Episode 858 - Grandmaster Gerald Okamura
Today's episode is a chat with actor Gerald Okamura.“The weapon is an extension of you. That means if you grab a sword, you can't use the same hand to grab something else.”
Grandmaster Gerald Okamura - Episode 858
Ladies and gentlemen, martial arts enthusiasts and cinema buffs, welcome to a brand new episode of whistlekick Martial Arts Radio. Today, we are joined by a true martial arts icon and cinematic legend, the one and only Grandmaster Gerald Okamura. Known for his awe-inspiring weapon skills and unforgettable roles in cinematic classics like “Kung Fu",” "Big Trouble in Little China", "Blade," “GI Joe: Rise of Cobra,” “Ninja Academy,” and many others Grandmaster Okamura's journey is a tapestry of martial arts mastery and Hollywood stardom.
Show Notes
To reach Grandmaster Gerald Okamura:
Website https://geraldokamura.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/officialgeraldokamura/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/gerald.okamura
Twitter https://twitter.com/geraldokamura
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Show Transcript
Jeremy (00:00.458)
Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome Whistlekick martial arts radio. And today's guest is someone if you're watching the video, if you're not watching, you should probably watch because I will guarantee you recognize my guest Grandmaster Gerald Akumura. We're going to talk to him in just a moment. Thank you for being here, sir. If you're new to what we do, please check out Whistlekick martial arts radio.com for all the things related to the show, transcript linked, all kinds of things like that.
And if you're up for supporting us in our mission to connect, educate, and entertain the traditional martial artists of the world, check out whistlekick.com for all the things we have over there. So, sir, thank you for being here. It is a pleasure. Your beard is so much better than mine.
Gerald Okamura (00:44.925)
Well, like I said, it's the other way around. I'll turn it around. The thing is, I'm honored to be part of your production, your projects. Thinking of me as being one of the guests, that's an honor for me. So, you know, I really thank you. The other thing is that, yes, you and your audience.
have to be listening to all of this stuff. You know why? Because you know, I am the bad guy, and I will look for you to be part of this podcast. And I hope you, as the interviewer,
can come up with some juicy questions.
I think.
Jeremy (01:51.722)
I will try, I will do my best. I'm getting the sense that maybe there's some consequences if I don't. I don't know that was in the writer anywhere, but we'll see, we'll see where it goes.
Gerald Okamura (02:02.205)
I have it in my heart and I have an arm that reaches far and wide.
Gerald Okamura (02:13.225)
You're laughing. That's not good. And we haven't even started our interview. So kind of check that out. Kind of control that.
Jeremy (02:20.159)
I laugh when I'm nervous.
Jeremy (02:30.554)
you are known as being the bad, not just a bad guy, but the bad guy. When people describe your film career, it's often he's the bad guy in all these films that you've seen.
Gerald Okamura (02:46.379)
Uhhh
Jeremy (02:46.902)
Did you start out wanting to be a bad guy?
Gerald Okamura (02:49.789)
No, not really. The thing is, you know, when you start out, and for me, it's a big accident. You know, the way I started into the business is that I was training in the martial arts. And one day my instructor tells me, come over here, I got to talk to you. And he says to me, I got invited to participate in the
in the Kung Fu series with David Carradine. And he says, I don't want to go. So he tells me, I want you to go in my place. Tomorrow morning you report to Warner Brothers, six o'clock in the morning. You report there in my place. And I said, yeah, okay, not knowing the business. You know, so I went. And lo and behold, that's
start of this so-called movie career.
Jeremy (03:55.178)
I don't think it's so-called. I think we can all agree. It's a movie career.
Gerald Okamura (03:58.481)
Well, I hear it. It's like circumstances that comes up. You know, I was lucky that when I got there, the technical advisor was Mr. David Chow, not a martial arts guy that was part of it. He sort of knows my name, kind of, but we didn't really know each other. And I kind of knew his name. And so I explained to him,
I don't know what the protocol is here, but my instructor says he got invited, he don't want to come, told me to come to show up, and here I am. And the guy goes, yeah, we can use you, stick around. So that's kind of how I started. And this was probably the first season of Kung Fu.
And this was about the last episode of season one. And so the character that I got up, Shaolin Priest flashback and we kind of training. So that's kind of, and it wasn't all day thing. I had hair then. So the first thing the guy says to me, go to makeup. I go to makeup and they says, well, you have two choices.
You can shave your head or we can put a skull cap on you. You're not shaving my head. Back then, hey, man, I needed my hair. Flat top, kind of pulled back. Anyway, so I said, no, I'll take the skull cap. 6.30 in the morning, okay, I'm in makeup. And back then it was not as good.
good of a skullcap like today. I mean you wore that thing and you were like Frankenstein. You couldn't turn your head to look sideways. You had to actually turn your shoulder. So you work into the shoulder. It was down the back. So it was very uncomfortable.
Jeremy (06:17.378)
Did they have to glue it on or is it just kind of stuck on there?
Gerald Okamura (06:20.485)
Well, the top part is just kind of pulled over. It's just, you know, and then there's glue around the edges. Okay, so now this is 6.30 in the morning. So come lunchtime, they said, okay, you guys break for lunch. Okay, so where are we going? So you stay in your wardrobe, you go to the commissary. You know, what is all this gig?
first time for me. And so I was kind of embarrassed to go to the cafeteria, you know, dressed like that. But you know, now you're at the movie lot, you get there, there's other people all in costume, wardrobe. So that wasn't no big deal. The big deal is that, okay, after lunch, again, you sit around and you wait until they get ready to use you. So all this time.
