improv On Screen And Writing For Yourself

Speaker 17:50

But those choices are what makes, I think, for a lot of really memorable and and delicious moments in on camera.

Greg Staffa 17:57

Now you also do some writing, is that correct?

Speaker 18:00

Yes, that's correct.

Greg Staffa 18:01

And I I understand that you have done writing for yourself where you've you've written something for like Vicom CBS Showcase and then performed it. What was that like as a writer? It's one thing to write something and then put it out there and and let other people read or perform it, but what was it like to write something and then for you to then turn around and put your actor hat on and perform it? Did you learn anything about yourself as either a writer or an actor reading something that you had written?

Speaker 18:34

Uh yeah, definitely. I think you I mean that specific process was interesting because we were doing what was an acting showcase for a net like a major network, but it was writing that we had to write for ourselves. So we had to write something that we thought best showcased our acting, right? Not necessarily like writing that I thought was the funniest thing in the world, but just something that I thought showcased to me very well. I mean, personally, as far as like my writing style goes, I I am a like I watched so much 30 rock as a kid, and so I just it's like to me like the comedy Bible. And so a lot of my writing I think emulates Tina Faye's style and like the 30 rock style of like joke machine. And so I think you know, it and that that's always fun for me to act, but I do love acting for things that I haven't written because it gives me a chance to immerse myself in something else that like I didn't have control over, which is quite liberating as an actor. But as far as like writing for myself, you know, I think I learned that I learned like what type of jokes sound best in my voice um when I'm saying them out loud. I learned about like what type of restrictions there are when you're working with a network on some, you know, on the type of jokes and the type of comedy that that that can go in or can't go in. And yeah, I mean, it wasn't like any, I will say like I had to write for myself for Second City as well. So, you know, it wasn't like that big of a departure per se. The main difference was like thinking about how things would live on camera versus on stage, because that is that's quite different. But I think in terms of my voice, I'd already developed it quite solidly through Second City, so it didn't feel necessarily like the learning curve was in the writing per se, but more in like the production when I and the and the acting style when I went from stage to camera.

Greg Staffa 20:16

And I mentioned before, you know, second city is kind of the hollow grounds of improv. You don't have to be an improv fan to know who, you know, of what it is, to know some of the famous names that have come out of there. But even you, you won the Bob Curry Fellowship. That has to be quite an honor coming from something like Second City. What was that like? And did it change your approach in any way to how you do your writing or performing?

Speaker 20:43

Yeah, um, I'll say for me, yes. I don't know, you know, that fellowship is great, and it was especially great then. I mean, it was like it was kind of a big turning point in my career personally, but I also will say I had just started doing comedy five months prior to getting that fellowship. So I got that fellowship quite early in my career, and I I was, I think the a big pro of it for me was that I was with people who had been doing it for a long time. Like I was doing that fellowship, it was 16 of us, and I was doing that fellowship with people who had been improvising for some of them for 20 years already, you know. So I was definitely by far, I mean, I was the youngest person there by age, but I was was also the person that was next youngest after me, what had still been doing improv at that point for four years, five years, you know, so or even more, maybe. So like I was still I was the youngest and I was the youngest in terms of experience by a lot. So I I personally just that fellowship kind of trained me in everything that I know, which is why Second City kind of trained me in everything I know. Because I got that fellowship very by happenstance because I just happened to have a teacher who in during my like level three of the improv curriculum who introduced me to the artistic director and encouraged me to like submit, even though I didn't have the right credentials. And I learned a lot. About how to improvise, to be honest. I didn't know, I had never done long form improv when I started that program. I didn't know anything about like writing or how to write characters. I didn't know anything about writing joke structure. But one thing that I did know was how to tell a joke. And that I'd known since I was a kid. Like I've always made I've always been able to like command a room and make people laugh. That's always been like a thing that I've commended myself for. But I didn't know like any, I had no training or any structure. So it just felt like all of this past experience that like didn't really translate. But I feel grateful that they like saw something in me to give me that fellowship. But yeah, I really didn't know like anything going into that fellowship.

