‘Blue Bayou’: Justin Chon Was ‘Absolutely Destroyed’ While Researching the Real-Life Stories of Asian American Adoptees

Justin Chon received at least some of his film education on the Twilight set. The heartthrob perfectly portrayed Eric and reprised the role in almost all Twilight movies. But despite having experience on the set of a blockbuster, Chon has taken his career in a different direction since leaving Twilight. Although he’s still acting in various projects, Chon is getting serious as a director. And his latest project, Blue Bayou, took an emotional toll on him.

‘Blue Bayou’ premiered at Cannes this year 

Chon made history as one of the few Asian American directors with a film premiere at Cannes. He wrote, directed, and stars in Blue Bayou. Although Chon is an experienced actor, he may have had reservations about stepping onto the set alongside an Oscar winner. His co-star Alicia Vikander won an Academy Award for her work in The Danish Girl.

Chon hadn’t always planned to star in the movie. While he wrote the project, he dove into its source material and decided to act in the film. 

Blue Bayou is about a complex subject. After committing a minor crime, Antonio (played by Chon) faces deportation to Korea despite being an adopted child of an American couple. 

The real stories of Asian American adoptees ‘destroyed’ Chon

Unfortunately, foreign adoptees of a certain age can be at risk of deportation due to a flaw in the law.

In 2001, a law granted citizenship to all children adopted by American citizens from overseas. However, any adoptee who was 18 before the law went into effect is at risk of deportation if they haven’t addressed their immigration status. Many adoptees don’t even know that they’re not citizens or that anything is amiss with their situation. 

Chon researched these cases extensively for Blue Bayou, and it broke him. But more important, it gave him a sense of urgency about the project.

Chon told Vanity Fair that he wants people to feel the way he felt. The movie is a moving work of fiction, but in it lies a call to action.

“How you feel at the end of the film is how I felt reading these articles,” he said. “I was absolutely destroyed … I felt it was very important that people in the United States knew it was going on.”

‘Blue Bayou’ is as far from ‘Twilight’ as a film could get 

After appearing in a blockbuster movie like Twilight, Chon has taken his career in the opposite direction. Blue Bayou is as far from Twilight as a film could get.

Though the vampire saga was a guilty pleasure, Blue Bayou is the opposite. Chon meant for it to inspire guilt. He wants viewers to feel upset about foreign adoptees’ plight, and he hopes those feelings will create change. 

“There’s a purpose behind Blue Bayou, and I’m hoping the bigger picture of this is that the right people will listen,” Chon told Vanity Fair. “Hopefully, the conversation doesn’t end after its release.”

Whether Blue Bayou inspires the change Chon desires, he’s already blazing trails simply by being himself. Chon is one of the first Asian American directors with a movie premiere at Cannes. If he continues to make influential films, Chon could improve Asian American visibility in the film industry.