Bong Joon-ho's interpreter Sharon Choi opens up about her awards season experience

It was quite the awards run for Parasite director and writer Bong Joon-ho, who racked up Golden Globes, BAFTAS and Oscars among other statues over the past couple of months. And through it all there was one person who was consistently by the Korean auteur's side: Sharon Choi. It got to the point that viewers were just as obsessed with her as they were with Bong’s earnest acceptance speeches.So is it really any wonder that Variety approached Choi about putting pen to paper about her experiences on the awards circuit and how her professional relationship with Bong came to be? The 25-year-old Korean-American film director obliged with a personal essay and revealed how she thought she nearly blew her shot at translating for Bong (who, BTW speaks English but is more comfortable talking in his native tongue) when she missed his first email. Luckily, she had another chance and the rest, as they say, is history.[video_embed id='1896898']RELATED: Oscars viewers praise ‘Parasite’ director’s interpreter Sharon Choi[/video_embed]“The past six months has been a blur of new cities, microphones and good news, with endless orders of honey lemon tea as I tried to preserve my voice. Driven from one crowd to the next, I shook hands with hundreds of people whose eyes shone with the excitement of having watched a special film,” Choi writes. “Moments alone were still riddled with the absurdity that I was sharing hand sanitizers with a man whose films I’d organized movie nights for in college. Somehow, despite having only micro-short films to my name, I got sucked into the heart of Hollywood.”The former film student also recalls kicking off this run with Bong at Cannes, and how moved she was with Parasite’s ability to connect with international audiences and “effortlessly” break through barriers she’d been trying to break through her whole life. What started as a two-day gig became a whirlwind ride that she writes is pretty much documented on YouTube.“I was constantly battling impostor syndrome, and an anxiety that I might misrepresent the words of someone so beloved in front of people I’d grown up admiring,” she continues. “The only cures for stage fright were ten-second meditations backstage, and knowing that I was not who they were seeing.” Except as it turns out, people were absolutely seeing her.

Bong Joon Ho says his translator Sharon Choi is writing a script: "I'm curious about it" pic.twitter.com/SKP7tq0pya

— Variety (@Variety) February 10, 2020

She wraps by noting that it’s been a privilege translating for the director and having the rare opportunity to hobnob with celebrities like Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Choi writes that she told the Fleabag creator she’d asked for a Hot Priest for Christmas), and that she left a restaurant with Lulu Wang (The Farewell) as “Closing Time” played in the background. Through it all, Bong joked about how starstruck Choi was, but in reality she says she “cherishes” the conversations and relationships she formed.“I will spend the next years of my life doing my best to earn the chance to work with these people again. It will take a while,” she concludes. “Seeing my face on my social media feed has been so bizarre."

DIRECTOR BONG!!!!!! SHARON CHOI!!!!!! Yes, I am screaming. pic.twitter.com/Anta3vHfFK

— Lulu Wang (@thumbelulu) February 10, 2020

I’m grateful for people who’ve spread their warmth for the film to me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Korean government declares February 9 as National Parasite Day. But I can’t wait for my minutes to end so that next time my name pops up with a spam ad, it’s with my own story.”[video_embed id='1896021']RELATED: Ben Mulroney impresses Bong Joon Ho with his Korean[/video_embed]