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Chris Tashima
Actor, Director, Writer
Born March 24, 1960 (62 years)
Chris Tashima is an award-winning American actor and director. He has starred in numerous independent feature films, most notably as the romantic lead opposite Joan Chen, Allison Sie, Kelly Hu and Autumn Reeser, in Eric Byler's Americanese which won a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Cast at SXSW. He was awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role, at the inaugural Love International Film Festival, for his portrayal of Papa Nakaji in Tim Savage's World War II family drama Under the Blood Red Sun produced by Dana Satler Hankins. Other recent roles include real-life educator/activist Shigeo Yoshida in the 442nd RCT origin story Go For Broke from producer/screenwriter Stacey Hayashi, and most recently, the hard-nosed Uncle Bob in the generational family comedy No No Girl from writer/director Paul Goodman.
Tashima received an Academy Award® for directing the dramatic short film Visas and Virtue, a re-telling of the heroic actions of Holocaust rescuer Chiune Sugihara. In addition he co-wrote the screenplay adapting a one-act play by Tim Toyama, and starred as the Humanitarian diplomat Sugihara. He also directed, co-wrote and starred in the WWII Japanese American internment short film Day of Independence which was nominated for a NATAS Northern California Area Emmy®. These two directorial works came from Tashima's own Cedar Grove Productions, an indie entertainment house aiming to "Boldly defy mainstream Hollywood by giving Asian Americans the close-up onscreen."
Filmography
| 2018 | Surviving Theater 9 · as Professor Cambro |
| 2014 | Under the Blood-Red Sun · as Papa Nakaji |
| 2013 | Real Playing Game · as Mr. Chan |
| 2012 | Model Minority · as Ken Tanaka |
| 2006 | Peace · as Young Frank |
| 2002 | The Shield (TV Series) · as Chris Yamamoto |
| 2002 | Barrier Device · as Actor in Diamond Jeweler Commercial |
| 1999 | Independent Lens (TV Series) · as Chiune Sugihara (segment "Visas and Virtue") |
| 1997 | Strawberry Fields · as Mark |
| 1991 | The Perfect Weapon · as Bag Man |
| 1987 | Lethal Weapon · as Fire Rescue Attendant (uncredited) |
| 1987 | Overkill · as Nagumo Jr. |
| 1987 | Unsolved Mysteries (TV Series) · as Stunt Coordinator (segment "Brandon Lee") |
| 1986 | The Karate Kid Part II · as The Rockabilly Club Dancer (uncredited) |
| 1986 | Night of the Creeps · as Extra |
| 1985 | The Sure Thing · as Frat Guy at Punch Bowl |
| 1985 | Moving Violations · as Parade Extra |
| 1985 | Savage Dawn · as Extra |
| 1985 | Killzone · as Crawford's Men |
| 1985 | Scandal Sheet · as Extra |
| 1985 | To Live and Die in L.A. · as Extra |
| 1985 | Once Bitten · as Dream Sequence Extra |
| 1985 | The Mechanical Universe (TV Series) · as Freefall Rider (segment "Magic Mountain") |
| 1984 | Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo · as Club Patron |
| 1984 | A Nightmare on Elm Street · as Kid (uncredited) |
| 1984 | 1st & Ten (TV Series) · as Reporter |
| 1984 | Highway to Heaven (TV Series) · as Camper's Dad |
| 1982 | St. Elsewhere (TV Series) · as Technician |
| 1981 | The Fall Guy (TV Series) · as Bar Patron |
| 1973 | The Young and the Restless (TV Series) · as Employee #2 |
| 1963 | General Hospital (TV Series) · as Street Bystander |