The Numb3rs star pens a hilarious memoir about the challenges that await a mixed-race couple.
Love may conquer all, but that doesn’t make it any easier to win over strict Korean parents. In Kissing Outside the Lines, actress Diane Farr tells the humorous take of dating her histand-to-be, marketing executive Seung Yong Chung, sharing her own creative methods (like hiring a “cultural attache”) and those of 20 mixed race and religious couples across the country. Now a mom of three, Diane, 42, talks to Star about her successful struggle.
Q: We all know you as an actress. When did you start writing?
The writing was born from filling in the times between acting gigs. I hated sitting around waiting for someone to give me a job. Over 15 years I just got better at it.
Q: How difficult was your courtship, exactly?
Mine is a very traditional Korean story. My husband’s parents sent relatives to meet me one at a time until there were enough approvals. By the time I met them they couldn’t have been kinder, but I was never unaware that the process was their doing.
Q: How did you handle it?
As my husband said, disliking your child’s choice of mate is part of the process in an Asian family. It sort of became a game – a game I wanted to win.
Q: What will readers take away from the book?
You just have to keep showing up and being the person you are because most of this is fear of the unknown. A change of heart takes time.