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TIM J. LIM
Director/Actor
Tim J. Lim is a director, actor, dancer, singer, and stunt performer based out of North Hollywood. He is ethnically Korean, but grew up in China as the child of missionaries and is a US Citizen. Lim's performances primarily involve musical theater and dance shows including Carnival, World of Dance LA / SD, Urban Street Jam, LA Unbound, and as a performer in the 2018 Oscars' performance of "This Is Me" from the Greatest Showman.
Could you tell us about living abroad? We know you lived abroad for quite a big portion of your life.
I moved to China with my parents when I was around four years old, and I graduated from high school in China. In the third grade, we moved to Pasadena for my parents’ furlough year, but other than that, we lived in China until I graduated high school.
Were your parents missionaries?
Yeah, they still are. They’re in Cambodia now.
What was it like living in China?
I got to travel abroad every summer -- we’d either go back to Korea or come back here to California. My cousins on my mom’s side are also missionaries in Russia, so we had similar upbringings. Everyone on my dad’s side stayed in Southern California their entire lives. Growing up at that time, I was a lot more aware of “where I’m from” and how that didn’t quite line up because there were a lot of people that looked like me but weren’t really like me. I looked like everyone else, but once people found out that my parents were from Korea or I was from America, that’s when things would change. It’s such a mouthful to say “I’m an American-born Korean living in China.” ABC (American-born Chinese) is very simple, but ABKLIC is a bit much. Coming back here to go to school was fairly easy because my lifestyle was always very transient; I was homeschooled for two years, I did Northstar, and oh man, it was a whole thing. So being able to adapt to my environment was very natural for me, but when it came to the nuances of who I’m supposed to be here, that was a whole other thing to start to learn.
When some of your friends and classmates started to find out that you were Korean-American, how did that relationship shift or change?
It barely did. In an international school setting, everyone was from somewhere different. So you could be white and be from America or from Denmark or from Sweden and everyone was just like, “Oh cool! Tell me how that was like!” or, “Tell me about your culture,” and every year semester they would have an International Day where each grade was assigned one country and they’d have to make some food and prepare some games for this huge school-wide expo.
How did all that exposure to diversity early on in your life help you form your identity?
I think it helped me become more cognizant of what makes my experience different from other people’s experiences. Having to explain my experience forced me to ask myself certain questions a lot more frequently than most other people would have had in a place where they were clearly in the minority or the majority. I think that helped me by raising that awareness when I was younger, so going into those conversations later on was a bit easier.
You kind of touched on this earlier, but you were a Korean American living in China. What did that mean in terms of your Korean identity and your American identity?
I felt like I had to choose a lot of the time. Towards the end of high school, my parents and I got into a lot of fights based on my ideas of what parenting and my future should look like, and they would say, “That’s so Western! You’re in such a Western mindset!” “We should have sent you to a Korean school or a Chinese school!” And I’m like, “You did this to me, guys! It was not my choice.” My form of rebellion in college was to completely avoid anything Korean. I would not eat Korean food or speak Korean. I guess that was pretty mild compared to everyone else’s rebellion. While I did that, my parents tried even harder to push Korean culture onto me, and I was like, “NO!” (laughs).
During that time in your life in college when you were kind of pushing that Korean side of you away, how did you re-embrace it, or reconnect with it?
That hadn’t even happened until the past three years, honestly. I mean even with the entertainment industry’s recent conversations about diversity and the Asian experience in Hollywood, it’s hard to engage in that dialogue because it frequently excludes Koreans. Japanese media has been pretty prevalent within the different parts of Asia, and there’s a huge love of anime here, and Hong Kong films with Jackie Chan and Jet Li have been very prominent, but the Korean part is kind of absent. And only recently with K-pop has it really been coming in. And if you start talking about the Filipino experience and the Indian experience, it becomes a whole lot more. It becomes a whole other conversation that many people are not ready to have, and so when I first started to delve into what that means to me as a Korean American in this industry, that’s kind of when I started to see that this is actually something that I do have to and want to embrace.
