John Cho Releases New Book Inspired by His Kids When He Struggled to Explain the Pandemic

John Cho, the Korean-American actor known for films like "Harold & Kumar" and the "Star Trek" franchise, has released a new memoir inspired by his son and daughter amid the chaos during the early months of the pandemic.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Cho said that his kids, who are in junior high school and elementary, were quite exposed to what was going on because they had CNN on during the lockdowns. They were able to watch and witness the COVID-19 scare, the controversial George Floyd police brutality issue, the protests across the U.S., as well as the violence against Asian-Americans.

Cho said that he kept reminding his kids to be extra careful when they went out for walks and exercises with their grandparents. The young ones, however, had plenty of questions about what was really happening outside of the safety of their homes.

The actor explained that he and his wife, Kerri Higuchi, were grasping for the right words to put things into context for their children. Cho said that he wanted to look at the chaos from a child's perspective and realized that he could write a book about it.

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What's John Cho's Book About?

Prior to the pandemic, Cho was working on some young adult book ideas with his publisher and thought he would write a mystery story. Instead, he came up with "Troublemaker" with a 12-year-old boy Korean-American named Jordan as the lead character.

In the story, Jordan and his dad were trapped right at the center of the Rodney King Los Angeles Riots in 1992. Cho was in college during that incident, which has been etched in California's history.

In an interview with NBC News, Cho said that "Troublemaker" was written for 9 to 13-year-old kids. The actor said that he chose this story for his book because he wanted to touch on social issues and racial tensions that would move young people. However, he also toned down the story of "Troublemaker" to reflect the notion of a "visible and central" love while making the story light-hearted and fun for the kids.

"Kids do need some education on this," the celebrity dad said. "They need an outlet to discuss this stuff and so we have to be sensitive, but also be responsible."

The father revealed that he consulted with his children about some plot ideas for "Troublemaker." Completing the book also made him reconnect to his past and get a better grasp of what his own parents may have been through at that time.

John Cho's Family Life

At home, Cho said that his family is like any typical family who enjoys watching "Encanto" on the loop. He's pleased that his kids are not on social media and they are not exposed to the public despite the high-profile work of their parents in Hollywood.

The father said via Yahoo Life! that his children can be "invisible" to the public for as long as they want. When they are old enough to decide, Cho said that they can take part in some of the public events of their actor parents.

The dad also said that he's not yet exposed his children to "Harold & Kumar." He joked that he'll introduce the films, a naughty college-age comedy, to his children when they are 30 years old.

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