Randall Park shares why he couldn't pass up working on Blockbuster
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Whether we're talking fashion or pop culture, it's safe to say that the 1990's are back! (There was even a 90s Con recently!) So, it's only natural that a streamer like Netflix would premiere a new original series named… Blockbuster.
"The show takes place mostly in a Blockbuster video store as the company itself is starting to collapse," says star Randall Park who plays Timmy, the owner and manager of what, he learns, is the last Blockbuster store in the world. "Our little family who works in the store, together, we kind of gain the strength and resolve to keep it alive."
For Park, the nostalgia of Blockbuster was definitely a draw, but it was the pilot script written by the creator Vanessa Ramos (Superstore) that made him want to be part of the production. "I just thought [the story] was so great. Whether it had been a Blockbuster or not, I thought the story and the characters were so strong."
Ricardo Hubbs/Netflix
Park continues, "There was just so much going on with these characters. There's just so much history and so many complicated feelings, but also just feelings of real love and camaraderie… it just had so much heart. I think that that's what really sold me."
The cast also includes Tyler Alvarez, Madeleine Arthur, Olga Merediz, JB Smoove and Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Melissa Fumero, who plays Timmy's love interest and coworker, Eliza Walker. "I love Melissa. She's the best," Park says, admitting he was "intimidated by her" at first. "She just came off of this iconic comedy show that I just loved — I was such a big fan of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. When her name came up, I was like, 'Yeah, that would be great, but we're probably not going to get her, she's Melissa Fumero.' And then we got her! And she was just so great to work with."
Ricardo Hubbs/Netflix
"Not just Melissa," he continues, "the entire cast and the whole group. It really was a dream just working with them. Everyone was so sweet. I think you see that in the show. It really came from how we all felt for each other and for this project."
Park describes his character Timmy as the boss who "loves this family and wants nothing more than for them to stay together and to work together and to thrive in this Blockbuster." But he also notes how special it is for him to work on a show that truly reflects the realities of the working class.
"I feel like this show captures that perfectly and it doesn't make a huge statement about it — it just reflects the reality of our world," he notes. "We're out there and we're working and we're struggling together, and we're all friends and we get along and it's not always contentious. And sometimes it is … and sometimes it isn't, but we're all ultimately this little family."
Ricardo Hubbs/Netflix
"I grew up in a very diverse neighborhood, it was almost like my group of friends growing up was of every race," he says. "It was almost too perfect, it was like a commercial. And shows, I feel like, have always had a tough time capturing that reality. And I feel like Fresh off the Boat is great, because it was groundbreaking to have an Asian-American family and that reflects a part of my life. But also a part of my life is this diverse group of people."
Something that is not so much a part of his life? "I am actually not that good when it comes to movies," he says somewhat sheepishly. "I feel like I've seen a lot, but there's a lot of movies I haven't seen that I should have seen. And when people find out that I haven't seen them, they're like, 'How could you not see that?'"
Noting that playing a manager of a video store might result in having to answer a lot of movie questions on the upcoming press tour, he jokes, "I don't know if I'm going to pass any of those quizzes. I know they're coming, but it's going to be very embarrassing for me."
Blockbuster begins streaming Nov. 3 on Netflix.
Make sure to check out EW's Fall TV Preview cover story — as well as all of our 2022 Fall TV Preview content, releasing over 22 days through Sept. 29.
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