Michelle Zauner’s devastating memoir, Crying In H Mart, has already won her heaps of praise as a writer and topped the New York Times bestseller list but as it moves to the big screen, she is looking to cast you.
Today, [May 22], Zauner – AKA Japanese Breakfast – put out a casting call via social media, looking for Korean-American women, aged 18-25 to play herself in the movie.
It asks interested parties to send a “creative video introduction”, including “where you’re located” to [email protected].
It was announced last month that Will Sharpe – of White Lotus Season 2 fame – has signed on to direct the movie. Nobody else has been cast as yet.
The memoir explores both Zauner’s relationship with her mother, as she is diagnosed with terminal cancer, and her identity as a Korean American woman.
Sharpe said of getting the gig: “I was a fan of Michelle’s music and found Crying In H Mart to be a beautiful, relatable work of light-handed honesty.”
Zauner echoed his excitement, saying: “It was a daunting task, to find someone I could trust with the retelling of such a personal story. Someone who could honor my mother’s character and respect the darkest days of grief, and still make the coming of age of a half-Korean artsy outsider in a small Pacific Northwest hippie town seem real and cool.
In that spirit, I am so relieved to have found Will Sharpe and am beyond delighted that he will be the director of Crying in H Mart. I believe his sensitivity, as a director and an actor, and his own personal experience, having grown up between two cultures, will be tremendous assets.
His work on Flowers and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain speak to his ability to conjure lofty, vulnerable performances, to find humor and grace within the tragedy of the everyday. They are a precious collection of talents that make him the perfect fit for this film.”
We can’t wait to see how the movie shapes up.
