Shortly after logging on for our Zoom conversation, actors-filmmakers-professional besties Ivan Leung and Harrison Xu were eager to show off their coordinating friendship necklaces.
But once we break the news that this won’t be a video interview, and no one will actually get to see the necklaces, Xu jokes he’s going to take his off: “I wore this just because of Ivan anyway.”
“NO!,” Leung interjects, adding with a smirk: “I gave him a friendship pearl necklace.”
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If you’ve been in one of the lucky few audiences to already see Leung and Xu’s stoner buddy comedy Extremely Unique Dynamic, you’ll clock that their IRL rapport is a lot like the one between their characters in the movie—in other words: hilarious, deadpan, and peppered with playful jabs at one another, in the way that only BFFs can do.
The two met over 10 years ago in an acting class and gradually grew closer as they continued to run in similar circles—especially as young, Asian-American artists finding their way in the entertainment industry. Eager to create opportunities for themselves and inspired by their own “extremely unique dynamic” (and, sure, a little bit of weed), Leung and Xu set out to make a movie about their friendship… sort of.
The story follows life-long friends Daniel (Leung) and Ryan (Xu) who decide to film a home movie about their friendship on their last weekend together before Ryan moves to Canada. Creatively energized—and high—they talk themselves into making a movie about the act of making a movie about making a movie, a.k.a. “triple meta.” But no matter how many layers deep they go, they can’t avoid the very real feelings underpinning their friendship, like the fact that Daniel is gay but too afraid that telling Ryan will change things between them.
Delightfully silly and surprisingly sweet, Extremely Unique Dynamic defies easy categorization and challenges any notions of what a “queer film” can be, or an Asian-led film can be, or even what a stoner comedy can be. It’s that *ahem* uniqueness that’s made Leung and Xu’s feature debut (which they co-wrote and co-directed with Katherine Dudas) such an immediate crowd-pleaser at festivals across the continent, winning over audiences at Sonoma International Film Festival, Inside Out in Toronto, and CAAMFest in San Francisco.
And as the guys get ready to return to SF for Frameline48—the Bay Area’s historic LGBTQ+ film festival—on Saturday, June 22, they’re sharing exciting news: Extremely Unique Dynamic has been picked up by iconic indie distributor Strand Releasing, which will bring the movie to U.S. theaters later this year!
Ahead of their film’s Frameline bow, Queerty sat down with Leung and Xu to talk about why they’re so thrilled to screen at Frameline, what it means to be labeled as a queer film, and why we have low-budget horror parody Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood & Honey to thank for making Extremely Unique Dynamic happen.
To start, I’m kind of obsessed with the fact that the horror parody Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood & Honey is part of the origin story of this film. Could you tell us a little bit more about the role it played in bringing Extremely Unique Dynamic to life?
HARRISON XU: I work in film marketing—I’ve been working in it for over a decade—and I was brought on to do this movie Winnie–The-Pooh: Blood & Honey, and I brought Ivan on board to help because Ivan’s hilarious. We wanted to encapsulate this persona for Winnie The Pooh in our social media, so basically I gave Ivan free rein on all the social posting and he created this really awesome persona. We just had so much fun with the marketing campaign for Winnie-The-Pooh, and we were like, “wait, I think we’re funny together? I think we can maybe use this to actually make a comedy movie!” And, during this time, it was right before the writer’s strike and the actor’s strike, so things were already slowing down. So we were just stoned eating Thai food on the floor one day and we were like, “Wait, what if we actually did make a movie—and that ultimately became what our movie is! Ivan… you look so confused.
IVAN LEUNG: The reason why he said that thing the way that he said it is because he’s trying to say: if we get cancelled, it’s because of me. [Laughs.] Because you think the way that I was commenting was stupid and dumb, and he’s trying to lay it all on me.
XU: That was purely compliments!
LEUNG: No it wasn’t. I don’t believe him at all. But, wait, what are we talking about again?
Related*
A Winnie the Pooh horror movie is coming and Gay Twitter™ has thoughts
“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” will likely be released later this year.
I just love that this campy, shlocky horror movie brought the two of you together in this way. Do you feel like Blood & Honey—or at least the marketing work you did for it—is indicative of who you guys are on some level? Does it speak to the “Ivan and Harrison” experience?
