Panel on Asian Americans in Entertainment to Feature Star-Studded Cast
PACOIMA — San Fernando Valley JACL presents “Meet the Asian Americans in the Entertainment Field” on Sunday, April 23, at 2 p.m. at the San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center, 12953 Branford St. in Pacoima.
The following panelists will share their career stories and how much of a factor their ethnicity plays in today’s entertainment industry:
• Keiko Agena, who is best known for playing Lane Kim on “Gilmore Girls” and the recent mini-series “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.” Her recent credits include the TV shows “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Colony,” “Grimm,” “Super(fluous),” “Shameless,” “Scandal,” “Castle,” “House” and “Private Practice” and the films “Lil Tokyo Reporter” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.” She has a recurring role as Mrs. Bradley on a new series, “13 Reasons Why.”
• Francois Chau, who is known for playing Dr. Pierre Chang on ABC’s “Lost.” His recent TV credits include “The Expanse,” “K.C. Undercover,” “Berlin Station,” “Major Crimes,” “Bones” and “Criminal Minds,” and he guest-starred in both the original and reboot versions of “MacGyver” and “Hawaii Five-0.” His early TV credits include “Tour of Duty,” “ER,” “Baywatch,” “China Beach” and “Nash Bridges.” He has appeared in such films as “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze,” “Beverly Hills Ninja,” “Chinese Box,” “Lethal Weapon 4,” “What’s Cooking?” and “21 & Over.”
• Clyde Kusatsu, who was also a regular on “All-American Girl” and appeared in the groundbreaking made-for-TV movie “Farewell to Manzanar.” His TV credits span ’70s shows like “Kung Fu,” “M*A*S*H” and “All in the Family” to current shows like “Madam Secretary,” “Doubt,” “24: Legacy,” “NCIS,” “Dr. Ken” and “The Grinder.” He was a series regular as Dr. Kenji Fushida on “Island Son” and as Ali on “Bring ’Em Back Alive,” played Judge Lance Ito in the TV movie “American Tragedy,” and has appeared in such films as “Midway,” “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” “Rising Sun,” “47 Ronin,” “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay,” “The Interpreter,” “Rumor Has It,” “Shopgirl” and “Godzilla” (1998).
• Chris Tashima, an Academy Award winner for his short film “Visas and Virtue,” in which he played the “Japanese Schindler,” Chiune Sugihara. His other film acting credits include “Kusei: Endangered Species,” “Strawberry Fields,” “Day of Independence” (which he also directed), “Americanese,” “Half Kenneth,” “Model Minority,” “Lil Tokyo Reporter,” “Under the Blood Red Sun” and “Go for Broke” (in production). He also appeared on such TV shows as “The Young and the Restless,” “Unsolved Mysteries” and “The Shield.”
• Tamlyn Tomita, who made her big-screen debut in “The Karate Kid Part II” and is also known for such movies as “The Joy Luck Club,” “Come See the Paradise,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “Only the Brave,” “Robot Stories” and “Awesome Asian Bad Guys.” She played Maya Lin in the TV movie “To Heal a Nation” and has had recurring roles on “Teen Wolf,” “Berlin Station,” “Chasing Life,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “True Blood,” “Resurrection,” “Glee,” “Days of Our Lives,” “Law and Order: LA,” “Heroes,” “Eureka,” “General Hospital,” “24,” “JAG” and “Stargate: SG-1,” among other shows, and was a series regular as Dr. Kimberly Shiroma on “The Burning Zone.”
Donation: $10. Bentos are $10 and must be ordered by April 14. Tickets can be purchased from any SFV JACL board member or by contacting Nancy Gohata at (818) 371-8013 or nancygoahata@gmail.com.