In conversation at the British Film Institute ahead of his new film Mickey 17, Oscar-winning director Bong Joon Ho revealed that Mark Ruffalo’s antagonist character bears resemblance to a certain U.S. president who once criticized “Parasite’s” historic Academy Awards sweep.

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“We shot this film in London in 2022 and there’s a particular thing that happened in 2024 that was quite similar in this film,” Bong said through  interpreter, referencing how Ruffalo’s character Kenneth Marshall manifests with “faintly orange-tinged skin.”

After recent events, “Mark Ruffalo was also quite surprised to see it play out in reality and wondered, ‘Were we oracles predicting the future?’”

When asked if this was a response to Trump’s disparaging comments about “Parasite’s” Oscar win, Bong quipped that he is “Not that petty,” drawing laughs from the BFI audience.

The Warner film, set for a March 7 release, stars Robert Pattinson in an adaptation of Edward Ashton’s novel about a character who gets repeatedly “printed” after dying on fatal missions.

“I was quite fascinated by that concept,” Bong explained about the human printing premise, which differs from conventional cloning narratives.

Mark Ruffalo as Villain

Ruffalo, known for activist roles in films like “Spotlight” and “Dark Waters,” questioned why he was cast as the villain. “He was quite flustered. ‘Why me? Do you see that side?’” Bong recalled.

The BFI event covered Bong’s remarkable career trajectory, from his 2000 debut “Barking Dogs Never Bite” through watershed films like “Memories of Murder,” “The Host,” and “Mother” – the latter two will screen in both color and black-and-white during BFI’s upcoming retrospective.

On his blend of genres and tones, Bong explained he doesn’t consciously separate elements like comedy and tragedy when writing: “I don’t really see them in those separate elements. I don’t really think about how to balance these different parts…and then shoot the film and realize that, ‘Oh, that’s what it is.’”

Writing in Cafes

The director revealed that he prefers working in cafes rather than in isolation. “I go to cafeterias, coffee shops. Take my laptop. I stay in one coffee shop for two, three hours, go to the next one, get some fresh air, and the third one,” though he noted that many of his former writing spots have since closed.