James Yaegashi

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James Yaegashi
Born
Yokohama, Japan
Alma materUniversity of Missouri–Kansas City
OccupationActor
Years active1999–present
Spouse(s)Tami Schuch Yaegashi
Children2

James Yaegashi is a Japanese American actor based in New York.

Early life[]

James Yaegashi was born in Yokohama and raised in Yamagata to an American mother and a Japanese father. Upon graduating high school, he moved to America and majored in acting and directing at University of Missouri–Kansas City. He moved to New York with his wife in 1998.[1]

Career[]

He has acted in various stage productions, including as Mr. Yunioshi in a stage production of Breakfast at Tiffany's; a role that had historically been played in yellowface. Of the character Yaegashi said "He’s a real character, for starters. The film...made so many changes to the story...Yunioshi is a Nisei, a Japanese American from California. In the movie, Mickey Rooney played him as if he was fresh off the boat." He ultimately felt it was necessary to play the character to portray ethnic characters in a positive light.[2] Yaegashi first entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a minor role in Daredevil, but had a more notable role when he was cast as Robert Minoru in the Hulu original series Runaways based on the Marvel Comics series.[3] In 2004, he voiced the Chinese Triad leader, Wu Zi Mu, in the video game, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. He later also voice an undercover police officer called Charlie in GTA IV and GTA IV: The Lost and Damned.

Personal life[]

Yaegashi is married with two children.[1][4] He is also bilingual.[4]

Filmography[]

Film roles
Year Title Role Notes
1999 The Thomas Crown Affair Crown Acquisitions Executive
1999 Spin the Bottle Cole
2000 Lisa Picard Is Famous Alex
2001 Thirteen Conversations About One Thing Legal Assistant
2007 Superheroes James
2007 Noise Japanese Businessman
2008 The Collective The Janitor
2011 Lefty Loosey Righty Tighty N/A Director
2012 Man on a Ledge Police Technician
Television roles
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Cashmere Mafia Frederic Episode: "Pilot"
2016 Madam Secretary Rick Episode: "Unity Node"
2016 Marvel's Daredevil Leader Episode: "Regrets Only"
2017–2019 Marvel's Runaways Robert Minoru Main cast
2019 New Amsterdam Ethan Kimura Episode: "The Karman Line"
2021 The Blacklist Alexander Frayne 2 episodes
Theater roles
Year Title Role Notes
2003 Take Me Out Takeshi Kawabata Broadway
2005 A Naked Girl on the Appian Way Bill Lapin Broadway
2013 Breakfast at Tiffany's I. Y. Yunioshi Broadway
2014 The Oldest Boy Father Off-Broadway
Video game roles
Year Title Role
2004 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Woozie
2005 Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Tomoya (Tokyo)
2007 BioShock Dr. Yi Suchong
2008 Grand Theft Auto IV Charlie / The Crowd of Liberty City
2014 BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Yi Suchong / Bartender

References[]

  1. ^ a b Davies, Kate (November 11, 2010). "Interview Part Two: James Yaegashi, Director of Lefty Loosey Righty Tighty". blogspot. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  2. ^ Yamamoto, J.K. (March 29, 2013). "Meet Mr. Yaegashi — The New Yunioshi". Rafu Shimpo. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  3. ^ Dinh, Christine (February 9, 2017). "'Marvel's Runaways' Sets Remaining Cast For Television Project With Hulu". Marvel.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Lemon, Brendan (November 24, 2014). "James Yaegashi Tells His Stories". Lincoln Center Theater. Retrieved December 11, 2017.

External links[]

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