Greg Staffa 22:42

Now we've talked about you know translation and you know improv being you know a universal language, but you also speak fluent Korean. Are you when you do a joke, does it translate into Korean? Are you able to take a Korean joke and turn it into English? How how universal is improv? And are you able to kind of go back and forth? Do the jokes that work in Korean or Korea work also in the United States in English?

Speaker 23:12

Yeah, good question. I the the short answer is it's complicated. It's like it sometimes, but like if someone thinks if something were to translate directly, it like wouldn't um you'd have to consider like the cultural element of it as well, right? Because languages don't exist in a vacuum. Languages, I mean, yes, I think I could translate every joke that I've ever written to Korean, but a lot of them don't work. And a lot of them in Korean, like any kind of language, like any joke that relies on wordplay, for example, would obviously not translate. But things that Koreans find funny are very different from things that Americans find funny. And so I don't think that in my experience, they haven't really I mean I haven't really tried to be quite honest with you. I I like, you know, I've written things that are in Korean and then in English, but that's because it's about like the Korean-American experience. And it's not necessarily humor-based, it's like it's it's like identity-based, perhaps, is the best better way to put it. But you know, a lot of times I think those like the the the things that make the things that are like true for Koreans but don't or but read more funny for Americans, the converse is also true, like things that are true for Americans might read funny to Koreans. So it's not like a one-to-one translation per se, but there are things that I also think are funny because they're uniquely Korean American, or like things that only a person who would know both cultures would get for sure. But but yeah, I don't think like they translate super cleanly one-on-one. Not again, not because of the language purely, but because of the cultural element.

Korean Language Humor And Cultural Context

Greg Staffa 24:40

Interesting. Now we live in a day and age where technology seems to control our lives, and you look at film and television, and things like the volume are kicking over, where sets are being digitally created, yet at the same time, we have a movie like Wildwood, which is a stop motion film coming out, and one of the things that you've been involved in is puppetry. In a technology day and age, why is it things like puppetry or even stop motion are still finding a place in people's hearts?

Speaker 25:13

Yeah, great question. Yeah, I mean my experience at puppetry is limited to is to training and and doing some stuff for doing some stuff with a musical. But I do think that when I think about puppetry or stop motion in particular, I mean, I think there's a few things. I think one that part of it is rooted in nostalgia, because I think we're still like there's a big consumer base right now that did get to really appreciate those art forms. And so a lot of it feels like nostalgic for for me whenever I I see a stop motion picture, or if I get to go see Avenue Q, for example, when I just saw on the West End again. And I haven't seen that musical in like seven years since it left the new world stages in New York. But I think like again, part of this nostalgia. I think a big part of it though is that those art forms require a lot of precision and require a lot of training. And I think that's the big issue right now with like, I mean, you know, this question's not about AI per se, but I think like if we think about AI and we think about like all these things, I think like there's an ease of access that I think when it comes to certain art forms, there is a respect for like how long it takes or how much effort it takes. I think it's why people commend Christopher Nolan and the Odyssey. Because I think if you look at like how much of the Odyssey was made with practical effects, it makes the movie that much more impressive, but also that much more exciting as a viewer to go see. Um, knowing that they like had to rig boats to create the whirlpool for the like that whirlpool monster, the Scylla scene. And you know, things like that are like it very impressive as like a consumer, obviously. And I live in LA, so obviously I think people are just talking about filmmaking more here than when I lived in Florida per se. I think that part of it is really impressive. And so I think there's like a fondness for that because again, like it's it's nostalgic and it is impressive. It's very impressive to see someone hone in on their craft. It's why like origami masters are impressive. It's why, I mean, to speak about like like Japanese woodworking, if you look at the all those buildings that have stood for thousands, like a thousand years, hundreds of years at least, and they all like have no nails or anything in them. They're just made by perfectly fitted wood, you know? And I think it's this idea of like building things to last is like pervasive in art as well. And so that's why I think it feels special when we see those things come to fruition.

Greg Staffa 27:32

And you also play several instruments as well, is that correct?

Speaker 27:35

Yes, that is correct. What do you play? I play piano and cello is my main instrument, but I play piano and cello and then I play ukulele pretty okay and guitar okay, but I would say cello and piano are my main instruments.

