Aaron Yoo plays Chewie in the latest reincarnation of Friday the 13th. While Jason terrorizes the woods around Crystal Lake, the characters of Chewie and Lawrence, played by Aaron Yoo and Arlen Escarpeta, bring some comic relief to the film as a pair of best friends who never miss an opportunity to keep the party going and the one-liners flowing.
“Chewie is the jester of the film,” laughs Aaron Yoo. “Someone told me back in the day that in a movie like this, there’s something necessary about watching a clown die. The first time Arlen and I met the producers they said, ‘You don’t really have to do anything scary in the movie, just be funny. If you’re not funny, we’ll throw you in a meat compactor and send you home.'” Yoo hoped they were kidding, but in a horror movie, he couldn’t be sure.
Friday the 13th Trailer
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More about Aaron Yoo
Aaron Yoo was most recently seen starring opposite Michael Cera in “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” which premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. Yoo’s breakout role came in 2007, when he starred opposite Shia LaBeouf in the worldwide hit “Disturbia.” Subsequently, he starred opposite Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey in the box office hit “21,” based on the bestselling book Bringing Down the House; and “The Wackness,” starring Ben Kingsley, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and won the Dramatic Audience Award. His previous feature credits include the World War II-Japanese internment camp drama “American Pastime” and the Sundance favorite “Rocket Science.”
For television, Yoo has made guest appearances on “ER,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Love Monkey” and “Ed.” He was also featured in a recurring role on series “The Bedford Diaries.”
Yoo’s career began off-Broadway, where he starred in such U.S. and world premiere productions as “Where Do We Live,” at the Vineyard Theatre; “wAve” and “Savage Acts,” for the Ma-Yi Theatre Company; “Cellophane,” at the Flea Theatre; and the National Asian-American Theatre Company’s “Fuenteovejuna.” Other New York stage credits include “The Gifted Program” at the LAByrinth and “Karaoke Stories” for the Imua! Theatre Company.
Born in Dallas and raised in East Brunswick, NJ, he earned a BA in Theatre from the University of Pennsylvania, and holds a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.