LEUNG: Yeah, I found out that we are both obsessive workaholics! Throughout our whole friendship, we’ve never worked together—or, we never really like did anything except, you know, go on a hike, get some food, jor ust hang out. So when we started working together, I was like, “holy sh*t! Harrison, you’re actually pretty dependable and accountable.” And then I think Harrison would think, “holy sh*t, Ivan, you won’t stop talking about work.”
XU: The Winnie-The-Pooh campaign was six weeks, but it felt like a year because we were just in the trenches every day. We’d respond to every single comment on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok—people could not get rid of us, and we basically willed the movie into existence. I mean, it already had a lot of buzz because of what the movie was, but I think because we commented on every single thing, people would just continue commenting, knowing that we would reply. Some of these things that we said were super unhinged, and we had a lot of fun.
But, as Ivan mentioned, it was our first time actually, professionally working together, and that carried through to the movie. So we kind of just egged each other on until it was like, “okay, we’re making this movie then!” And we wrote the script in two weeks. We shot it less than a month after that. We shot the movie in five principal shoot days, and we had two and a half months in post[-production.] But, from the inception of the idea to when we finished the movie, it was very, very fast. And I think that’s just because both of us are just crazy workaholics.
And I’ve got to ask: Within that process, approximately ow much weed was involved?
LEUNG: I plead the fifth! No, it was a good amount when it was non-professionally. And when it was professionally… who knows!
XU: Ivan may or may not have been high for most of the movie. [Laughs.]
It’s obvious that you put a lot of yourselves and your friendship into Daniel & Ryan’s story, but one key difference is the fact that you two didn’t actually grow up together like the characters did. Why did that feel like an important distinction for the story you set out to tell? What do you think it adds to the film?
XU: A lot of the feedback we’ve been getting is people love the kids footage—and a lot of people actually think it is us because the kids do such a great job in the movie.
But I think one of the main things we want people to take away from the movie is—I don’t want to say we made the movie on a whim, but we hadn’t planned this for years. We just sat down and were like, “We’re gonna make a movie.” And I feel like, when we were kids, a lot of times we would just kind of run around with whatever cameras we had, and just film each other—and there was no pressure for anything. And one of the things that is so great about the kids at that age is to showcase, hey, when we were all that age, we had this creative flexibility and we would just do things because we wanted to do it! And we wanted that to show through with those characters. So that’s specifically why we wanted kids that young.
And even though I’ve only known Ivan for 10 years, 11 years, it’s felt like I’ve known Ivan for a long time.
LEUNG: Yeah, because I’m always myself. I’m just so comfortable. [Laughs.]
It definitely seemed like a fun time on set, but what scene proved the most difficult for each of you to shoot?
XU: I think, for me, the scene that was hardest was the shirtless scene in the gym.
LEUNG: Was it because you had to do push-ups?
XU: No, I don’t know, it’s like I’m not that type of person. But then it made sense for the character and—
LEUNG: All you wanted to do was take off your shirt, Harrison!
XU: I didn’t though!
LEUNG: Yes, you did! You were working out so hard!
XU: [Laughs.] And I still didn’t have the six-pack.
LEUNG: He was trying to work out so hard because, before he got married, he wanted to look really hot for his wedding. So he was working out and he kept complaining, “I don’t have a six-pack! I wanna have a six-pack!” Well, I want a four-pack! We all want something. [Laughs.]
XU: No, but it was hard because it was like, “Oh god, I’m doing this!” because it’s not something that I normally do.
LEUNG: Again: no one forced you! You literally wrote the scene. [Laughs.]
XU: Okay, well, what was your hardest scene then Ivan?
LEUNG: The worst scene was probably the “Hot Ones” scene, because that was one of the first scenes that we shot and words were not coming out. And I was like, “Did I just waste all my money?” And then I felt like I was just having an internal like panic attack like, “All that work led up to this and I can’t say a frickin’ word?” And after I finished panicking, words started coming out of my mouth. So, great!
XU: Well, your biggest concern heading into it was that you’d never done improv, but then you were crushing it because you’re just naturally funny and you actually improvise all the time.
LEUNG: All my jobs are improv, man.
XU: But you said you’d never done formal improv before.
LEUNG: Well, I did take Improv 101 before—like four times because I was just so scared to go to the next level. But all my jobs have been improv-based, which is fun. But, no, I just panic for no reason. Panic to prepare!