Greg Staffa 27:48

Now, is that something that you found difficult? I mean, here you are, you speak English and Korean, you're an actor, an improv person. Is it all when you strip it down to this kind of bare foundation, is all this about a communication, whether it be verbal, whether it be through music, do you is there like a pattern that you're able to identify and kind of find the basic to that makes it a lot easier for for someone like you to do these things?

Speaker 28:16

Yeah, yeah, I've never I've never thought of it like that. I think I I think personally I've always struggled with and found joy in communication. I think communication is like a really big thing for me. It's something that I really like have found a lot of joy in expressing. And I think sometimes there's like a part of me that like feels, I mean, again, and I I I think everyone feels this to an extent. I don't think I'm unique in this, but I think sometimes I feel like I'm the only person that knows like XYZ or like this thing or whatever. And it's like hard for me to express exactly what that feels like. And so I think like music or under like being fluent in like, you know, two languages in those two languages, or you know, and I'm a conversational few other languages, but being able to like get my fingers in as many of these things as possible, which are ultimately just forms of expression, feels liberating to me because it allows me to express that part of me that I think otherwise doesn't have like like words can't like my simple words cannot do it justice, if that makes sense. So I think like music can like it's like I forget what the exact quote is, but there's like this quote that's like lyrics or like words say what you think, but music or like sound expresses how you feel, and music like song and lyrics express help you feel what you think. I think is like I'm butchering the quote, but you know, it's this idea of like this combination. I think music and all these things again, like the confluence of those in me is like what lets me express myself as much as I can. But yeah, I think that's just like my constant. I don't know if it's like my my my my burden in life or my joy in life, but I do think like the constant pursuit of like picking up a skill is something that I find a lot of joy in. And I think acting just happened to be one of those things that like kind of stuck as a career. But you know, at the time I was like gonna go to med school. So like when I started doing improv and things like that, it was very much like a let me just pick this up for fun, you know, in my gap year before I go to med school next year. So yeah, I don't know if that answers that, but no, it does.

Improv On Set And Getting Past Fear

Greg Staffa 30:26

Now, one of the things about improv is overall it's respected and and welcome, but every once in a while you hear an actor or a director say, Nope, I I focus on what the script says, I trust the writer, I stick to that. That's that's their you know, their research, that's their words. I'm just conveying it, so I stick 100% to that. They almost seem turned off by the idea of improv. But you do a lot of improv teaching. What advice would you give to them? Not necessarily that they need to do improv, but what's something that you say is a benefit of having that in your quiver just to be able to have and understand that they might not get.

Speaker 31:10

Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of times where they do want improv. You know, there's a lot of moments on set where like I've I've been on sets before where they say like, just have a fun run. You know, I think like when I did when I filmed the uh and just like that, which is a the the Sex in the City um like reboot show on HBO, but when I filmed that, like, you know, the director was very open to like letting me have fun on set and letting me, you know, like whatever, you know, would make the most sense for that character. And a lot of the projects I've been on allow again, allow for that type of freedom. I've also been on projects before where they yeah, they want us to stick to the script exactly for reasons that are larger than just like the scene. And that's great. And that's also totally fine. So I think it just depends. You know, I'm someone that I like having it in my arsenal in case I need to use it, if they do want a fun run. And I've been on dramas before or even comedies where they don't want that, because again, it's like very precise. And if that's the case, like as an actor at least, I'm but a small cog in a machine. Like I'm the person that is the vehicle to express what the words that the writer wrote are. I'm not the one that's like coming up with it per se. If they're open to that collaboration, awesome. But if they want to preserve like what their project is, that's also like so respectable and that's their decision. So in that case, yeah, that's also totally fine. So, you know, I think it's like as an actor personally, I I relinquish all of that control as soon as I show up on set, especially if it's something I didn't write. And whatever happens, and whatever the director and or the writers want or the producers want, like that's great.

Greg Staffa 32:47

For a lot of people, they see improv as almost liberating the freedom to let your mind go where it needs to go. Uh, but for a lot of people that's intimidating, that's scary. Is there, and I don't mean to fully oversimplify it, but if you had a group of new people that have never done improv that's nervous, is there a first step that you recommend as taking to get yourself more comfortable? Or is there, you know, what's is there a process that you see in looking at people when they're they're interested in doing it that is like a switch that you wish you could turn that one switch on everyone just to help them be a little bit better at being receptive to improv?

