The White Lotus Star Will Sharpe to Direct Japanese Breakfast’s New Crying in H Mart Movie

Will Sharpe will direct the film adaptation of Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner’s book Crying in H Mart, as People notes. “It was a daunting task, to find someone I could trust with the retelling of such a personal story,” Zauner said of Sharpe in a statement. “Someone who could honor my mother’s character and respect the darkest days of grief, and still make the coming of age of a half-Korean artsy outsider in a small Pacific Northwest hippie town seem real and cool.” Read her full statement below.

Zauner published her “Crying in H Mart” essay in The New Yorker in August 2018. She quickly signed a book deal and released the full-length Crying in H Mart in April 2021. The book debuted at No. 2 on The New York Times’ best-seller list and spent 60 weeks on the list.

In 2021, just a few days after Zauner released her album Jubilee, it was announced that MGM’s Orion Pictures acquired the rights to the Crying in H Mart adaptation. Zauner told Consequence last year that she had finished the first draft of her screenplay.

Will Sharpe starred as Ethan Spiller in the second season of HBO’s The White Lotus. He wrote and directed the movies The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and The Darkest Universe, and he’s the creator and director of the Channel 4 sitcom Flowers.

Japanese Breakfast Is Working the Pain Away

Michelle Zauner:

It was a daunting task, to find someone I could trust with the retelling of such a personal story. Someone who could honor my mother’s character and respect the darkest days of grief, and still make the coming of age of a half-Korean artsy outsider in a small Pacific Northwest hippie town seem real and cool.

In that spirit, I am so relieved to have found Will Sharpe and am beyond delighted that he will be the director of Crying in H Mart. I believe his sensitivity, as a director and an actor, and his own personal experience, having grown up between two cultures, will be tremendous assets.

His work on Flowers and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain speak to his ability to conjure lofty, vulnerable performances, to find humor and grace within the tragedy of the everyday. They are a precious collection of talents that make him the perfect fit for this film.