Sung Kang looks back at 'Tokyo Drift' and the origin of Han always eating chips

Sung Kang is returning as Han in F9, and he's reflecting on Tokyo Drift 15 years after it first came out. He talks about what make Tokyo Drift a fan favorite, Han's origin story as a character and why Han is always eating chips.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

SUNG KANG: Let's go.

KEVIN POLOWY: "Tokyo Drift" actually turns 15 this year. That's a movie that I feel like has only grown in stature over the years like the legend of Han himself. What's that arc been like for you to watch since its release?

SUNG KANG: Well, we were the underdog film. From what I recall, we were destined to DVD. I didn't think that there was any life after "Tokyo Drift". I was just grateful to be there and have a job and be part of this universal world. And to see it grow and then going out there and people telling me, hey, "Tokyo Drift" is one of my favorites, and I love all the practical drifting. And each film has its own voice and its own DNA. And "Tokyo Drift" has that drift culture that a lot of kids and people around the world during that time could relate with.

It's the thing that introduced them to the drift world. So it's been cool to see that and see how the fan base for the movie has grown.

KEVIN POLOWY: What was the origin behind Han eating chips all the time? Is that something you came up with?

SUNG KANG: Justin and I did a film called "Better Luck Tomorrow" where unofficially Han was born there. And Han was a chain smoker. He was a little riff raff in high school, and he's always smoking trying to look cool and stuff. And when Han was going to be brought into the "Fast and Furious" world, I knew that a bunch of kids were going to watch this film. "Better Luck Tomorrow" was a indie, very edgy, rated R film. It was a Art House film. And I so I knew what our audience was going to be.

But Fast, there was a lot of kids watching this. So that influence of smoking and making them look cool, look. I was a kid. You were a kid. You're going to do what your heroes do on TV or in the movies. So I started watching actors like Brad Pitt, and Steve McQueen, and listening to them behind the scenes. And what does an actor do when he doesn't speak much? If you go back to Tokyo Drift, Han probably says three words in the whole film. You know what I mean? He's always observing.

And I needed an activity. I needed something to do instead of just having my hands in my pocket. And what do you do when you're watching something? You're eating. You're snacking. And I was like, oh that's the perfect activity. And you can stay active. You can act with the snack. You can be repulsed, by throwing the snack down, or, I'm done with this, or you can make it kind of sexually delicious by slowly putting it in your mouth. Stuff like that. So that's where the origin of the snacks came from.