Harrison Xu and Ivan Leung are the director-writer-producer-stars of the meta Asian queer stoner coming-of-age bromantic comedy Extremely Unique Dynamic. Harrison has appeared on shows such as Shameless, Grey’s Anatomy, 9-1-1, and American Horror Stories. He is also an accomplished voice actor and has also worked as a marketing executive for studios like MGM, Open Road Films, Hulu, Blumhouse, and A24 and has helped numerous projects open to #1 at the box office and win both Emmys and Academy Awards. Ivan is best known for his work in both television and feature film, appearing in All American, Atypical, Superstore, Good Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, Superfly, Sex Lives of College Girls, the SAG-Award nominated film The Tender Bar (in which he co-starred with George Clooney and Ben Affleck) and is lead of Skillhouse, produced by Ryan Kavanaugh and 50 Cent. Ivan is also known for his comedic rapping and the viral hit “Taco Loving Asian Guy” and is signed to Liquid Culture Records. (Photo by Rielle Oase.)
Hi Talkhouse!
How’s it going today? It’s really cold outside, so I hope you’re bundled up. 2024 was a pretty incredible for me, actually. My best friend and I got to world premiere our feature film, Extremely Unique Dynamic, and basically birthed our movie baby into the world! Never in my life did I think I would make a movie – our very own movie! For the longest time, I only saw myself as an actor. My whole goal was to act, even when people told me I should quit (multiple times) when I first started. I told myself I’d be happy if I could make a living as an actor … which I’ve done for a number of years.
My goal was always to get on a show where I could act and feel “free,” doing something I love, and just be happy that way. It wasn’t until my family started having health issues that I really had to rethink my life plan. Before anything happened, I wanted to show my parents and my other family members that they could be proud of me. I wanted to show my mom and dad that they didn’t have to worry about me as much anymore, living in Los Angeles by myself. And it was happening! I was consistently booking job after job, and it felt like I was going somewhere. Then COVID hit … and then post-COVID … and then there were the impending WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. All that momentum just stopped. It was scary not working, and I started to feel useless. I needed something to do – the days felt so monotonous.
Thankfully, the angel in my life – my friend Harrison, whose other jobs were always confusing to me, even after he explained them to me multiple times – asked if I was interested in helping him with a marketing campaign for a movie called Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. I’m extremely hesitant to work with friends. I put a lot of pressure on myself when I’m working with others. I don’t want to be the weak link, and I always want to be seen as competent – someone people can rely on. I had no idea what working with Harrison would be like. What if he was an asshole? What if he was terrible to work with? Or didn’t pay me (because I know how cheap he is)? Well, only two of those things turned out to be true.
It was actually so much fun. We discovered we were both obsessive workaholics, and our communication was fantastic most of the time. We worked really well together. It was extremely satisfying to see so many people excited to watch Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey solely because of the marketing campaign we created – it felt fulfilling. One day, as we were wrapping up the campaign, Harrison came over, we got Thai food, got stoned, and ate it on the floor. We started fantasizing. As Harrison was about to move to Vancouver at the end of the year and we worked so well together … why not make our own movie? We started bouncing around ideas: “Should we do it?” “No, that’s crazy.” “What if we make a short?” “No, if we’re doing this, we should make a feature.” “Are we crazy?” We just kept egging each other on, and with our personalities and pride on the line, neither of us was backing down. So we started brainstorming.
“Raunchy sex comedy?” “Nah.” “Well, I want to make a meta movie.” “What the fuck is meta? I just want to talk about my feelings!” “No, come on …” “I want food …” “Shut up, Ivan. Get back on the subject.” “Oh yeah, right.” By the end of the night, we had recorded a one-hour voice memo about our idea for the feature. Two weeks later, Harrison had written the first couple of drafts. Two months later, we were in production for our DIY feature, and six months after that, we finished post-production and dove into our college admissions era: navigating the new, scary world of film festivals. But before I continue, Harrison what was your perspective before we got there?
Ivan, I thought we were supposed to write about how we transitioned our mindsets from being actors to filmmakers … but that was a very succinct summary of how we got here.
