Sight Interview: Greg Kinnear Talks Inspirational Movie’s True Story

ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with Sight star Greg Kinnear about the inspirational movie, which follows the life of Ming Wang as he becomes a world-renowned eye surgeon and attempts to aid a blind orphan. Directed by Andrew Hyatt from a script he co-wrote with John Duigan and Buzz McLaughlin, the film stars the Little Miss Sunshine actor and Terry Chen. It is now playing in theaters.

“Sight, starring Greg Kinnear (as Misha Bartnovsky) and Terry Chen (as Dr. Ming Wang), follows the true story of Dr. Ming Wang, a Chinese immigrant who defies all odds to become a world-renowned eye surgeon. Drawing upon the grit and determination he gained from a turbulent uprising in his youth, Dr. Wang sets out to restore the sight of a blind orphan,” says the synopsis.

Tyler Treese: Congrats on Sight, which is a really lovely movie. I imagine it has to be special when you’re not just working off a really good script, but it’s based on an incredible true story as well, and you get to really share that remarkable story with a wider audience.

Greg Kinnear: Yeah, I think so. It’s funny how timing plays a role in everything too. I was trapped indoors with the rest of the planet, as it turns out, during COVID, and had been locked out like we all were. I feel like everybody was doing a little internal searching at that point in anybody’s life after that year-plus where you were just trying to make things work for yourself and for your family. I came across the script, which was sent to me, and I didn’t really know Dr. Wang’s history, and it just put things in perspective very, very quickly for me.

All of my complaining about, you know, various moans and groans about COVID were suddenly out the window, and I was reading this incredibly powerful story about true adversity. I don’t think many people in this country can imagine the kind of poverty that he went through as a young man and the difficulties that he was up against. To find his way over to this country with a couple of bucks in his pocket, and ultimately, succeeding professionally, but also succeeding in such a personal way, was just really inspiring at that moment. So, yeah, it landed at the right time

You’re playing a doctor in this. What’s the process of being in a lab with all that equipment and looking like, you know what you’re doing because I would look completely lost with all the medical equipment. What’s that process like?

Well, it’s acting, and I think the first two Zooms this morning that I was supposed to do can attest to that because I wasn’t able to actually log onto my Zoom for about a half hour today. That’s what a Luddite I am. Completely incapable of dealing with anything that requires great brain power. So, to play a surgeon and dealing in that world was well laid out for me.

Our director, Andrew Hyatt, was incredibly kind, and Dr. Wang was there, actually, which was really helpful. Truthfully. Because I was able to say, “I don’t know what I’m doing here or have any idea how to make this feel plausible or real or kind of sell it to the audience.” He’s a very soft-spoken and patient man, very gentle, and just kind of would walk you through. He’s a great teacher. Actually would kind of walk you through what would be happening in that moment, and it was really useful.

That’s really cool that he was on set. Did you get a chance to talk to Ming Wang about the real character you’re portraying, Misha Bartnovsky?

Listen, I’m playing the friend in the movie, and in a romantic comedy, it’s kind of the doofus-y guy who does jokes to help out the lead character and guide him a little bit. In this movie, I think Misha is a really grounded doctor who is understanding of what sort of personal journey Dr. Wang was going through and was trying to be helpful. Like any friend, you bounce ideas off of, you’re a springboard in a way. He was a mirror. I think my job was just to help from the cheap seats sort of guide that lead story on a journey.

Part of it, obviously is taking place in contemporary times in America. Then part of this story is also taking place during the Cultural Revolution when he was a young boy, which was so exciting. It’s a true Chinese-American immigrant story from that standpoint, which I don’t think those stories are told very often. I didn’t know anything about the Cultural Revolution, and you heard about it, but learning about what went down at that time and how difficult it was for these people is quite amazing.

Terry Chen, who plays Ming Wang in the film, gives a great performance as well. What stood out about him as a scene partner?

He’s very smart, and I would say Terry is a lovely guy to work with. I found him to be, um, uh, just fantastic. We shot the movie in Vancouver, and I spent the first two weeks in basically a prison cell. It was during that time where you had to quarantine. So, man, when I showed up to work, I was ready to work, and so was he.

He was very thoughtful about trying to be respectful to the story and as honest as we could. Listen, you try to create a rapport with somebody that you’ve just met. It’s part of the job, and sometimes it works better than others. But yeah, I had a great connection with Terry and just think the world of him.

One of the really cool parts about Angel Studios is they have this pay it forward initiative, where people are buying tickets so people who are less fortunate and can’t afford to go see the movie, can now see it and get free tickets. How cool is it that there’s this very organic element of people supporting the film and helping others see it?

Yeah, I guess that’s the way they do it. I haven’t had a movie with them before. You wish all the movies, I think of all the different kinds of movies that I’ve done, what an advantage, what a leg up to have a marketing apparatus that’s directed towards the kind of people or the likely people who are gonna be first in and most interested. Because I think as we see with Twitter or social media that that kind of viral thing has to happen from somebody. You have to start with a core that then that idea can expand out from. So, to start with a base and a platform of people who are supportive of the movie and enthusiastic about what this is about. It gives the chance, gives the opportunity for the movie to get the widest breath it could.

It’s crazy to think about, but Mystery Men turns 25 years old this year. I know that movie wasn’t a huge hit, but it’s become this very beloved cult classic over the years. How has it been just kind of seeing it just defy the odds and just keep sticking around?

Yeah, that movie, I do get people once in a while, who, it’s not the usual reference, but it does pop up once in a while, and I always do a double take. I’m like, “Oh, Mystery Men. Of course.” Captain Amazing. Geoffrey Rush, what a great villain. It was an excellent cast. I remember I was shooting Nurse Betty while I was making that, so I was making Nurse Betty as a soap opera star, and then I was coming to Universal and dressing up in my Captain Amazing outfit. It was such a great cast. I was so humbled to work with that group. It was great fun.

I think the problem was they didn’t really have a third act written, so in other words, we did a table read and literally stopped at the two-thirds point, and everybody said, “Okay, that’s good. Let’s see about that last third.” And I think that was a tricky part of the movie that they tried to find at the end. But listen, I still like the movie. It’s great. I’ve shown it to my kids, who don’t really watch much of what I do, so I consider that a win.

Thanks to Greg Kinnear for taking time to discuss his new movie Sight.

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