Actor James Hong makes TV host choke up with his heartwarming question

Actor James Hong and MSNBC journalist and broadcaster Katie Phang had an emotional discussion during his interview on The Katie Phang Show.

The veteran actor, who starred in the Oscar-winning hit film Everything Everywhere All at Once, recently sat down with Phang to talk about the acclaimed film and his career.

The film star said he was understandably ‘exhausted’ following the film’s Academy Award sweep earlier this month.

The 94-year-old Chinese-American actor, producer and director then spoke about growing up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, his whopping almost-700 film and TV credits over a span of 70 years and how he overcame ‘cliched roles’ early in his career.

“We were never real people, we didn’t have any real feelings,” he recalled.

The powerful conversation about Asian representation in Hollywood led to Hong congratulating Phang for fronting her own show.

Phang, who is a mom to a daughter, mentioned how Hong’s three daughters and eight grandchildren must be proud of their father and grandfather.

“I know they must be really proud of you,” Phang told the legendary actor. “I lost my father going on four years, that’ll be June this year, it’ll be four years. So, I know they’re really proud of you and I’m so glad that you’re still going.”

MSNBC

Phang, who became visibly emotional, gushed: “Thanks for all of the stuff that you’ve done for our community and that you’re continuing to do – I really appreciate it.”

Hong then asked Phang if her father was alive to see her host her own show, which began in April 2022, just shy of three years since her father passed away.

“No, and I’m actually getting choked up because you’re asking me - no. He passed away from Alzheimer’s and lewy body dementia [on] Father’s Day 2019. So, he never got to see me do this. So, but I know he was proud of me.”

Hong replied: “I’m sure your father - and I being a father – we would be very proud of our children stepping forward, carrying our name forward.”

At the end of the emotional interview, Phang apologises for crying to which Hong tells her it was his ‘honour’ to speak with her.

This is so wholesome!

A24

The quirky, mind-bending movie directed by The Daniels and starring Michelle Yeoh dominated this year’s Oscars and out of the 11 awards it was nominated for, it won seven.

The huge list of wins included the Oscar for Best Picture, The Daniels won Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, Michelle Yeoh won Best Actress, Jamie Lee Curtis won Best Supporting Actress, Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor, and Paul Rogers won Best Editing.