Usually the older Korean generation view success as becoming a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. So what inspired you to pursue a creative field and study media production?
I’ve always loved telling stories, even as a kid. At Sunday school, I was always like, “Let me tell the story!” and whenever we had theater productions, I wanted to audition. So the idea of telling stories has always been something I have been passionate about, and I always liked engaging in media. I played so many video games and watched so many movies and TV shows, and what fascinated me more than anything was the ability to make you, as an audience member, feel something. I was not great at other stuff, especially on the SAT’s. I would be such a terrible doctor. I feel like I could be a good lawyer, but at that time, why would I have wanted to be a lawyer when I could be making movies? Personally, what I had to offer did not fit the other professions that my parents wanted me to go into. The more I leaned into it, the more I started to embrace the power of media, which a lot of people -- especially the older generation -- still underestimate. People don’t understand how much media has to do with culture and the way people and issues are viewed and accepted.
I moved to China with my parents when I was around four years old, and I graduated from high school in China. In the third grade, we moved to Pasadena for my parents’ furlough year, but other than that, we lived in China until I graduated high school.
Were your parents missionaries?
Yeah, they still are. They’re in Cambodia now.
What was it like living in China?
I got to travel abroad every summer -- we’d either go back to Korea or come back here to California. My cousins on my mom’s side are also missionaries in Russia, so we had similar upbringings. Everyone on my dad’s side stayed in Southern California their entire lives. Growing up at that time, I was a lot more aware of “where I’m from” and how that didn’t quite line up because there were a lot of people that looked like me but weren’t really like me. I looked like everyone else, but once people found out that my parents were from Korea or I was from America, that’s when things would change. It’s such a mouthful to say “I’m an American-born Korean living in China.” ABC (American-born Chinese) is very simple, but ABKLIC is a bit much. Coming back here to go to school was fairly easy because my lifestyle was always very transient; I was homeschooled for two years, I did Northstar, and oh man, it was a whole thing. So being able to adapt to my environment was very natural for me, but when it came to the nuances of who I’m supposed to be here, that was a whole other thing to start to learn.
When some of your friends and classmates started to find out that you were Korean-American, how did that relationship shift or change?
It barely did. In an international school setting, everyone was from somewhere different. So you could be white and be from America or from Denmark or from Sweden and everyone was just like, “Oh cool! Tell me how that was like!” or, “Tell me about your culture,” and every year semester they would have an International Day where each grade was assigned one country and they’d have to make some food and prepare some games for this huge school-wide expo.
How did all that exposure to diversity early on in your life help you form your identity?
I think it helped me become more cognizant of what makes my experience different from other people’s experiences. Having to explain my experience forced me to ask myself certain questions a lot more frequently than most other people would have had in a place where they were clearly in the minority or the majority. I think that helped me by raising that awareness when I was younger, so going into those conversations later on was a bit easier.
You kind of touched on this earlier, but you were a Korean American living in China. What did that mean in terms of your Korean identity and your American identity?
I felt like I had to choose a lot of the time. Towards the end of high school, my parents and I got into a lot of fights based on my ideas of what parenting and my future should look like, and they would say, “That’s so Western! You’re in such a Western mindset!” “We should have sent you to a Korean school or a Chinese school!” And I’m like, “You did this to me, guys! It was not my choice.” My form of rebellion in college was to completely avoid anything Korean. I would not eat Korean food or speak Korean. I guess that was pretty mild compared to everyone else’s rebellion. While I did that, my parents tried even harder to push Korean culture onto me, and I was like, “NO!” (laughs).
During that time in your life in college when you were kind of pushing that Korean side of you away, how did you re-embrace it, or reconnect with it?