Speaker 33:28

Yeah, I mean it really is you have to be okay with looking stupid. You have to be okay with looking dumb, and you have to be willing to yeah, you have to be willing to like be the fool, you know. I think that's like the thing is a lot of people are afraid of failure. I think that the thing that I noticed with improv when I teach it, especially if I'm teaching it to people who have never done improv before or any kind of play before, is that there's a fear of like doing it wrong. And I tell my students all the time, like, there's no way to do improv correctly. I do think there's a way to do it wrong. And so I think that's like like I think I don't think their fear is like completely unfounded. There is a way to do it wrong, which would be to no butt, but there's no correct way to do improv. Like you can, as long as you're not, again, like as long as you're not no-butting and as long as you're not punching down or being offensive, like there's no real wrong way to do improv. And so I, you know, I tell students like you're gonna probably be bad, which is why you're taking classes at it, and that's okay. You have to like be willing to be bad and you have to be willing to fail. And I think a lot of times adults are really afraid to pursue that feeling. So yeah, I mean, I just I would just tell people, like, and I had the same fear too, so I understand, but you have to be willing to look dumb. I think it's and and be not even be willing per se, but like you have to accept that that is going to be an inevitability, and then the rest of it will become a lot more enjoyable.

Greg Staffa 34:44

What is the difference in between improv and having a conversation? I mean, you and I are talking for the first time, you don't know the questions I'm gonna ask you, you don't know the subjects I'm gonna ask you. I'm asking you, you're hearing it for the first time, you're reacting to it. What is the difference between that and doing improv?

Speaker 35:06

Not much. I mean, to be honest, everyone does improv every day when they when they're thinking about conversations. It's just when you start adding stakes to or labeling it, that's when it's scary. I think a lot of times with improv, maybe what feels scary to people is that they're not they they think that they're not playing themselves and they're playing a character, and that starts to like get like they start short circuiting because they're like, Well, what would the character say? And like, which is fine, that's a fine way to think, of course. But like, you can also, I I'm with all my students, like the exercises I have them do to start building up that muscle is to play scenes as themselves, and that's also totally okay, you know. And again, it's just about getting through the muscle of like saying something in front of people that is maybe like slightly performative because you're performing it, but is like part of the universe of just like saying things to say them. And so I think, yeah, there's not, I mean, to be honest, again, there's not much of a difference other than what we're labeling it and like what the stakes are, I guess.

Greg Staffa 36:03

Well, other than the hang-ups is almost more mental than anything.

Speaker 36:07

Yeah, it's all I mean, it's almost always mental. It's like all all, you know, and and there's always a moment when I teach where I like will see a student, like it like clicks for a student, and I see them like willing to be a fool, or I see them willing to act silly, or I see them willing to like get out of their shell a little bit. And so like those moments are really important. So I would say like those, like getting over that mental hurdle is different for every single person, but it's like a very gratifying and like um worthy moment to get through.

Dream Projects Identity And What’s Next

Greg Staffa 36:37

No, if Steven Spielberg came to you and said, I like your work, I think you're very funny, I think you're a talented and improv, but you've done a lot of acting. Is there a project out there? I'm looking for something to fund with Steven Spielberg money. Is there a story out there? Is there a project that you would love to undertake if you had that kind of backing?

Speaker 36:58

That's a great question. I mean, I love musical theater, and so I would love if I mean it doesn't even have to be Steven Spielberg. I mean, there's like so many directors I would love to work with in the future, but I would love some kind of I'm trying to think of like uh that's a good question. I don't know if there's any like specific stories that I would want to tell specifically. I think prior to Wicked coming out, I would have loved to have been involved in Wicked in some kind of way. If Avenue Q or if Putnam County Spelling Bee ever becomes a live version, I would love for that kind of funding to go into it, especially Avenue Q, which is so stylized because it's you know it's Sesame Street, but but rated R with you know songs. I guess Sesame Street also has songs, but I would love to see that like done with like a high budget in the way like to look like Sesame Street and and really feel like it in the way that it does when it's staged. But yeah, I would love something like that. I mean, I I love Korean storytelling, so I would love you know more Korean films, obviously. But yeah, I think the I mean, I I would say probably something musical theater based would be my immediate answer.

