Best Shooting Yet- First Appearance on Kamen Rider

Sunset at Toei Studios when I was leaving on the last
day of shooting. 

So as anyone who has ever worked (or lived) in Japan can tell you, kids' entertainment doesn't get much bigger than the Power Rangers stuff. So much in fact, that there's a whole slew of them. I found this out several years ago when I appeared in one film called "Geki Rangers". Although I thought it was super famous, when I told people about it, some had heard of it, but some had not. Amongst the genre though, the biggest and the baddest of them all is Kamen Rider. It's been running for at least 25 years now, everyone knows it, and everyone has watched it. In a way, I guess it's like the Japanese equivalent to Disney Movies.

As a function of that, when I was invited to play a role in the next film, I was stoked to say the least. The whole thing came about because not too long ago, my buddy Enis (a tricker, free runner, model, stuntman from Germany who I used to train with out here) was in town and he asked me to come out and join him and a few other guys in hitting an onsen that day. At the time, I was still in the middle of doing the kids camps I do every year, I was hyper busy and physically worn out, but as he's a good friend, I didn't wanna miss the chance to spend time with him, so I came out to join him anyway. Once we met up, I found out that the two guys joining us were both super-kickers from Studio BOS whom I've known for a while, but never actually had the chance to hang out with.

Even if I was exhausted at the time, I had a great time catching up with Enis, and it was also cool to spend time with the other guys as well as I'd never really spoken to either one of them in-depth before. A few days after that, as luck would have it, the action director of the series contacted one of them, and asked him if he knew of a large boss-looking foreigner who could act and do action for the next film, and with my buddy's recommendation, I was invited to come by the studio.

I showed them my resume and stunt reel, and had a fitting for the costumes, and then when I met the producer, I found out that Geki Rangers was one of his films, so we had actually worked together before. It turns out that I had also worked with the main actor on a drama called Otomen, so he knew me as well. With that, I was invited to join the project.

I can honestly say it was the best shoot I've ever had. While I loved doing ATARU, this one allowed me to act as a character AND do fight scenes in a large production. Something that until this time, I had yet to be able to do. For the first time ever, I was given the option of delivering all of my speaking lines in both Japanese and English, so the director could decide in the end which delivery he liked best. (Personally, I'm hoping he goes for the Japanese).

My dressing room with my name on the door
(and the respectful suffix, "sama" after it) WORD. 

Beyond that, it was also cool because they actually got clothes and shoes that were my size, instead of my having to bring my own stuff or wedge myself into things that were way too small, as I usually do. I even had my own dressing room in the studio to put them on in this time. Granted, all of this does not mean it was a perfect shoot. For one, it was extremely hot and humid out, and as a gang boss, I was in a full suit. Beyond that, the forested area we were shooting in was teeming with Suzumebachi (Asian Giant Hornets), and when it did finally cool off, it was because a full-on thunderstorm rolled in (complete with lightning) and we had to finish the shoot in the rain. I was also still recovering from a pulled muscle in my back, and left leg, so I wasn't at 100% for the fight scene.

One of what seemed to be a swarm of Asian giant hornets
(the most dangerous animal in Japan) living in
the area where we were filming. 

Despite that though, more than anything else, I think what made it such a great day was the level of respect I was given on set. Much like when I did ATARU, it was a constant reminder that I'd come a long way from being the zero-respect extra working for peanuts, or the foreigner who was set up to lose in a tough man contest and then stiffed on the payment by the agency. Admittedly, as a gangboss, I was still playing a bad-guy, but at least it was a damn cool one (in a really pimp suit), who only gets caught instead of killed. ( I consider that a step-up! ;) At the end of the last day of shooting for me, the action director, said, "Thanks. Well done. We will do this again.", so that is also most certainly a good sign. ;)