Renegades | Soo Hugh on the Indomitability of the Human Spirit

Welcome to Renegades, Gold House’s newsletter series spotlighting Asian Pacific leaders and creatives who are carving their own paths and defying stereotypes along the way. This week features Soo Hugh, showrunner and executive producer of Pachinko. Based on the novel by Min Jin Lee, Pachinko tells the story of multiple generations of a Korean family, spanning the United States, Japan, and Korea. Soo talks to us about the delicate process of adapting a book to television, navigating her transition from writing to showrunning, and launching Moonslinger Productions to continue showcasing human stories today and in the future. Stream Pachinko Season 2 on AppleTV+ today!

You’ve mentioned that adapting Pachinko involved a deep respect for the original material. Was there a particular scene or moment from the book that you found most challenging to translate to the screen, and how did you approach it?

There were so many beloved scenes in the book that the biggest challenge was to bring them to cinematic life and do justice to them. In season one, I felt this burden, especially in Season One. By the time we reached Season Two—because we have been living with this material for so many years now—there was no longer that awareness of which parts came from the book and which moments were new. However, one scene from the book that always stood out for me was when Yangjin went to the rice merchant to buy rice for Sunja’s wedding night. I still remember all those feelings that came over me while reading this devastatingly beautiful moment, and I knew that I wanted to have this in the show. But how do we convey the emotional earthquake running through this mother in a scene that works with such quiet, delicate brushstrokes? A scene such as this is very much built in stages: in the writing, the acting, the camera angles, the editing, the sound designing the music… all these elements come together inexplicably, and it works. The scene is one of my favorites. 

You’ve had the opportunity to work with many talented actors across shows like Shadowhunters and Pachinko. Was there a moment on the set of Pachinko where an actor’s performance surprised or moved you?

I’m constantly surprised by what actors can do on set, not only with the lines but with one another. For instance, there is a scene in episode 5 in which our Hansu and Yoseb characters have an intense scene. Our two actors have never performed together and I was curious what the energy would be like. We were also shooting in cramped quarters. In the end, all these factors helped to give such rawness to the scene. Minho and Junwoo really blew me away. 

Creating Moonslinger Productions is an exciting step in your lustrous career. What specific types of stories are you most eager to explore through this new venture?

We don’t have a prescriptive mandate in that we only want to do certain types of genres or hit one specific core audience. Instead, we are passionate about making smart, high-concept films and shows that reveal the indomitability of the human spirit. Whether it is a children’s story or a thriller or a romance, we want to show the best of who we can be and never pander to cynicism. And we want to make works that endure, meaning they aren’t about the zeitgeist but have lasting resonance for future audiences. I want my grandchildren and their children to watch our work. 

Working with some of the biggest names in the industry, from Ridley Scott to Steven Spielberg - what is the most memorable piece of career advice you’ve received from any of these industry giants, and how did it influence your own career path?

What’s remarkable about starting your career with someone like Spielberg as your safety net is that you see how far class and professionalism go. From the beginning, I was able to witness world-class filmmakers be nice humans. It really sets the bar from the get go.

Pachinko is full of powerful visual metaphors and beautiful scenery. If you could choose one image or snapshot from the show to hang as art in your home, which one would it be, and why?

I’m going to cheat and choose two images because they speak the language of the show. A close-up of Sunja—any close-up because Minha’s face is a landscape of the human experience—and an extreme wide shot. The dichotomy of the two frames punch in on what we said this show is about—the intimate epic. 

You’ve transitioned from writing to creating and showrunning major projects such as The Killing and The Terror. What was the most surprising thing you learned about yourself when you stepped into the showrunner role for the first time?

Being a showrunner is one of the greatest jobs in the world, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunities. However, the biggest shock of learning the role was the realization that writing was only a fraction of the responsibilities. There are a gazillion other things to manage, and it really is a melding of the right and left brains. I thought I would hate juggling so much but I’ve come to really love it. Watching a project go from a blank page to what you see on screen takes the hard work and talents of hundreds of people and I’ve been bestowed with the gift of putting the pieces together. It’s amazing. 

With themes centering around identity and belonging especially for underrepresented groups. Can you pinpoint a specific experience in your career that made you realize these themes were going to be central to the stories you wanted to tell?

Like so many storytellers of my generation who worked in TV and film for a long time, the minority character was always seen as the token. It took a lot of rewiring of the psyche to let go of some of this stigma. A considerable part of it for me was having kids, and realizing that a part of me runs through this tiny life form and that part of me is Korean was emotionally earthshattering for me. I want(ed) my daughters to know who they are and where they come from. I want(ed) them to know about their ancestors and their stories. It became so urgent to me, in fact, and gave me the emotional wherewithal to take on something like Pachinko. I wanted them to know their mother made something for them. 

Having successfully adapted the multigenerational saga in Pachinko, you are now tackling a different kind of narrative with Tender Is the Night. What is one element of Fitzgerald’s novel do you find most challenging to translate into a modern cinematic context, and how will you approach this challenge?

There are some books you cannot modernize. THE GREAT GATSBY is one of those books. These books feel indelibly of a time and place. I don’t think TENDER is that way. Whereas Gatsby is a novel in which the characters are very much fashioned by the unique times, there is something more ephemeral about Fitzgerald’s last book that makes it more appropriate to modernize. Ultimately, it’s a story about loneliness and the desperate ways people look to connect. That need is a universal one, and the yearning for that human bond matters at any epoch. 

Lightning Round

• Favorite Book: The Portrait of a Lady, The Remains of the Day
• Go to snack: Seaweed, rice and kimchi
• Memorable vacation/holiday: Visiting my grandmother in Busan during the summers and the first thing she always ordered for me the minute I arrived was jajangmyeon. It really signaled the start of a summer. 
• Best way to wind down: a sheet mask and a cooking show.  
• Must have for daily routine: My to-do list (unfortunately)