Actor John Harlan Kim, star of the TV show The Librarians, was a media guest last weekend at Baltimore Comic-Con. Scoop stopped by his booth to talk about the show, his character Ezekiel Jones, and his experiences attending conventions.
Scoop: Have you done many conventions?
John Harlan Kim (JHK): I have done New York Comic Con two times, going on three and that’s it. This is my first local one and I’m really excited to be here. You always remember your first, so this will be special.
Scoop: What do you like about going to conventions?
JHK: You know what I love, is the atmosphere of likeminded people who enjoy the exact same type of things and just how sweet everyone is about it, just how excited they are. There’s not too much, I’d say, that I’d give America points over Australia for, but if there is one thing it’s that you guys get so up and about and get around things. Not just things like comic cons, but Halloween and public holidays and I love that attitude. Just walking around seeing all these amazing outfits and costumes and all the time spent put into these things, it’s humbling. It’s humbling how much people adore and respect what you do and in turn show up to these things, I just want to pay as much respect and love as I can back.
Scoop: Were you a fan of The Librarian movies?
JHK: I actually hadn’t seen them prior to booking the series. But, the first thing I did when I got the call was watch them all. Yeah, I gotta say Noah Wyle did a great job setting up the universe along with John Rogers and Dean Devlin. It’s a super, super charming and magical world that they built and I’m happy to go in and play my own part in it.
Scoop: What do you like about Ezekiel?
JHK: He’s finally having some development. I think that’s the biggest thing you look forward to as an actor is finding a complex human being who goes through changes depending on their experiences and influences. We see that he started off super arrogant and brash and childish, almost. Now, he’s probably still a little bit childish, he’s at least growing up and he’s understanding responsibility and family. Which, that last point is obviously very sad because I don’t know if he’s ever had a proper family.
Scoop: Did you learn some of Ezekiel’s skills to play him on screen?
JHK: I actually was gifted a lock picking set and it comes with levels of difficultly on how to pick those locks and I am up to third out of five levels. I’m obviously not going to go breaking into American banks anytime soon [laughs] but, you know, I could probably get into your school locker.
Scoop: What can you tell me about the next season of The Librarians?
JHK: Best one yet. I know everyone says “best season” just because that’s what you have to say, but no, for real. We came into this season knowing we got more episodes, we understood each other’s rhythms and beats, and we all have a pulse on what the show is now. I’ve said before, season one being my first show, I wasn’t sure how the flow of each scene was going to go, but by now we’ve come in, we know what works, we know what doesn’t. The writing team did an incredible job of putting together 12 fantastic episodes and I think you guys are going to really enjoy it.
Scoop: The show has a devoted cult following. Was that a surprise to you? How does it make you feel when you interact with fans?
JHK: I think the key word is that they’re passionate and I’m so passionate about what I do, so it’s nice to be in that kind of environment where you know that the work you’re putting up on screen is going to be received with both constructive criticism and a lot of appreciation. I’m sort of just stoked to be able to call this my job. This being my first U.S. TV production, I’m just absolutely stoked and I can’t wait to meet as many of them as I can and show that love back.
