He is making a ton of money for making a fool of himself. In a country where you can get ostracized if only one of your parents are japanese and considered any race other that japanese, why are they making an exception with him. Even with sumo wrestlers from Hawaii they were discriminated against the first half of their careers. It was only after they saw they can't prevent them moving up in class, that they let Akebono wrestle for the yokozuna. The 600 pound guy never even got the oppurtunity. I'ts bizarre.

Bob Sapp from Udub?

If it's the same guy... he was a pretty good college O-Tackle, but he was too squat, so he tried to make the shift to O-Guard and became road kill.

He's actually famous in Japan?

I saw him doing a cameo in "You're Under Arrest" but I haven't seen him do anything else.

thetenken wrote:

Almost the entire gaikokujin cast of Sakura. .

they're not famous at all!... and as u can see ...we do know bob sapp, true he's not an actor.. but we still know who he is...

and yes Geezer you are right... that's the guy from "you're under arrest" (so to his credit he has acted atlest)

lovelessemotion wrote:

they're not famous at all!... and as u can see ...we do know bob sapp, true he's not an actor.. but we still know who he is... and yes Geezer you are right... that's the guy from "you're under arrest" (so to his credit he has acted atlest)

What do you mean they're not famous? When I was in Japan, they were in commercials all the time and also in just about every variety show or news show I could think of. You couldn't turn on the TV and NOT run into them, nor go on the trains and not see their ugly mugs hawking this or that. If kids aged 6 to elderly folks aged 60 can recognize you, I think that qualifies as "fame." The same cannot be said of Bob Sapp in the U.S. Only a small cross-section of people who watch football would recognize him, and add to that the population that watches WCW or Ultimate Fighting.

Read Bob's story, I'm not exaggerating:
http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/bob_sapp/story.html

But since he's not technically considered an actor (WCW? Not acting?), I'll go on to someone else. Thane Camus (�Z�C���E�J�~��). Look him up on Google. Then there's the most ubiquitous face on Japanese television: �����X�ڈ�, aka Ruy Ramos. Former soccer player, now is everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. Finally, there is Julie Dreyfus (model, now actress in Kill Bill, but famous waaaaaay before in Japan). Although they didn't start as actors, they are now famous (as famous as they can be in Japanese productions).
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"...but it was my integrity that was important. Is that so selfish? It sells for so little, but it's all we have left in this place. It is the very last inch of us...but within that inch we are free." - V for Vendetta

warren.mcclendon wrote:

He is making a ton of money for making a fool of himself.

He is making a ton of money for promoting a gimmick. But he is also publicly known as an intelligent individual beyond the gimmick. The bourgeois attitudes of many of his critics have to make me chuckle...

Quote:

In a country where you can get ostracized if only one of your parents are japanese and considered any race other that japanese, why are they making an exception with him.

Because he had great backers that HE found... (he is a very good businessman) and he broke onto the scene at the right time with everything he had to offer.

Quote:

Even with sumo wrestlers from Hawaii they were discriminated against the first half of their careers. It was only after they saw they can't prevent them moving up in class, that they let Akebono wrestle for the yokozuna. The 600 pound guy never even got the oppurtunity. I'ts bizarre.

It'd be best to call it an anomaly...

but it's a reflection of the constantly changing world... and it's an individual issue...

not a racially black-and-white one.
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thetenken wrote:

What do you mean they're not famous? When I was in Japan, they were in commercials all the time and also in just about every variety show or news show I could think of.

hmm OUTSTANDING!.... actualy i think i have to look into this....

i don't see why having an american in tv dramas is an issue.
you don't see famous asians on american TV... almost none at all.

so....

neefo wrote:

i don't see why having an american in tv dramas is an issue. you don't see famous asians on american TV... almost none at all. so....

Good point. "What's good for the goose is good for the gander..."

neefo wrote:

i don't see why having an american in tv dramas is an issue. you don't see famous asians on american TV... almost none at all. so....

Sammo Hung Kam-Bo staring in his own series (Martial Law 1998 -2000) wasn't a famous asian?

Eh, it doesn't matter.

Why should I want to see American's on Japanese TV? I can see American actors on American TV 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. On dozens and dozens of channels.

Besides, before you start worrying about Americans on foreign TV, and foreigners on American TV... check with the Unions in the different countries. The Actors Unions -- in America, in England, and in most countries where TV production is big business -- are pretty snarky about how many foreign nationals are allowed to be in, or featured in, TV shows.

you're absolutely right. i actualy want any and all celebreties to succed in their respetive careers! even if they are foreigners, in time i think the issue of race will be nonexistant

Nicholas Pettas:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Pettas, he isn't an American, he's Greek/Danish, but he's played an American in a couple dramas. He was U.S. ambassador in Change, and I think he played a U.S. auto executive in Fumo Chitai.

gaijinmark wrote:

Nicholas Pettas:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Pettas, he isn't an American, he's Greek/Danish, but he's played an American in a couple dramas. He was U.S. ambassador in Change, and I think he played a U.S. auto executive in Fumo Chitai.

Couldn't they just get Takenaka Naoto to play an American?

He was so convincing as a German conductor in Nodame Cantabile.