She Was the Female Lead in His Film. Now She's His Leading Lady.

New York Times

14-02-2025

In March 2018, Christine Ko canceled an audition for the film 'Tigertail' because her adoptive father, who had been sick with cancer for many years, was dying and she wanted to see him.
A few weeks later, the role still hadn't been cast, so Ms. Ko, an actress, was invited again to audition.
'I remember where I was when I watched her audition video,' said Alan Michael Yang, the writer, director and producer of 'Tigertail.' He was so impressed by her performance that he wanted to meet Ms. Ko in person.
Ms. Ko landed the role as the film's female lead, and she and Mr. Yang spent the early fall working together in New York and Taiwan, with him behind the camera and her in front of it. The film is inspired by Mr. Yang's parents, Joanne Bian and Peter Yang, and the story of their immigration from Taiwan to the United States. Like Mr. Yang, Ms. Ko is Taiwanese-American.
'It's so cool that we're from similar cultural backgrounds,' Ms. Ko said. During filming, she said, they were both 'discovering our identity and where our parents are from.'
Ms. Ko, 36, grew up with two sets of parents: her biological parents, Cindy Wen and Frankie Kao, who lived in Taiwan her whole life, and her aunt and uncle, Irene and Richard Wang, who adopted her when she was 3 years old and raised her in Acworth, Ga. She received a bachelor's degree in communication from Georgia State University, and in 2011, she moved to Los Angeles to become an actress. She worked as a waitress, babysitter and Uber driver until she caught a break on CBS's 'The Great Indoors' in 2016. Since then, she's been cast on TV shows like 'Dave,' 'Only Murders in the Building' and 'The Handmaid's Tale.'
Mr. Yang, 41, received a bachelor's degree in biology from Harvard, where he wrote for the well-known humor magazine the Harvard Lampoon. After graduating, he pursued a career in television and film, and is now known for his writing, editing and production work on popular shows like 'Parks and Recreation,' 'Master of None' and 'Loot.'
Growing up in Riverside, Calif., Mr. Yang said he was 'a pretty bad Taiwanese kid' who had no interest in attending Chinese school. After a visit to Taiwan at age 8, he didn't return until he was 30. The experience of filming 'Tigertail,' which was released in April 2020, strengthened his link to his Taiwanese heritage, he said.
'The movie was somewhat inspired by my own disconnection from the country and going back there and feeling so American,' Mr. Yang said. 'Making it and meeting Christine really helped me develop my relationship to Taiwan. It was very emotional for me.'
For Ms. Ko, who started her acting career in Taiwan in her early 20s, the experience was equally powerful, especially when her biological mother came on the set to watch her work.
'It was the first time I was a lead,' she said. 'It was wonderful to be there in such a safe environment. We were living our dreams shooting this film.'
After filming wrapped at the end of October 2018, Ms. Ko and Mr. Yang weren't ready to part ways.
'We realized we didn't want to stop seeing each other,' said Ms. Ko. 'I feel like we really got to know each other after Tigertail.' Soon, she thought, 'Wait, we should be together.'
Ms. Ko took Mr. Yang on a first date to Ningxia Night Market in Taipei to eat dumplings and lu rou fan, a Taiwanese braised pork dish. Their love of food was one thing they bonded over; their passion for travel was another.
As their relationship developed, Ms. Ko was impressed by Mr. Yang's stamina and zest for life.
'This is a man who never has jet lag,' she said. 'He lands and is happy and goes for a run. One time we went to Tokyo and he wanted to eat at three different pizza restaurants. I realized this is someone who's going to show me so many things and at the same time, I can talk to him like he's my best friend.'
On the other hand, Mr. Yang admired Ms. Ko's charisma and kindness.
'Everyone who meets her loves her,' he said. 'My friends, as they started meeting her, they said, 'You should marry her.' She has the ability to be incredibly warm and generous and empathetic for an incredible range of people.'
Mr. Yang and Ms. Ko were on the first day of a vacation in Japan in December 2022 when he asked her to marry him in their hotel room at Aman Tokyo.
'I'd just bought mascara right before that,' Ms. Ko said. 'I cried it all off.'
Afterward, Mr. Yang and Ms. Ko had dinner at one of their favorite sushi restaurants, Sushi Masa by Ishibashi. They kept the engagement from almost everyone they knew the whole week they were in Japan, waiting until they flew to Taiwan afterward for a family gathering to share the news.
