Harold & Kumar star John Cho takes the high road from stoner comedies to blast into higher dramatic echelons with his blockbuster debut in J.J. Abrams’ franchise-reviving Star Trek. BlackBook spoke with Cho about his otherworldly experience in George Takei-originated role of Sulu, and his strong desire to live long and prosper past it.

Were you a Trekkie as a kid? I was a moderate fan of Star Trek. I immigrated to the states in the late ’70s and I remember it was a big deal. I was a big fan of George Takei and the show as a result because it was such a positive portrayal of Asian-Americans. I just remember the electricity of seeing him for the first time. Coming to America, the depiction of Asians was less than stellar. It was a disappointment and I was confused. Every time you saw an Asian-American on TV you would call your family in the other room to gather in front of the television. It was really disappointing when it was stereotypical. When it wasn’t it was such a breath of fresh air. It felt like George was doing the good work.

I always felt like the original Star Trek television series was ahead of its time. There were many ethnic races working together as a unified force. There seemed to be no racism in the future. It was definitely an optimistic vision of our future. I think that’s one of the reasons why it has been so popular over the years. It said something potentially good about us.

As opposed to the original television show, Sulu actually gets out of his chair in this film. I was excited about that. If I had one small complaint about the original series I wanted to see my man get out of the chair, beam down, mix it up and get into some tussles. That’s exactly what Sulu does in this movie, and I was really thrilled when I read it. It was a revelation.

This was a different kind of role for you. It’s filled with a lot of action sequences. I’d never done a sci-fi movie, but spent my childhood doing what I do in this movie, which is fly a spaceship and have sword battles.I have a little brother and it was kind of what we did as children.

Tell me about some of your physical training for this part. It was mostly learning to be convincing as a martial artist. Ironically, I have spent my career trying to avoid martial arts parts because I thought that my time would be better served doing things that people didn’t expect from Asians. Come to find I really enjoyed myself. I started from ground zero.I learned Tae Kwon Do. The stunt guys are brilliant. They really tailor our movements to our characters.Initially, I was learning about my character more from the stunt guys than anyone else. That time was very valuable in a couple of ways. Obviously, I was learning to put it into direct use for the movie. The three of us going in together every day and going through this shared experience made a mini crew out of us before we hit the deck of the Enterprise.

Do you think your brother would be scared to sword fight you now? He should be.

I read somewhere that you consider Star Trek “your Western.” What did you mean by that? As an Asian, there are certain genres that are off limits. I’m never going to be a Civil War soldier. Cowboys and Indians is another game my brother and I spent our childhoods playing, and it was looking unlikely that I would play a cowboy. And these guys are exploring new frontiers, so I kind of consider it my Western.

Did you meet George Takei prior to filming? Yes. I wrote him a letter after I got the role and asked if we could get together. It was very nice. Most of the lunch was him reassuring me that I wouldn’t screw things up for all eternity.

Did Takei ever watch Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle? I’m not sure if he has. I don’t recall it being brought up.

With positive things happening in your career do you think things are freeing up a bit more for Asian-American actors? Good question. I think so. I have been pessimistic for many years. I think everyone wants to believe that it is. I have been saying, “No, don’t believe the hype.” For whatever reason in the last year or so I have been feeling better about it and feeling we are starting to move that rock a little bit. It’s certainly not anywhere near where it should be. I can just feel the beginning of the beginning of the beginning happening.

With such a huge pre-existing fan base for this film, has it brought a certain level of pressure on you to perform or is it something that pushes you to rise to the occasion? I do think about it. I was anxious when I met George, but by the time we started production it kind of left my mind. I didn’t feel it from anyone else on set, and I think it’s because of the way J.J. works. His personality isn’t concerned with that kind of stuff. My engagement with him was always about being in the moment, being creative and having fun. The atmosphere was light; it really felt like a party. It didn’t feel like this was an assignment we had, where we were trying to satisfy this legion of fans. I’m sure it was by design so that we could perform in an environment where we weren’t thinking about that stuff.

When you saw the finished film what was your biggest surprise overall of how Star Trek turned out? There were certain things that I thought for sure would work out. Under J.J.’s direction, I just felt like the action stuff wasn’t going to fail. I had read the script and the plot was very interesting. What probably took me by surprise was how affecting the kind of emotional scenes were. The opening sequence with the birth of Kirk. The tender moment between Uhura and Spock. Those kinds of moments took me surprise at how maturely they were dealt with. I expected good acting, but they took it to another level. And I mean this in the best possible light when I say Chris blew me away. Not that I wasn’t expecting a good performance from him, but I’m just amazed at how much charisma he has. It really showed on screen. Sometimes the things that you see standing in front of you doesn’t necessarily translate to film. He really radiates the swagger and the passion of Kirk.

Can we expect another Harold & Kumar movie? Yes. We’re supposed to go next spring. I was told the working title, which is A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. The plot was sketched out for me verbally and it sounds like it’s going to be another good one. We’re obviously a tiny franchise compared to Star Trek, so the only reason we go forward on these films is if we feel like it’s an excellent movie, and it justifies us getting together and doing one. I think it’s going to be…excellent.

What have you not done yet in your career that you’d like to? There is so much. A short-term five-year goal is to work with an Asian filmmaker. There are so many prominent Asian filmmakers and I think that would be an interesting experience for me. I’d like to go to Asia and shoot there. I’ve done it once before and anytime you go out of the country you learn something more about acting because filmmaking is done differently wherever you go. It’s challenging to fit into a different system and I think you learn something about yourself when you do that.

You were rated among People Magazine’s Sexiest Men Alive in 2006 and you were cast in Star Trek. Could you retire now satisfied? I would retire for a few months and then I’m sure I would want to get back into something really fast.