Japan Probe contributor Claytonian has posted an interview with Christian Storms, a jack-of-all trades in the Japanese film industry, and foreigner breaking the mold to boot. Storms has worked as a subtitler for director Takashi Miike’s films, as a translation supervisor for the Japanese-dubbed version of South Park, as a voice actor director for the video game MetalWolf Chaos, and more recently as a dialogue coach/script translator/actor in Miike’s latest film, Sukiyaki Western Django. Here’s a short excerpt from the interview, in which he talks about some of his acting roles:

It’s an uphill battle as an actor not having an agent or being associated with a big talent agency. Most directors find me through my work or contact me via a friend of a friend. Japanese film doesn’t really audition in the overseas entertainment sense. The hardest thing is convincing Japanese directors that a foreign actor can play more than the pedestrian English teacher, white guy role. Of course, I never try to take such a role or give such a performance. With JUSTICE, I walked like a goose stepping Nazi with fake glasses and all. I talked as fast as possible. Only an American English teacher would think he could recite something and expect his students to be translating it in sync. And gave a hint of my crazed, hidden, ashamed because of the Catholic church inner longing for buruma panties. I said Jesus several times on purpose too. I did a similar thing in PAVILLION. I am quizzing the girl on pronunciation and listening checking “right” and “light” but in the end, I mess it up on purpose as I get close to touching her tits. In SUKIYAKI WESTERN, my English is the least comprehendible once again on purpose.

Read the full interview here!