When we started this film, timing was pretty serendipitous. The WGA and SAG strikes were about to happen and the industry was at a standstill. It was the perfect window for us to make a movie. Little did we know, this film would engulf our lives over the next two years. Being the writers, directors, producers and stars of the film, this project truly was our baby. We couldn’t – and still can’t – go more than an hour without thinking about it. As hard as it was, we realized this was the most creatively fulfilled we’d ever been.
Ivan and I have both been professional actors for more than a decade and we’ve been lucky enough to work on a myriad of features and TV shows. However, most of our jobs followed the same pattern: audition into a void, occasionally book a role, get on set for a few days, and wait a few months to see the final product. While it’s rewarding to be on set, you’re rarely involved in the creative process.
One of the main goals of Extremely Unique Dynamic was to showcase our abilities as actors, but it was initially strange to take ownership of the project as filmmakers. We were often deferring to others and afraid to push for things we wanted. I think as actors, especially Asian-American actors, we often want to be people pleasers. We’re taught to blend in, to not stand out. Contradictory, right? You’re essentially interviewing for jobs all the time and sign up for a career of rejection. With this line of thinking, I was always a little uncomfortable telling people I was an actor. There was this notion in my head that every time I told someone I was an actor, they’d feel like I wanted a job from them, so it became easier to lead with me being a digital marketer. Or maybe it was to avoid questions like, “Oh, you mean like an extra?” or “What have I seen you in?” Even when I’ve booked roles, my first instinct is to think, “What does the director want to see from this?” However, for the first time on Extremely Unique Dynamic, the directors were us. It took a little while for us to get our footing, but we felt like we were able to grow into our new roles.
After the initial high of wrapping principal photography, we had a short lull as we waited for the first assembly of our film. In an ironic twist of fate, two weeks after having just been leads in our own feature, both Ivan and I booked our first paid roles in some time. Ivan would have one line in an indie horror movie, playing a guy eating a chicken wing off the floor, and I would be playing Sad Bear Teen Male #2 in an E.L.F commercial. Doubt started creeping back into our minds … “What if this is all we’re destined for?” “What if this movie is terrible?”
However, once we started the post-production process, we started to flourish once again. Being in the editing room night after night, we gained confidence with each session, as we saw our vision start to come together. Not many people know this, but when we shot the film, it was initially titled Interesting Enough Dynamic. The idea was that we, as two Asian guys just existing, could be interesting enough to lead a film. However, as we were receiving feedback, one piece of advice we got from a friend was, “The title sounds like you’re just interesting enough, so if you’re only barely interesting enough to yourselves, then why would anyone else care?” That was a huge revelation, because even from the get-go, the movie was coated in subliminal patterns of actor-think. In that moment, we decided to make a statement: that we weren’t just interesting enough … we were extremely unique.
What began as a showcase for us as just actors became a showcase for us as actors and filmmakers. And that shift in mindset has not only made this film into what it is today, but also has helped us evolve from being people-pleasing actors to true collaborators. This notion further developed as we attended our first film festivals. Talking to other writers and directors no longer as just actors, but as actor-filmmakers, really opened a lot of doors. We no longer felt like just actors angling for their next job, but as peers who had something to offer.
While I think we’ve successfully accomplished our initial goal of showcasing our acting abilities, I think the more important thing we’ve taken away from the process of Extremely Unique Dynamic is rediscovering our passion for creativity and self-worth. It’s easy to get dejected as an actor when you’re at the whim of the industry and constantly facing rejection, but working on our own project these past two years has been the most creatively fulfilling of our lives. I think all actors should create their own projects, but it took us making a feature to understand that ultimately we’re all part of the creative ecosystem and everyone has something special to offer. After all, we’re not all just interesting enough, we’re extremely unique.
Ivan, anything else you want to add? That was way more serious than I expected. Want to button this with a joke?
Harrison, why are you assuming that you get to end this piece? That was very presumptuous of you.
“Knock, Knock.
Who’s there?
Two extremely unique guys that everyone ought to know.
Two extremely unique guys that everyone ought to know who?
Ivan and Harrison.
What’s the punchline?
No punchline.
Just a statement.”
Featured image of Harrison Xu and Ivan Leung by Rielle Oase, courtesy Harrison Xu and Ivan Leung.
