Interview: Actor and Filmmaker Justin Chon on the Passion Behind ‘Blue Bayou’

Blue Bayou is a film brimming with emotion. Filmmaker and star Justin Chon makes sure that you feel the pain and struggle inherent in the story. For some, that may mean that the movie goes bigger than you might expect. However, Chon is aware of this, and during our chat about his flick, he speaks openly about that. Making this cinematic, and not just a message, was important to him. So, even if some of his filmmaking choices strike you as different than expected, it’s hard not to respect the boldness of his vision. A few weeks ago, we got together on Zoom to talk about Blue Bayou. Now that the movie is out in theaters, I want to share the audio of our talk with you all.

You can hear my discussion with Chon below. I was curious to know how it all came together, from the idea on down to casting. So, we talk about Alicia Vikander (who I interviewed here), preparing for this film with his prior projects, and more. Blue Bayou is the sort of movie you definitely want to mull over with someone after seeing, so I just happened to be lucky enough to do that with the man who created it out of whole cloth.

This here is a piece of my Blue Bayou review, talking about Chon’s work behind the camera:

His best work comes from his direction, which observes characters and captures some terrific shots… There are some brilliant small bits, with Vikander’s singing of the title song chief among them. Then, there’s the ending. Some might love it. Some might reject it. I fell more towards the former than the latter, but it’s a big choice that will split audiences down the middle.

Here now is my interview with Blue Bayou actor/writer/director Justin Chon. Enjoy:

Blue Bayou is in theaters now!