Exclusive Interview: Sean Wang, Joan Chen, and Izaac Wang Talk ‘Dìdi (弟弟)’

Dìdi (弟弟), the award-winning coming-of-age feature, is brought to life by the creative talents of writer-director Sean Wang and stars Joan Chen and Izaac Wang.

Winner of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Audience Award and Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble Cast, DÌDI tells the story of an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy navigating the last month of summer in 2008 before high school begins. As he steps into adolescence, he learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love his mom.

Pop Culturalist had the privilege of speaking with Sean, Joan, and Izaac about their collaboration, the cinematic portrayal of technology, and the personal connections they share with their characters.

PC: Sean, what you’ve done so brilliantly with Didi is depict the language of technology in such a cinematic way that evokes intimate and high-stakes emotions, especially for people who grew up during that era and at that age. How were you able to do that so seamlessly? How did your background at Google help shape the integration of technology?
Sean: It was exactly that. When I was working at Google, especially in that first year, I felt like I was learning a new filmmaking language that my peers didn’t really know, which was the language of technology. I learned how to take the screens and user interfaces we use every day and infuse them with emotion and humanity, making them cinematic.

Before working at Google, my idea of filmmaking was that you have a camera, actors, or documentary subjects, and that’s filmmaking. Then I got to Google, and they basically took all the tools I knew and said, “You don’t have any of that. You have a timeline, phone screens, and the internet. Make something and tell a story.” It was like, “Okay, I need to learn all of this, otherwise I’m going to get fired.” [laughs] My bosses created that language that people now call “screen life”.

It was through that experience that I learned to cut cinematic language, like cutting to a close-up of a blinking cursor, how the camera pans and transitions, and how to evoke emotion with the things we see every day. I took that knowledge and translated it to an early version of the internet that I think we’ve never seen online or in movies before.

PC: You definitely accomplished that. Joan, what I love about your character is how often we forget about the sacrifices and lives our parents had before they had kids, as well as their own dreams. As you stepped into this character, did you reflect on your own family and how they influenced your journey as a storyteller, particularly your grandmother who instilled that in you? How helpful was that in stepping into this character?
Joan: How did you know about my grandmother? [laughs] We usually don’t think about these things until much later. For Sean, it’s pretty early to write such a love letter to his mom. This whole film is such a luxury to express love. But for me, it wasn’t until they were gone that I felt there were things I didn’t say, and I regret that. There are also things I did say that I regret.

We came from Asia, and we didn’t really know how to demonstrate or show our feelings to our kids. So for me, this was an opportunity to tell my kids, “I love you, and there were mistakes I made. I probably made you unhappy, but with the best intentions and the fiercest love.”

It was a very cathartic experience for me. My own life experiences always inform my characters. Being an immigrant and trying my best to raise two American children—along with all the confusion, mistakes, and drama that entails—was a beautiful opportunity for me personally as well as professionally.

PC: Izaac, you shared on social media how exciting it was to step into this character. Can you talk a bit about finding your way into Wang Wang? What was more difficult for you: learning how to skate, improving your Mandarin, or learning the technology that was before your time?
Izaac: I would say it wasn’t about which was more difficult—all of those things were on the same level of difficulty, which was very, very difficult. I barely learned how to skate. I barely learned how to use a flip phone. Culturally, I think I was a little better at it, and I slowly improved over time with the skating as well.

As far as getting into character, that was relatively easy. I just had to dig into myself and tap into who I was originally as a little kid before I figured out who I wanted to be and what I wanted to pursue. That’s something relatable to Chris and all teenagers, no matter what generation you’re from—especially after 2008—where you don’t feel like you fit in. Chris is experiencing that feeling of not having a solid ground to stand on and not being sure of what he wants to do. He’s still trying to figure those things out and trying to be “cool.” That’s something I was trying to figure out when I was a teenager, and it’s something that most kids are still trying to figure out.

Make sure to follow Sean (Instagram), Joan (Instagram), and Izaac (Instagram). Dìdi (弟弟) is out in select theaters now, and nationwide on August 16th.