By Megan Lovallo<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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5. Best movie no one\u2019s heard of?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201c\u2009\u2018The World of Love\u2019 (2025) by this Korean director Yoon Ga-eun. The subject matter is difficult \u2014 it\u2019s about a 17-year-old victim of sexual assault, and it manages to be devastating while brimming with joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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6. What about a play?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cMatthew Chong is still in his final year of Yale\u2019s playwriting program. I\u2019ll go with \u2018Lessons\u2019 (2023), which takes place at a music conservatory. It\u2019s a psychological drama in which a teenage prodigy is forced to decide how much she\u2019s willing to give herself to greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n
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7. Show tune you know every word to?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI sing \u2018I Feel Pretty\u2019 [from Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim\u2019s 1957 musical, \u2018West Side Story\u2019] On other days. \u201d<\/p>\n
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8. Memorable live musical performance?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cUsher in Paris in 2023, 100 percent. He was singing and sweating and roller-skating and stripping, all at a very, very high level.\u201d<\/p>\n
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9. Back-pocket karaoke pick?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201c\u2009\u2018Killing Me Softly With His Song\u2019 \u2014 the [1996] Not the Lauryn Hill and the Fugees version, [1973] Roberta Flack Part 1. It’s been my choice for decades, but I stopped doing so partly out of respect for a friend I’ve heard so many times. \u201d<\/p>\n
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[0–>Greta Lee, photographed in Los Angeles on Jan. 14, 2026, wears a Givenchy by Sarah Burton<\/strong> dress and bra, givenchy.com.<\/span> [-1–>[0–>Photograph by Roe Ethridge. Styled by Stella Greenspan<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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10. Role you\u2019ve always wanted to play?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI know I\u2019m not Chinese American, but if anyone wants to do a Wendi Murdoch biopic, I\u2019m raising my hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
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11. Favorite flower?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cEasy. The Matilija poppy. It\u2019s a California native flower \u2014 the one that looks like a giant fried egg. In that sense it has no dignity, but I just love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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12. Nicest fabric to wear?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve stolen my mother\u2019s vintage silk blouses. They\u2019re all from the \u201980s and by brands like St. John or Escada. The silk is aged, likely sweat stained, almost threadbare, but when I wear them I feel so close to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
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13. City with the best style?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cNew York. No other city has this unique blend of people caring so much about what they wear and also not at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
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[0–>Issey Miyake<\/strong> dress, us.isseymiyake.com.<\/span> [-1–>[0–>Photograph by Roe Ethridge. Styled by Stella Greenspan<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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14. Myth you enjoy?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a Korean oral folk tale called \u2018The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon,\u2019 about this hungry tiger who\u2019s planning to eat an entire family but stops when he hears a baby crying. Then the mother tricks the tiger by mentioning a persimmon, which he believes is a monster. A lot gets lost in translation, but it\u2019s one of the most well-known Korean fables \u2014 my mother grew up with it; my grandmother too \u2014 and I appreciate its long-lasting absurdity.\u201d<\/p>\n
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15. Unforgettable building?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cBudakirkja (1848), or the Black Church of Budir, in Iceland. It\u2019s this all-black structure in a [moss-covered] The lava field looks like a dream. I went there 10 years ago and tried to use the restroom. \u201d<\/p>\n
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16. Building to live in?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the most annoying and bougie answer but, if I could be an old lady, retired in Manhattan, the penthouse suite of the Greenwich Hotel is where I\u2019d like to live. It\u2019s a convenient location and it\u2019s tricked out, so let\u2019s just assume I\u2019m nearing the end of my life and deserve these luxuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
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17. Greatest onstage performance?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cBilly Crudup in \u2018Harry Clarke\u2019 (2017), a one-man play by David Cale. Billy played something like 19 different characters. When I went to see him do it, I was considering doing [the TV series] He was on The Morning Show and his performance was so skillful that I decided I would do anything to work with him. \u201d<\/p>\n
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[0–>Erik Charlotte<\/strong> corset, skirt, jacket and bustle roll, erikcharlotte.com; and Celine<\/strong> shoes, celine.com.<\/span> [-1–>[0–>Photograph by Roe Ethridge. Styled by Stella Greenspan<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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18. Favorite museum?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Picasso Museum in Paris and the Museum of Hunting and Nature \u2014 they\u2019re just a few blocks away from each other, and I consider them a package deal. My favorite thing I\u2019ve seen at the former was a 2023 show where [the French artist] Sophie Calle hid Picasso’s painting. The Hunting and Nature Museum has the most unique taxidermy collection, and my favorite thing there is the fake animal poop drawer. \u201d<\/p>\n
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19. Restaurant dish to try?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chicken from Zuni Caf\u00e9 in San Francisco. It\u2019s just roast chicken with panzanella, but it\u2019s perfectly done.\u201d<\/p>\n
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20.<\/strong> Director to watch?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWong Kar-wai. He\u2019s singular in terms of his visual style and what he\u2019s achieved in the medium.\u201d<\/p>\n
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21. Most visually influential film?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it isn\u2019t [Wong Kar-wai\u2019s] In the Mood for Love (2000) is part of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy. When I watched Before Sunrise (1995) when I was young, it helped me understand the beauty of everyday life. \u201d<\/p>\n
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22. Enduring Shakespeare work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s between \u2019Romeo and Juliet\u2019 (circa 1596) and \u2018King Lear\u2019 (1606), but whereas most people age out of infatuation and suicidal, star-crossed love, competing for your parents\u2019 affection and money is timeless.\u201d<\/p>\n
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[0–>The Row<\/strong> coat, top and shorts, therow.com.<\/span> [-1–>[0–>Photograph by Roe Ethridge. Styled by Stella Greenspan<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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23. Nicest furniture piece?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cA pair of 2022 chairs that were carved from Douglas fir by the artist and designer Minjae Kim \u2014 one for each of my sons. He\u2019s subverting what I would call traditional Korean lacquered furniture. If you look closely, you\u2019ll see that each chair is shaped like a person.\u201d<\/p>\n
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24. Unforgettable painting?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandfather grew up on a ranch in South Korea and was a billboard painter during the Korean War. He also made all these incredible paintings of ranchers and horses. One of them can be seen in the very exclusive museum known as my living room. It\u2019s of a Korean cowboy wearing chaps and a white cowboy hat, sitting on a horse that\u2019s midair.\u201d<\/p>\n
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25. Relatable fictional character?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know the character Santiago from [the 1952 Ernest Hemingway novella] “The Old Man and the Sea”? He is a Spanish fisherman living in Cuba and dreaming of his homeland while gaining experience as an immigrant. This came to mind, both happily and uncomfortably, and I laughed at how much I empathized with this man who spent days trying to kill this marlin and ended up being eaten by a shark. He has so much perseverance and dignity in the face of defeat, and to me that symbolizes the lifelong pursuit of art and filmmaking, how slippery it can be, and the devastation of it. \u201d<\/p>\n
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