Jin Ha, who plays Solomon in Apple TV+’s hit series Pachinko, has previously discussed his personal connection to his character. However, as Season 2 quickly approaches, and Solomon begins a new personal journey, Jin Ha is ooking back on his prior comments and examines whether anything has changed. The series, adapted from the novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee, tells the story of Kim Sunja and the Baek family over the span of 60 years, from their emigration from Korea to Japan in the 1930s to the younger generation thriving in the 1980s. Jin Ha was born in Korea, but moved to America as a child, and immediately understood his character’s mindset. The actor went so far as to say that Solomon is who he himself would have become were he not an actor.
During MovieWeb’s interview with Jin Ha and Pachinko’s showrunner, Soo Hugh, we asked the actor to reflect on his past connection with Solomon, as Season 2 sheds new light on the character. After spending years working his way up the American corporate ladder, Season 1 saw Solomon lose his job during a placement in Japan. In Season 2, Solomon begins to build his self-confidence and ruthlessness as a businessman, but grapples with morality and the expectations of his grandmother, Sunja (played by Youn Yuh-jung in the character’s older age).
Jin Ha said, “It still feels true even in Season 2’s arc for him, where he is grappling with so much more of the mental and emotional weight of the responsibilities, or maybe burdens, he might say, of the generational expectations or hopes.” He went on to add:
“Even
that journey that he’s going through feels similar to me, of having immigrated here when I was seven or eight, [under] very different circumstances
. But that’s still very much a part of my own experience, and coming to terms with, how do I fit into this country as an Asian American? As a Korean American who was born in Korea, but I’ve lived in America for most of my life. Where do I fit in? And where don’t I fit in?”
4.5/5
Release Date March 25, 2022
Cast Eun-chae Jung , Jin Ha , Kaho Minami , Yuh-Jung Youn , In-ji Jeong , Lee Min-ho , Jimmi Simpson , Jun-woo Han , Anna Sawai , Min-ha Kim , Soji Arai , Steve Sanghyun Noh
Streaming Service(s) Apple TV+
What Happened in Pachinko Season 1?
In Pachinko, the story of the Baek family is told across two different time periods, using Sunja as the narrative and emotional anchor. The series follows a young Sunja (played by Minha Kim) as she emigrates from Korea to Japan, starting a life with her husband Isak (Steve Sang-Hyun Noh) and son Noa (Park Jae-joon), who was fathered by her first love, Hansu (Lee Min-ho). The series jumps back and forth between the 1930s and the 1980s, as a much older Sunja (Youn Yuh-jung) has given her children and grandchildren a platform to live their own lives.
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Despite the specific circumstances shown in the show, there’s a universality to the message of Pachinko. The seriesobjectively compares the hardships the older generations faced during the early 20th century and those faced by the newer generations in the 1980s. The constant fight for survival and food the young Sunja faced is juxtaposed with the natural beauty of the Korean landscape and the simplicity of life.
Meanwhile, the ‘easier’ lifestyle of those in the ’80s, who have to fight to thrive, rather than survive, is set in the concrete jungle of Tokyo in the 1980s and in bloodthirsty corporate offices. Within that story, Solomon struggles with his feelings towards his grandmother’s past. He understands the hardships she endured but doesn’t want to live his life constantly under the shadow of guilt and sympathy for his grandmother’s early life.
Pachinko
Season 2 premieres on Apple TV+ on August 23, 2024. New episodes will be released weekly.
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