This really is a proper independent film, one that harkens back to those home movies, but with a really nice polish and mature sense of self. Both in writing and filming, how did you guys maintain that balance between just having fun with it and the elements of more serious, emotional storytelling?
LEUNG: For me, I would just listen to whatever Harrison told me to do. “Make it funnier,” “Be more in your feelings,” and I was like, “okay!”
XU: Our poor editor—love our editor, Michael Scotti Jr.—we would do like 10-minute takes of each scene, where we would riff on of various things, and we would do maybe four or five takes of each scene. So, there’s a lot of things that didn’t make it into the movie. With every scene, if you gave it to six different editors, they’d all give you a different cut of the movie.
LEUNG: We had a really, really, really prepared “scriptment” where we had all the talking points that we’d have to hit in every scene, so we’d usually have a place to go to, a place to land. And, to be honest, Harrison is super anal, so he was basically the [assistant director] of the whole thing while he was acting as well. And, for me, I was trying to just get into my feelings and all my acting self, so all the preparation that I had before just left, and I was just a blank slate, looking at Harrison and responding to whatever he says,
XU: The meta part of the film—which is probably the most confusing—it took us a long time to really figure it out.
LEUNG: It took you a look time.
XU: It took me a look time, and actually you still don’t know a lot of the layers. During the filming of it, as we were talking about all the different movies within the movie within the movie and those characters within it, Ivan had no idea what was going on. And I still don’t think he knows.
LEUNG: I do know—I’ve seen the movie so many times now. But, during the filming, I had no idea what he was talking about. And I just really did not care because it was not part of my story anyways: Why should I try to understand something that my character’s not supposed to understand in the first place?
XU: But we did fail a lot, and fall on our faces a lot. We would try things and take big swings, and it was okay because we weren’t making this for anyone—we wanted to make the movie that we wanted to make! And because we had that trust with each other as actors, we could do that and not be afraid to fail.
LEUNG: We just don’t get a lot of chances as Asian American actors! There’s the nerdy Asians, there’s the villain Asians, there’s the super-rich, six-pack abs, nice-jawline Asians, but what about the other people? We’re just not getting the opportunities, and because we’re not getting them, we should just make it ourselves, right?
The reason why I was like, “oh, I want to do this movie” was because I had a little bit of spending money that I wanted to, like, maybe make a little drop-shipping business or something like that. But then I’d probably lose money from that, so if I’m gonna lose money, why not just throw money into the fire and just make a movie?
Daniel’s arc—about being unable to come out to his best friend, even though he knows he’s going to be chill about it—will definitely resonate with queer audiences. Can you talk about the genesis of that part of Extremely Unique Dynamic?
LEUNG: It’s just something that I’ve experienced in life. I really find it weird, and it’s just like an age-old story: “Why should I tell people that I’m gay? I’m just going to be myself; that’s just my sexuality” No straight person is going to say, “hey, hi, I’m Harrison. I am this, or I am that.” It just doesn’t make sense to me!
But, at the same time, I feel like maybe there is some [internalized] homophobia of like, “oh, I don’t want to say this because I’m scared that, if I tell this friend of mine that I’ve become close to, about this part of me—that I have some shame in myself—would that change our dynamic or relationship? Would he stop talking to me? Would he treat me the same way?” And, I mean, no one really cares, but because you build something in your head, that’s probably something others can relate to.
And I just haven’t really seen that a lot in like movies or television. And I’m like, “Wait, this is something that I experienced so much! Why can’t we talk about that?” And the big thing about that is, some of the people we’ve talked to, they don’t consider this “a fully LGBTQ+ film,” or “not LGBTQ+ enough.” But I feel like it’s a very big topic—it’s just that there’s no romance, or you’re not seeing a lot of the tropes from these loads of other queer films that we have now.
Related*
I had wondered about that! I mean, you two are taking this to Framline, the oldest LGBTQ+ film festival in the country, but it’s not the only festival and it’s not like this is only for queer audiences. What does it mean for you two to have Extremely Unique Dynamic considered and classified as a queer film?
LEUNG: I think that just being in a film as a queer person makes it a queer film. And so if we’re just bringing ourselves into it, into the characters, then it’s great to be recognized that way.