That hadn’t even happened until the past three years, honestly. I mean even with the entertainment industry’s recent conversations about diversity and the Asian experience in Hollywood, it’s hard to engage in that dialogue because it frequently excludes Koreans. Japanese media has been pretty prevalent within the different parts of Asia, and there’s a huge love of anime here, and Hong Kong films with Jackie Chan and Jet Li have been very prominent, but the Korean part is kind of absent. And only recently with K-pop has it really been coming in. And if you start talking about the Filipino experience and the Indian experience, it becomes a whole lot more. It becomes a whole other conversation that many people are not ready to have, and so when I first started to delve into what that means to me as a Korean American in this industry, that’s kind of when I started to see that this is actually something that I do have to and want to embrace.
Usually the older Korean generation view success as becoming a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. So what inspired you to pursue a creative field and study media production?
I’ve always loved telling stories, even as a kid. At Sunday school, I was always like, “Let me tell the story!” and whenever we had theater productions, I wanted to audition. So the idea of telling stories has always been something I have been passionate about, and I always liked engaging in media. I played so many video games and watched so many movies and TV shows, and what fascinated me more than anything was the ability to make you, as an audience member, feel something. I was not great at other stuff, especially on the SAT’s. I would be such a terrible doctor. I feel like I could be a good lawyer, but at that time, why would I have wanted to be a lawyer when I could be making movies? Personally, what I had to offer did not fit the other professions that my parents wanted me to go into. The more I leaned into it, the more I started to embrace the power of media, which a lot of people -- especially the older generation -- still underestimate. People don’t understand how much media has to do with culture and the way people and issues are viewed and accepted.
"Listening to conversations about happenings at the border, not just in America but in Korea, and seeing the riots in Hong Kong and how people are responding, I feel like the amount of empathy people have has significantly decreased. I hope to revitalize some of that."
So your parents were pretty supportive of you pursuing this path?
Not really, no. They pretty much said if I wanted to go into film, I had to go with my sister, which is why I went to Calvin University, because my sister was already there. Not that I got into any other school; Calvin was the one school I got into. Honestly they all kind of expected it to not be a thing after a while. Even my grandma would be like, “So when are you done with your film thing?” and I would say, “It’s not just a ‘thing’, Grandma.” I think they’re just scared about me engaging in topics that could create any unease or unrest. Even with me doing this Comfort Women musical, which is the one thing they were actually able to engage with, they were like, “You need to be careful. It’s a big issue right now,” and I’m like, “I know.” And they would reply, “Are you sure you can trust them?” Like, guys! Bigger picture.
We know it’s hard as an Asian American to get the exposure we need in media. Have you experienced any disadvantages or advantages because you were Asian?
It’s complicated for sure. For a while, I was focusing primarily on being an actor and at that time, there was just nothing out there. If you talk to a lot of the more prominent Asian American actors, they’ll tell you that they’ve seen each other in audition rooms frequently because there are just very few roles out there. And the term “Asian” is so loosely defined, so I’ll go to auditions but then get told that I’m “not the kind of Asian we’re looking for.” I don’t think I’ve gone out for a single Korean role. Even in this Comfort Women musical, I’m not a Korean person. And behind the scenes, even when this environment is labeled as more “diverse,” when it comes to the Asian experience or the stories they’re looking for, it doesn’t necessarily include the Korean identity yet. I think it just has to do with the fact that no one wants to see it yet. But with the success of Crazy Rich Asians, the new Asian Marvel superhero, Kim’s Convenience, and Assassins, it’s getting there. It’s still got a long way to go, but I really think it’s gonna come down to how people define diversity and what value people put on the full depth of the Asian experience.
So you’re in the Comfort Women musical. What is it like being part of a production that has such sensitive but important themes?
It’s been emotional for sure. The whole cast understands the weight of what we’re doing. No one’s just there for the paycheck; no one’s there for the onstage glory. We really want to do this story justice and to tell these women’s stories.
How has it challenged you as an actor?
