By Joanne Soh

HE'S probably one of the most recognisable Asian faces in Hollywood right now.

Best known for being one-half of the duo in the comedy, Harold & Kumar, John Cho has carved himself a career playing funny guys.

But he now wants to take on more serious roles.

We saw the 37-year-old actor stepping into George Takei's shoes as Hikaru Sulu in the blockbuster film, Star Trek.

Now, Cho stars alongside Joseph Fiennes in Flash Forward, a sci-fi thriller that will air over Channel 5 on 4 Oct.

The new series chronicles the global chaos after everyone in the world passes out for two minutes and 17 seconds, causing people to have visions six months into the future.

Cho plays investigating FBI agent Demetri Noh, a loyal partner to Fiennes' Mark Banford.

While Mark had a premonition of trying to piece together the puzzle of the mass blackouts, Demetri is disturbed that being the only one with no 'flash-forwards' could mean that he might be dead in six months.

Much like Demetri, Cho told The New Paper over a phone interview from LA that he would welcome any glimpse into his future.

'I'm the kind of person who wants all available information on the table. I like to know how things work out.'

This is not the first time Cho has starred in a television show. His past works include comedy The Singles Table, which unfortunately did not receive any airtime.

'I wasn't willing to go back to television as I had a couple of shows that went bust on me, and I wasn't keen on testing those waters again.

'But this script is very compelling and I connected with Demetri's circumstances.'

Cho further explained that being a new father - he has a one-year-old son - made him think more about the future.

Much like popular shows Lost and Heroes, the plot in Flash Forward is highly guarded and the actors have no clue how their characters will pan out.

'Unlike other television shows where the characters stay the same week after week, this is a little different as we don't know where the characters are going.

'We are finding our way around this, but it helped that we are shooting two episodes simultaneously.'

Scoring a big part in a highly-anticipated television series marks an all-time career high for the Korean American.

'My career has been rather unusual. It felt like a ladder where you go rung by rung.

Calling card

'Matt Dillon was supposedly standing on a corner when a casting director drove by. There was never a seminal moment for me. Harold & Kumar has been my calling card.'

Cho shared that he was often caught off guard when people recognised him on the streets.

'Oddly enough, I get recognised everywhere all the time. I never really understood it. I'm always surprised that so many people watch the things I do.'

He added that he appreciated the attention as it meant he has somewhat fulfilled his responsibility to the Asian community.

'Responsibility only comes with a lack of representation. There are more Asians on television nowadays. So if the trend continues that way, my responsibility will be greatly diminished.'

With Flash Forward taking up most of his time and him having signed on to two more Star Trek movies, does it mean that the third Harold & Kumar film, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, is out of the picture?

'From what I understand, an early draft of the script is completed. But I don't know what's going on with Kal (Penn who plays Kumar). It's a big question mark now that he's working in the White House.

'Unless he gives up his dream of helping our government, then maybe we'll get down to something important.'

joannes@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The New Paper.