Greg Staffa 38:10

And you mentioned finding Korean stories. How important are roles when you're taking them to look at that that factor to see characters like you on screen? Is that something that you're looking for in characters, or are you just looking for characters that happen to be of Korean descent or have the look of a Korean?

Speaker 38:30

I think I'm mostly looking for when I look at a character breakdown. I mean, because I oftentimes I'm auditioning for characters that only like they only want people who speak Korean to audition for, which is great. I also oftentimes am auditioning for characters where it just is like any ethnicity, you know, and that's also totally fine. I'm not I'm not particularly like seeking for one or the other, but I do think that if it is some someone that is that they want to be Asian, or if it is someone that they want to be Korean or Korean speaking, that it needs to be authentic to the experience. I I I'm not at a place in my career anymore, or I mean, I don't know if ever that I would be have I that that wouldn't have held true, I guess. But I think I'm just mostly looking for like what I I guess I I would have I would have to feel like it's authentic to the experience and not punching down or not a caricature, like that's for sure something that I've always been seeking and make sure that I don't want to do. But yeah, I mean I think like it's when I'm looking to audition, that's what I'm looking for. As far as like when I'm consuming, I mean, you know, I think that there are shows made by all different kinds of people for all different kinds of people. I'm not looking like I I know not every single show is like made for me, and that's fine, but I do think that I naturally obviously gravitate towards things that are more like where I see myself on screen, of course. And so I think just again in that same vein, when I'm acting or when I'm looking at roles, like those are the type of roles that I'm also seeking to be involved in in some capacity.

Greg Staffa 40:06

What if anything that you're able to share? What does the future hold for you? Is there any project that you're currently working on? Where can we see your work next?

Speaker 40:15

Yeah, I mean, I have some stuff in the I have some stuff that's coming up that we're in the process, so I can't quite talk about right now, but I do perform live. If anyone listening in LA wants to come to um, I do a live uh musical theater cabaret comedy show with my create one of my creative partners, Avery Gurion, and we do a show called Dear Steve Hansen in like every few months, and so that's a really fun show. The next one's December 6th, but other than that, I mean I it's mostly stuff that I I can't speak about quite yet, but it's stuff that's in the woodworks right now.

Greg Staffa 40:52

Sure, and I'll put that December 6th link uh in your little blurb for your episode so fans can check that out.

Speaker 41:01

Perfect, thank you.

Greg Staffa 41:02

Finally, when we talk about you, a lot of what we associate is you know, Steve Hahn from the Big Loop, Steve Hahn from Chicago Med or from Showtime's Work in Progress, or Steve Hahn with Second City. We we associate the things that you've done to the roles that you've played. But when you get up in the morning, you go into the bathroom, splash a little water on your face, and look in the mirror for the first time that day, who is it that you see?

Speaker 41:31

That's a good question. I mean, I think I think above all, you know, it's funny, I don't I don't really define myself by my career. And I think it's because I don't come from a world where I've like my I haven't wanted to do this my whole life, you know, like I've I kind of stumbled into it. And so I think what I see, what I see is I see my family's really important to me. So I see like a son and a grandson. My mom and my grandma are like the two most important people in the world to me. I have a dog who's my son, and I see, you know, I think of him constantly. But you know, I think I just see like a I see someone who's like as cliche as it is, I see someone that's like trying to figure it out and trying to maintain, be present. And I think part of that is also like obviously my career, but um, but yeah, I don't, I really don't define myself by my career. And I don't know if that's because like the industry has been in a weird place for the last few years after the strike or anything like that, but I do think that it's nice to feel like the my career is a part of me, but it's not the thing that like it's not the only thing that I am. So yeah, I would say I guess maybe first I think is like I see a guy that is like I guess I juxtapose my my self-image to like my family first and foremost.

Greg Staffa 42:43

Well, Steve Han, thank you so much for coming on. It's a real treat to talk to you. Fascinating story, and I love hearing stories about people that might not get the full recognition or be household names yet, but we'll be someday. And I like highlighting them and hearing their stories. So I thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule.

Speaker 43:02

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.