Joel Kim Booster is in Twitter rehab.
“That’s the way to do it.”
The platform has been affecting his happiness as of late.
Joel Kim Booster’s Noah can’t help but fall for Conrad Ricamora’s Will in ‘Fire Island’ — not for lack of trying.Jeong Park/Searchlight Pictures
“It’s one of those screaming, crying, throwing-up reactions,” he tells EW.
Still, Booster can’t help but fixate on negative feedback, mainly via Twitter.
“That is something that I’m working on.”
Joel Kim Booster’s Noah can’t help but fall for Conrad Ricamora’s Will in ‘Fire Island’ — not for lack of trying.Jeong Park/Searchlight Pictures
Hence the Twitter rehab.
He still finds himself scrolling through the feeds, but his boyfriend is the gatekeeper of his access.
His advice: We cannot write this movie for Twitter.
Joel Kim Booster stars as Noah, a twist on Elizabeth Bennet from ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ in rom-com ‘Fire Island.'.Jeong Park/Searchlight Pictures
Booster is still trying to internalize this months later.
So, the pressure is on to make this last trip memorable.
They had met three years prior in New York City.
Joel Kim Booster, the writer and star of ‘Fire Island,’ poses for EW’s Pride Month cover shoot.Ryan Pfluger for Entertainment Weekly
“He was like, ‘You two are both gay and Asian.
You guys should be friends,'” says Yang, 31.
“It was like someone banging two Ken dolls together and going, ‘You guys should get married.’
Bowen Yang, Torian Miller, Joel Kim Booster, Matt Rogers, and Tomás Matos pose on the set of ‘Fire Island.'.Jeong Park/Searchlight Pictures
It felt so forced that we ignored each other for the better part of a year.”
“It turns out that we also have a lot of other things in common.
It was an immediate life-raft moment.”
He and Yang were in different places in their lives than they are now.
For one thing, money was an issue.
“Neither of us really met the criteria,” the South Korea-born Booster says.
Yang, the son of Chinese immigrants, agrees.
“I don’t know why I went in with that baggage.”
Yang remembers a particular moment when he felt that weight lift.
“There’s something equalizing about this.
You need those moments where you could feel completely free.”
“There was this purgatory phase where I was like, ‘I hope I get to do this.
“I had some friends ask about it, too.
For a while, I didn’t really know what to tell them.
Luckily, Searchlight came in and saved us.”
He had two other all-time favorites:My Best Friend’s WeddingandClueless.
(Booster samples the latter’s dialogue inFire Islandwhen Howie utters, “Way harsh, Tai.")
He theorizes these cinematic happy endings royally screwed him, relationship-wise, in the long run.
“Thoroughly Modern Milliedid not bring me joy,” Booster says.
“It was one of those stereotypical Asian roles.
I didn’t speak a word of English in the play.
So that was really tough.
A friend, comedian Beth Stelling, suggested that he combine performing and writing into stand-up comedy.
“What I have to say is important and people will listen to me.”
Cho is someone he credits heavily as an inspiration.
Her 1994 sitcomAll-American Girlfundamentally altered what he dreamed for himself in high school.
The fact that Cho now plays his character’s mother figure inFire Islandis something Booster may never get over.
“I think the orgy [scene] might truly send them over the edge,” he jokes.
He describes his mom as “uncurious” about what his work actually entails.
“I don’t need her to see [my work] by any means,” he says.
Honestly, I’ve moved beyond that.”
Even if they keep you off Twitter.