XU: I think, too, that added layer of this starring two Asian men makes it also unique, because I feel like Asian men in media are shown as these stoic types, and they never really talk about their feelings. So, not only are we talking about these queer themes in our movie, but it’s also under the guise of two Asian guys, which you don’t see that often!
Right! And how many times have we seen a platonic friendship between a straight guy and a gay guy on screen—let alone two Asian guys—without it becoming an unrequited crush story or something sad? Were there certain elements of that dynamic you were eager to highlight—or avoid?
LEUNG: I mean, I think that any time I got uncomfortable, I just leaned into it! Because, in my head, I spent my money so it wasn’t the time to hold back and be shy! So, if I wanted to make this investment happen correctly, I better just put it all out there as much as possible.
So, you premiered at Sonoma, you took this to Inside Out in Toronto, CAAMFest in SF, and you’re heading back there for Frameline next. First of all, what’s this whole festival experience been like for the two of you?
LEUNG: Yeah, I’m just surprised that people enjoy it! There’s been clapping and laughing throughout the whole film—I haven’t heard laughter in the theater in a really long time. It just felt really, really good. And people were celebrating us, which was crazy!
XU: And it’s been both of our first times going through the festival circuit, so I don’t know what we expected, really. Because the parties have been fun, the food’s been fun, watching other films and meeting other filmmakers has been amazing. But the most rewarding thing is just seeing your movie in a theater. Because we had been in the editing room for, like, seven weeks straight, 12 hours a day, watching it over and over again to death. And we’re like, “Is this funny anymore?”
And then when you see it with an audience—especially different audiences—because the Sonoma audience is very different from the CAAMFest audience, which is different from Inside Out. And it’s just interesting to see what jokes land with what audiences, so it’s always nice just being in a theater with people, because I think laughter is contagious, and we need more comedies!
LEUNG: And we’re both actors, we’re not used to validation. So it was a little, “holy sh*t, validation? This is amazing.” [Laughs.]
And, specifically, what does it mean for you to screen Extremely Unique Dynamic at the historic Frameline festival—especially during Pride Month?
LEUNG: It just means a lot! It just feels so validating that our peers and these festivals we’ve really always wanted to go to actually watched it, resonated with it, and gave it this approval by accepting it into competition with all these other amazing films. It’s kind of unbelievable sometimes! And we’re just coming in with a lot of gratitude, a lot of… spunk… Sorry, my mind’s in a totally different place now. [Laughs.]
XU: When we first started this process—because it’s our first-ever film—we do what every filmmaker does: you blind submit to a million film festivals and you hope someone takes you in. And, for the longest time, at the beginning, we were getting rejection after rejection, and we thought, “Oh, maybe people don’t like it as much as we thought they would?”
And it’s just been really nice seeing the audience reception, from Sonoma to CAAM to Inside Out, and now playing at Frameline. It’s been really nice to see the queer community really embrace the film.
And, it’s really interesting: For the longest time, we’d been told, like, we’re not Asian enough, we’re not queer enough, we’re not comedy enough, or whatever—like, we don’t fit any box. But we’ve been acquired by Strand Releasing, so that’s been really exciting! Because our film is not typical Strand fair. They’re very arthouse, it’s very prestige—and not to say like our movie’s like not good! [Laughs.] But we’re silly, we’re comedy, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. So, it’s been really nice to see that a distributor of that prominence has taken a liking to our film!
Related*
Throuples, queens & a gay rodeo: 10 must-see titles from San Francisco’s Frameline48 film fest
The historic Frameline film fest returns to San Francisco this month, and we’ve got a rundown of the movies you won’t want to miss!
Well, we can’t wait for Frameline to see this movie—and the rest of the world next. Thank you guys, and congrats on Extremely Unique Dynamic!
XU: Thank you so much!
LEUNG: Did we come off crazy? Did I come off crazy? [Laughs.]
Extremely Unique Dynamic screens Saturday, June 22 at Frameline48 in San Francisco—limited tickets available here. Follow along with the film on Instagram, and stay tuned for future screening and release details.
The above interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
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nm4047
this was far entertaining to read than it was to watch: Winnie–The-Pooh: Blood & Honey
ty563
These 2 Asian twinks were funnier than the entire 2 hours I wasted on watching “bros”