They were married on Jan. 3, at a private club on the Upper East Side in front of 135 guests. Their friend David Chang, the chef, who received a one-day officiant license from the Office of the City Clerk of New York, officiated. The couple chose the date when they began planning a year ago because it was close enough to the holidays that there was only a very small chance that Ms. Ko might have to be on a set.
'Winter is the only time in entertainment when we're shut down,' Ms. Ko said.
They hosted a couple of smaller events before the wedding day, including a family dinner in the Tin Building on South Street, and a lunch at Hutong, a dim sum restaurant in Midtown East.
For the wedding itself, Ms. Ko wore a custom creation by Lihi Hod with a cape and a watteau — a train that starts mid-back. She chose all of her looks with the help of her stylist, Rob Zangardi, whose clients have included Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani.
'For the reception, I took off the cape and put on white leather gloves and had French twist hair,' Ms. Ko said. 'It was very Audrey Hepburn in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.''
During the ceremony, Ms. Ko walked down the aisle alone, though she inserted a photo of her with her father, Mr. Wang, into the bouquet. In the past, Ms. Ko said, 'Whenever I attended a wedding, I panicked at the thought of my dad not walking me down the aisle. But I didn't feel an ounce of sadness because I was walking toward Alan. I was just excited.'
Ms. Ko worked with the venue and the wedding planner, Nicky Reinhard, to decorate various rooms in the club for each of the events. The space for the cocktail hour, for example, was adorned in burgundy hues with pomegranates scattered around.
'That room was for fun and martini tray passes,' Ms. Ko said.
For the dinner, a large room was lit with 3,000 candles. That was where the couple, who live in Los Angeles, had their first dance.
'When I walked into the room, I cried,' Ms. Ko said. 'It was so beautiful.'
The post-dinner dancing was held in the club's library, which was decorated in jewel-green tones and had a bar vestibule attached.
'When I thought about dancing, I didn't want people to feel like they had to perform,' Ms. Ko said. 'I wanted it to be dark, and I wanted there to be seating for everyone. I wanted everyone to have a V.I.P. table. It felt like a lounge.'
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Having left the planning in Ms. Ko's hands, Mr. Yang was impressed by how the event turned out.
'I've always said to her, 'Would you be interested in producing and directing?'' he said. 'Before this wedding, she wasn't necessarily sure, but after seeing her handle this massive project — as the director, producer and the talent — I turned to her and said, 'You can absolutely direct your own movie.' It was really inspiring and made me really proud.'
At midnight, guests snacked on pizza from Scarr's, a popular restaurant on Orchard Street. The party lasted until 2 a.m.
'When the lights went on, everybody was still there,' Ms. Ko said. 'That was our favorite part of it: our guests. They all understood the assignment. And the assignment was to have fun.'
When Jan. 3, 2025
Where A private club in Manhattan
Caviar Cake Wanting to have the wedding flow a certain way, Ms. Ko decided that cutting the cake would make more sense during the cocktail hour. Then, she said, it occurred to her that the ideal snack during cocktail hour is potato chips with caviar. 'We got a tin of caviar in the shape of a cake,' Ms. Ko said. Their guests could smear the caviar on tater tots and chicken tenders. 'We love a little high-low,' she added.
Cats on Top On the day Mr. Yang proposed, Masakazu Ishibashi, the chef and owner of the sushi restaurant where they celebrated the engagement, brought out two cat figurines dressed as a bride and groom. Months later, a friend texted Mr. Yang to tell him he'd seen the same cats on a random website. 'I don't know why he happened on this website,' Mr. Yang said. 'I couldn't find them again after that.' Luckily, Mr. Yang bought them immediately, and they served as the caviar cake toppers on his and Ms. Ko's wedding day.
Throwback Jams During dinner, the D.J. played '80s music and songs from TV shows that Mr. Yang loves. In a surprise addition, he said, someone played 'a song from my old punk band from when I was 19.' For the dancing portion, the music leaned more into Southern hip-hop, which both Mr. Yang and Ms. Ko are fans of.