My character is the one who takes all the women at the beginning of the musical. So it’s a bit weird. I’m there as a device for the story to move along. But what has been so wonderful for me is just to be there with these women. Every single person who’s playing one of the comfort women is pouring so much of their hearts and souls out on stage every single night. It’s not about me at all. And that’s been very challenging, since sometimes it can feel like I’m just there as a plot device. But it’s just about what happened. As painful as it is to know that this happened to real people, it’s so much more important to make sure their legacy lives on. One of the characters is based off of a survivor who passed away maybe three days ago. The day after she passed, the actor who played her role spoke during the curtain call, and all of us were just broken. I think it also makes me sad that I actually didn’t know about this story until this musical.
What would you say have been the most fulfilling or your favorite projects that you’ve done so far?
There’s one that I actually haven’t made yet; we’ve only done a table read for it. It started off more as a form of therapeutic reflection for me but turned into something that I really believe needs to be out there. After I did these table leads and actually got a cast of actors who fit the age ranges (it’s so hard to find older men and women Korean actors), to have them in the room and to see how they all related to this topic was just really great. I felt finally felt represented. Just the fact that this project has gotten this far is still pretty fulfilling. I’m excited to get going with it, but it’s gonna take a while.
Can you share any details about the project?
Well, it’s like a family drama, of course, but it has music elements to it because the main character is a musician. If you guys have seen “Once,” it’s along that vein where everyone doesn’t break out in song and dances, but there are songs sprinkled throughout. It’s very indie, and I intentionally wrote so that I could realistically make it, because I wouldn’t have to spend millions of dollars on it. I feel like there’s some traction building, and I think the more people see these stories taking off and Asian faces becoming normalized, the more people would be okay with taking those risks. Fingers crossed!
What is your ultimate goal through your projects?
My ultimate goal is to create content and art that can help people broaden their scope of humanity. There’s so many things happening right now, but I feel like people are getting more numb to it all. Listening to conversations about happenings at the border, not just in America but in Korea, and seeing the riots in Hong Kong and how people are responding, I feel like the amount of empathy people have has significantly decreased. I hope to revitalize some of that. I feel like it’s about to get a lot worse.
Any advice you would tell your younger self or a young Asian American who is starting out in the entertainment industry?
I’d tell myself to not waste my college years. I say “waste” because I feel like I could have utilized that time better, but I don’t regret anything I did in college. I did leave a semester early, which I guess I regret. But when you have the resources, just use it. For any other Asian Americans filmmakers or people in the entertainment industry, some food for thought that they should keep in mind is that their stories do matter. And it doesn’t matter if people tell you they don’t wanna see it. There is a value in knowing that your story does have weight and the power to move somebody. Because even if it is just a small group of people that you end up reaching, that still says something about you and the power you have as an artist. Just keep trying, because it’s not an easy road for anybody in the entertainment industry right now, especially for people in marginalized communities. I’m not just talking about Asian filmmakers; so many groups are being severely silenced right now. It’s so hard to even muster up the courage to talk about some of these things, but if you are willing to share that, then people will listen.
Not really, no. They pretty much said if I wanted to go into film, I had to go with my sister, which is why I went to Calvin University, because my sister was already there. Not that I got into any other school; Calvin was the one school I got into. Honestly they all kind of expected it to not be a thing after a while. Even my grandma would be like, “So when are you done with your film thing?” and I would say, “It’s not just a ‘thing’, Grandma.” I think they’re just scared about me engaging in topics that could create any unease or unrest. Even with me doing this Comfort Women musical, which is the one thing they were actually able to engage with, they were like, “You need to be careful. It’s a big issue right now,” and I’m like, “I know.” And they would reply, “Are you sure you can trust them?” Like, guys! Bigger picture.
We know it’s hard as an Asian American to get the exposure we need in media. Have you experienced any disadvantages or advantages because you were Asian?
