Americans in jdorama???

[hiroshi]

In the first episode of My Little Chef, the story opens up with some restaurant manager from France taking over the "Etoile" restaurant ... so you hear this supposed "French" guy speaking in an absolutely horrible French accent telling the Japanese staff what to do, etc. etc.

Thankfully, he only lasted a couple of minutes on the show and was never to be seen again.

I don't know where they found this guy but he was atrocious! He could barely speak French!

p.s. lots of foreign "business people" made spot appearances on Shomuni 1 and 2 as well.

[shin2]

Geezer wrote:

But I'll tell you. I'd love to see actors like James Shigeta, or Tamlyn Tomita, or George Takei playing Americans in a Dorama. That would be something a writer could play with. Especially if, like most Americans, their characters only spoke English.

I would love to see Mako or Nobu McCarthy, two older marvelous actors who have spent most of their careers in America, in dorama series. Because of their bilingual fluency, they could certainly play characters who are required to speak Japanese and English. Most of the Japanese actors who play characters fluent in English really struggle with their English lines.

[Geezer]

Shin2

Man, I would have loved to have seen Nobu McCarthy in a Japanese Drama. I had such a crush on her when I was a kid.

Sadly, Ms. McCarthy died about a year, year and a half ago while making a movie (Gaijin2) in Brazil with Tamlyn Tomita.

Now Nobu McCarthy's life would make a great drama.

Born in Canada. Moved to, Japan as a kid.

Ballet dancer, turned model. Crowned Miss Tokyo.

She lived in Tokyo through the war, and then married a U.S. service man and moved to the U.S. and became an actress.

Man, she was something.

[amberrsan]

shin2 wrote:

Most of the Japanese actors who play characters fluent in English really struggle with their English lines.

I know what you mean. I remember when I was watching "Beauty and the Beast", Matsushima Nanako was struggling to pronounce most of the English words, even though her role is being an intellectual person that graduated in Harvard/Yale (Sorry, can't remember!).
_________________

"Smiling is infectious; you can catch it like the flu. When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too"

[Geezer]

Nobu in the day.

Nobu visits the "Wild Wild West"

[Geezer]

In Loving Memory 1934 - 2002,

[bmwracer]

UWFShooter wrote:

The only problem: The black American guy whose murder starts the plot is played by HIROYUKI IKEUCHI...

Wha?????? BAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA... *rolling on the floor in pain*

[bmwracer]

Geezer wrote:

Shin2 Man, I would have loved to have seen Nobu McCarthy in a Japanese Drama. I had such a crush on her when I was a kid. Sadly, Ms. McCarthy died about a year, year and a half ago while making a movie (Gaijin2) in Brazil with Tamlyn Tomita.

Tamlyn Tomita!! Boink!! Miss Nisei Week 1984...

And don't forget Helen Funai... She was a Miss Nisei week as well (late 60's/early 70's, I think)...

[shin2]

Geezer wrote:

Shin2 Sadly, Ms. McCarthy died about a year, year and a half ago while making a movie (Gaijin2) in Brazil with Tamlyn Tomita.

I did not know she had passed away. What a shame. I always enjoyed seeing her act. I believe she and Mako were instrumental in starting the East-West Players theatrical troupe which is based in L.A. I thought she was kibei (born abroad but sent back to Japan to be educated) but didn't know she was from Canada. And you're right; she was something. Thanks for posting the pics in her memory.

[Geezer]

SHin2

I don't know how much Nobu McCarthy had to do with starting the East West Players, but I know she performed there (as did Mako), and in the early '90's she became their Artistic Director.

Through the 80's and 90's she became a teacher in the Theater Departments of both Cal St. L.A. and UCLA.

(Ain't the web wonderful? I got those bits about the East West Players and her teaching career from an interview George Takai gave shortly after her death.)

[lovelessemotion]

does anyone actualy belive taht a foreign (non asian) actor who is not famous in the US (or anywhere) actualy have some kind of career and succed in japan?

[thetenken]

lovelessemotion wrote:

does anyone actualy belive taht a foreign (non asian) actor who is not famous in the US (or anywhere) actualy have some kind of career and succed in japan?

Yes, almost all the gaijin actors that are famous in Japan are absolutely nothing in the U.S.
_________________

"...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

[lovelessemotion]

name one....

[vibius]

thetenken wrote:

Yes, almost all the gaijin actors that are famous in Japan are absolutely nothing in the U.S.

Just curious ... who are famous gaijin actors in Japan? Do they get title roles in movies? Or are they mostly on TV?

[groink]

lovelessemotion wrote:

name one....

Don't know his name, but there were several actors with American accents in Song of the Canefields. I have to applaud the casting directors involved in that movie for great casting of the American G.I.'s (aka actors speaking English, portraying Americans, that don't have European accents).

However, I think thetenken is right in that these actors would totally blow in America... In one scene, the Americans blew up a fort, where the Hirayama family and other Okinawan residents were hiding. When they came out, carrying along the dead body of one of the daughters (Nakama Yukie), one of the American soldiers approached the family. The way the actor spoke, it might as well have been one of the guys working in my office at Pearl Harbor. He sounded just like an average Joe off the street! Maybe he's living in Japan teaching ESL or something, I don't know!!!!!

--- groink

[bmwracer]

groink wrote:

Maybe he's living in Japan teaching ESL or something, I don't know!!!!!

[thetenken]

lovelessemotion wrote:

name one....

Almost the entire gaikokujin cast of Sakura. Most of them star in the same 'gaijin' role in lots of TV shows. They are also famous for being TV geinojin, who appear over and over on the various variety shows. You can check over in the Sakura thread for more on that...

A direct example. A very famous personality in Japan but not the U.S. would be Bob Sapp, a kickboxer/ultimate fighter. Try and find someone who knows who he is in America and compare that to his exposure in Japan [TV shows - You're Under Arrest, commercials, CD's(!!), etc.].
_________________

"...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

[bmwracer]

thetenken wrote:

Almost the entire gaikokujin cast of Sakura. Most of them star in the same 'gaijin' role in lots of TV shows. They are also famous for being TV geinojin, who appear over and over on the various variety shows. You can check over in the Sakura thread for more on that... A direct example. A very famous personality in Japan but not the U.S. would be Bob Sapp, a kickboxer/ultimate fighter. Try and find someone who knows who he is in America and compare that to his exposure in Japan [TV shows - You're Under Arrest, commercials, CD's(!!), etc.].

I was thinkin' of ol' Bob myself, but I didn't consider him an actor here in the States...

[warren.mcclendon]

Bob Sapp is not an actor. Unfortunately, he is popular because he reinforces the stereotypical giant black beast that so many japanese would rather see on the shows, that a more reallistic person. He was a great offensive lineman in college. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings as a future Hall of Famer. He just wasted the oppurtunity. He belived that with all the hype he wouldn't lose his position. He found out differently after 2 years, when he was cut.

[UWFShooter]

warren.mcclendon wrote:

Bob Sapp is not an actor. Unfortunately, he is popular because he reinforces the stereotypical giant black beast that so many japanese would rather see on the shows, that a more reallistic person. He was a great offensive lineman in college. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings as a future Hall of Famer. He just wasted the oppurtunity. He belived that with all the hype he wouldn't lose his position. He found out differently after 2 years, when he was cut.

Then he went to the then WCW company to become a pro wrestler but didn't debut then. Makes you wonder how the Japanese promoters got so interested in him to begin with.