Margaret Cho rose to prominence in the 1990s as the protagonist of the first US sitcom with an Asian family at its core, but after much criticism of too many stereotypes and arguments with the network, All-American Girl ended after one season.

Since then, the bisexual comedian has appeared in the films "In the Body of the Enemy" and "A Deadly Call" as well as series such as "Sex and the City", "30 Rock", "Drop Dead Diva" and most recently "The Flight Attendant". causes a stir again and again with very outspoken and politically charged stand-up programs.

On the occasion of her role in the comedy "Fire Island" (from August 19th on Disney +) we reached the 53-year-old comedy icon and doggie Lucia Katerina in a video call.

Of course, Ms. Cho, a film like “Fire Island”, which tells a dedicated story about being queer and Asian in the USA, cannot do without you.

Was the role of the lesbian friend of a queer group of men written for you?

One would think so, right?

But in fact, the character was originally created as a man.

However, I know comedian Joel Kim Booster, who wrote the script and plays the lead, and as soon as I heard about his script, I reached out and asked if I could be a part of this film in some way.

That just felt right to me.

And luckily a way was found.

As soon as the film was released in the US, a feminist complained on Twitter that your character was just a one-dimensional cliché and that it was problematic that you were the only woman in the film...

I had to laugh a bit that someone would call a queer Asian-American female character a cliché.

Because for my part, I don't even know when I've ever seen that in a movie.

At least not in a mainstream romantic comedy.

And that I'm the only woman among all the men is also very realistic in the context of this story.

In any case, I was very often the only woman in gay circles of friends throughout my life.

Accordingly, I never had anything against the expression gay mother!

When did you find your place in this community?

Definitely already in the seventies, i.e. still as a child.

My family owned a mostly queer bookstore in San Francisco at the time, that was my world.

That's why it was perfectly normal for me to be surrounded by homosexuals.

What didn't feel normal was the fact that I didn't also see these people on TV or in the cinema.

Quentin Crisp and Harvey Milk, drag queens, gay cowboys and lesbian college graduates were a natural part of my everyday life, but they seemed invisible to the rest of the world.

Did you already suspect back then that you too would one day identify as queer?

No, but many around me were already sure back then.

Even in my school it was written on quite a few walls: "Margaret Cho is a lesbian fight!" I didn't even know the word then.

Of course, this bullying was painful at the time, but later I could laugh about it and thought to myself: nice that you all knew about it before me and told me about it.

Later you were a real pioneer when it came to the representation of Asian and not least queer Asian Americans on screen, as your young “Fire Island” colleagues Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang emphasize.

How aware are you of this role model function?