Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa quotes

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is a Japanese-American actor and martial artist, widely recognized for his villainous roles in Hollywood films. His career spans decades and includes iconic performances in movies such as “Mortal Kombat” and “The Last Emperor.” He has also contributed to film as a producer and is respected for his distinct screen presence. Here are 10 of his quotes:

Nature is a big part of my weekend. Whenever possible, I take Friday and Monday off and spend four days outdoors. We should remind ourselves that there was something here before us, a force more powerful than us.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

Hollywood was a detour, although my mother was an aristocrat from Tokyo who ran away to join the theatre, so acting is in my genes.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

One thing I have to say about Japanese anime is that there's a certain sort of tone there that bypasses the Asian part. And the characters really turn into something more Western. I'd like to see a true Japanese character. We don't need to make the eyes look round, we don't need the light in her hair. We can have dark hair and the eyes look like mine. They can be speaking English. We have Asian-Americans. And certainly there are plenty of people from Hawaii that are very Asian and totally local. It's part of America...

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

Nothing ever stops me. Certainly coming into Hollywood, I knew that there would be certain limitations. But I also couldn't play a woman or I couldn't play a white hero. To play Asian and to speak with accents because I speak Japanese, it never really bothered me. All I always look for in every piece is how can I use this piece to move to the next step? So the worst thing about playing Asian bad guys would be to not be remembered...

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

One was my movement, which I'm very conscious of in films, especially coming from martial arts. Think about how many times a character is seen just sitting or walking or standing, it's a lot of time in film and it says so much about a character. So I've always been keen to pay attention to movement and that was one thing he said he noticed. Never have I heard a director talk like that about me. And also he said that the eyes were important because it really has to come through the make-up. So he was interested in those two aspects especially...

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

My look is 'Poly'n'Asian' - part Polynesian native, part Asian warrior.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

I believe the body can take care of itself. It's all about self-health. It's about depending on our breathing.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

When you start working on a series, it's almost too much work. It's like a movie a week.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

I really believe that breath, in and of itself... can become the ultimate self-healing tool.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa