Remember that one scene in ‘The Hangover’ where Leslie Chow jumps out of the car trunk b*tt naked and takes a crowbar to Alan, Stu, and Phil? Turns out the scene was not part of the original script, but rather the brainchild of Ken Jeong, who played the character of Chow.
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As the comedian appeared on the Rich Eisen Show, he revealed to the host that he cooked up the hilarious scene and immediately got the go-ahead from the production team:
“In the script, they just had me coming out in my slacks…I was analysing the script with my acting mentor, just knowing the tone of his movies, if you do something incredibly shocking and just jump out naked and beat the cr*p out of Bradley Cooper, it would just elevate the stakes.”
Jeong recalled going up to Todd Phillips, the director, to shoot his idea and immediately got the green flag with Phillips apparently saying, “You don’t need to tell me twice.”
In fact, the team liked the idea so much that they had Jeong sign a waiver that he “had to do it” and he “couldn’t change his mind” later.
This spontaneous decision added a layer of absurdity to the film that has become iconic among fans. And looking back, made so much sense for Jeong’s character.
Adding a lot of heart to the backstory of the scene was also the comedian’s wife’s battle with cancer. Jeong recalled how his wife was going through treatment for cancer at the time and that pushed him to take risks. He recounted,
“My wife at that time was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer…it just taught me that life is short, sometimes you just gotta go with your gut.”
Tran Ho, Jeong’s wife, is now fortunately cancer free but her ordeal pushed the comedian to “take that shot.”
This particular scene exemplifies how Jeong’s improvisational skills brought a unique flavor to “The Hangover.” His willingness to push boundaries not only made for a memorable cinematic experience but also solidified his status as a comedic powerhouse.