It’s complicated for sure. For a while, I was focusing primarily on being an actor and at that time, there was just nothing out there. If you talk to a lot of the more prominent Asian American actors, they’ll tell you that they’ve seen each other in audition rooms frequently because there are just very few roles out there. And the term “Asian” is so loosely defined, so I’ll go to auditions but then get told that I’m “not the kind of Asian we’re looking for.” I don’t think I’ve gone out for a single Korean role. Even in this Comfort Women musical, I’m not a Korean person. And behind the scenes, even when this environment is labeled as more “diverse,” when it comes to the Asian experience or the stories they’re looking for, it doesn’t necessarily include the Korean identity yet. I think it just has to do with the fact that no one wants to see it yet. But with the success of Crazy Rich Asians, the new Asian Marvel superhero, Kim’s Convenience, and Assassins, it’s getting there. It’s still got a long way to go, but I really think it’s gonna come down to how people define diversity and what value people put on the full depth of the Asian experience.
So you’re in the Comfort Women musical. What is it like being part of a production that has such sensitive but important themes?
It’s been emotional for sure. The whole cast understands the weight of what we’re doing. No one’s just there for the paycheck; no one’s there for the onstage glory. We really want to do this story justice and to tell these women’s stories.
How has it challenged you as an actor?
My character is the one who takes all the women at the beginning of the musical. So it’s a bit weird. I’m there as a device for the story to move along. But what has been so wonderful for me is just to be there with these women. Every single person who’s playing one of the comfort women is pouring so much of their hearts and souls out on stage every single night. It’s not about me at all. And that’s been very challenging, since sometimes it can feel like I’m just there as a plot device. But it’s just about what happened. As painful as it is to know that this happened to real people, it’s so much more important to make sure their legacy lives on. One of the characters is based off of a survivor who passed away maybe three days ago. The day after she passed, the actor who played her role spoke during the curtain call, and all of us were just broken. I think it also makes me sad that I actually didn’t know about this story until this musical.
What would you say have been the most fulfilling or your favorite projects that you’ve done so far?
There’s one that I actually haven’t made yet; we’ve only done a table read for it. It started off more as a form of therapeutic reflection for me but turned into something that I really believe needs to be out there. After I did these table leads and actually got a cast of actors who fit the age ranges (it’s so hard to find older men and women Korean actors), to have them in the room and to see how they all related to this topic was just really great. I felt finally felt represented. Just the fact that this project has gotten this far is still pretty fulfilling. I’m excited to get going with it, but it’s gonna take a while.
Can you share any details about the project?
Well, it’s like a family drama, of course, but it has music elements to it because the main character is a musician. If you guys have seen “Once,” it’s along that vein where everyone doesn’t break out in song and dances, but there are songs sprinkled throughout. It’s very indie, and I intentionally wrote so that I could realistically make it, because I wouldn’t have to spend millions of dollars on it. I feel like there’s some traction building, and I think the more people see these stories taking off and Asian faces becoming normalized, the more people would be okay with taking those risks. Fingers crossed!
What is your ultimate goal through your projects?
My ultimate goal is to create content and art that can help people broaden their scope of humanity. There’s so many things happening right now, but I feel like people are getting more numb to it all. Listening to conversations about happenings at the border, not just in America but in Korea, and seeing the riots in Hong Kong and how people are responding, I feel like the amount of empathy people have has significantly decreased. I hope to revitalize some of that. I feel like it’s about to get a lot worse.
Any advice you would tell your younger self or a young Asian American who is starting out in the entertainment industry?
I’d tell myself to not waste my college years. I say “waste” because I feel like I could have utilized that time better, but I don’t regret anything I did in college. I did leave a semester early, which I guess I regret. But when you have the resources, just use it. For any other Asian Americans filmmakers or people in the entertainment industry, some food for thought that they should keep in mind is that their stories do matter. And it doesn’t matter if people tell you they don’t wanna see it. There is a value in knowing that your story does have weight and the power to move somebody. Because even if it is just a small group of people that you end up reaching, that still says something about you and the power you have as an artist. Just keep trying, because it’s not an easy road for anybody in the entertainment industry right now, especially for people in marginalized communities. I’m not just talking about Asian filmmakers; so many groups are being severely silenced right now. It’s so hard to even muster up the courage to talk about some of these things, but if you are willing to share that, then people will listen.