Margaret Cho has said she “would love to” run for office.
In an interview with The National Student, Cho explained that she was currently on tour which she described as the “sickest show to date”. The comedian added that the tour deals with “a lot of hard stuff about addiction, about weight.”
“I really wanted to make an effort to show how this is like so scary and this is real and this can happen. And so, that’s a big part of the show too,” she added.
Cho, who is known to be vocal about Asian American issues, also said the show will touch upon her frustrations with casting decisions. Most famously, Cho had a heated exchange with Tilda Swinton over her casting as the Ancient One in Dr Strange.
“I just think it isn’t wrong to have Asian actors in Asian roles,” she said. “I don’t know how or why that is a controversial thought. There’s so much lee-way white people give themselves in terms of racism.”
“Like, they have such a huge sort of grace period in issues, where they think, “ok racism is acceptable in these contexts.” And it’s not. So, you know, it’s important to point it out. I love pointing it out and I love revelling in it and being nasty about being right.”
Cho went on to mention how she will be returning to television with hit show Highland in which she plays “a recovering drug addict, who has to work in the middle of this and not get high.”
“It’s like a minefield, so I’m loving it. It’s really cool.”
The comedian also mentioned her admiration for John Cho, who called his namesake a “hero”. Speaking of John, Margaret said, “It’s really amazing. And I love John, he’s like my kid.”
Not one to shy away from politics, Cho predictably discussed America’s current and most controversial president. When asked if she would run for office, Cho replied, “it’s something I would love to do. But I don’t know, to me, being an entertainer, it’s such an easy way out or easy way in. If you’re an entertainer, you can just say whatever you want. If you’re a politician, it’s a lot harder.”
In light of Trump’s election, Cho added, “But I wouldn’t want to be an entertainer in office with no clue of what’s going on and that’s not the answer either, so I would love to but I know that it would require a lot more integrity than I have!”