I have my skull cap on and every time I walk around, I hear, goosh, so now I got a lot of sweat in there. And that, it's filling up, it's filling up. So by the time I got ready to shoot, which was like about seven o'clock at night, you know, wardrobe comes over and it says, oh, wait a minute, we have to drain, we have to drain the perspiration.
What are you talking about? So the guy kind of pulls up a little flap here, and man, the water, the sweat just kind of poured out. He kind of crashed around, tried to get as much out, slapped that back in. So yeah, so from about 6.30 in the morning to about seven o'clock, 7.30, yeah. So that was my experience. And...
Jeremy (08:01.814)
Mmm.
Gerald Okamura (08:16.749)
I was really not prepared to stay in the business. It was like, wow, I worked. And it was just one of those real short scenes. And it's shorter by the time they cut it. So for me, man, I'm telling everybody, hey, next week Wednesday or Friday.
I'm on Kung Fu. I'm on Kung Fu. I taught everybody. And you know how that goes. You know, my aunt says to me after the show in, she says, I didn't catch you. She said, yeah, I was there very short. She goes, I must have gone and used the bathroom during...
intermission or something because I didn't see you in this. And, you know, to this day, it's almost like I'm not telling anybody if in case I do anything else, I'm not telling anybody I'm on because it could end up on the cutting floor or, you know, that kind of deal. So, but that was that was my first experience in the business. I mean, just kind of by accident.
Get in there.
Jeremy (09:45.634)
had you wanted to do acting at all or was it, did you go only because your instructor asked you to?
Gerald Okamura (09:52.029)
Only. I thought I was done. I thought I was done with the business. Not knowing you had to join the union. But then, back then, you could work on a SAG project and the TAF-Hot Galeac was in there, so it was okay for you to work. The second time you had to join. That kind of deal.
Jeremy (09:53.417)
only.
Gerald Okamura (10:20.913)
And the second time I came around, I think the next year, when I did a movie. So I did a TV. Now I'm getting involved in this movie project. And the way it happened is another fellow martial artist calls me up and he goes, hey, Jerome, I need to borrow some of your weapons for an interview.
And I said to him, I said, hey, where my weapons go, I go. And he goes, yeah, we can go together as a team and then we'll put on a presentation. And there was Killer Elite, I don't know if you remember the movie, Killer Elite with James Kahn and he was just coming off of Godfather. So it had some really big names. Sam, Pack, and Paul was the
the director. So again, here we go and you know, we do our thing. And both of us got picked, you know. So that was again my first involvement in a movie project, which is really different from shooting at a TV episode, you know. So, but that was the two things that kind of start. And then...
Again, what happened is that... Can you hear my telephone? You hear my telephone? Okay, wait, wait. Hang on, hang on. That might be my agent. Oh yeah, yeah. Hello? Yes? Yes, I'm available. Yeah. I'm just having... I got an interview. I got a podcast going. Yeah. I can make it this afternoon. Is it a big pot? Fairly big pot?
Jeremy (11:52.874)
Yeah, yeah, okay, keep going.
Gerald Okamura (12:17.585)
At this stage, I'll take anything. I'll go for the interview. Yeah. And then you negotiate whatever you can get for me for this thing. I mean, if they pick me. Yeah. Yeah, okay. I'm just talking to some guy. He's interviewing me for a podcast. Yeah. All right. I'll talk to you again. Thank you. Yeah. Bye.
Sorry Jeremy. But you know, it's important. Yeah, you know, I gotta work. You know, so...
Jeremy (12:47.874)
No, quite all right. I understand. You're an important man. Yeah, we all have to work. You like to have fun. I mean, that is very clear. When did TV and movies become fun? Was it fun at the beginning or did it take some time for it to be enjoyable?
Gerald Okamura (13:10.738)
Uh, well, let's see, how can I answer that?
Gerald Okamura (13:16.317)
When I did the movie, then I started just talking to people. The first thing they said is, I need an agent. So, okay. So, I go to this one agency that takes all the Asian actors. And the first thing that the guy tells me is that, are you willing to go to school?
to train to become an actor. And I said, there's no way, because while all of this was happening, I also was working for an aerospace company. That was my primary job. So the movie stuff was kinda like a hobby.
Gerald Okamura (14:09.709)
The way that I present myself on episodes, scenes or character is kind of from the gut. And the thing was kind of easy because most of the stuff was bad guys. You don't have to look for that. I found out the hardest thing to portray was a comedian.
You know, I've done that, and I'll talk to you about that later on. But I did a comedy thing. And if you don't get a laugh, you're dead. Right? On a comedy skit, being a bad guy, man, you know, you can screw up and you can cover that just like that, right? Just get even homie. You know, it's a-
So that's kind of the way that I approach this, not making the movie stuff as my primary job. The thing is, it's not consistent. I had a 40-hour job, so I had to keep that as the primary to feed the family. So.
Jeremy (15:28.087)
What were you doing for the aerospace company?
Gerald Okamura (15:31.853)
I started out as, you might not know, a gig and fixture building, development operations. So I really touched just about everything that Douglas, McDonald Douglas, their product. And I ended up Boeing when Boeing bought McDonald Douglas out. So I have like 44 years with them. So.
I've touched a lot of things before they actually go into production. But the jigs and fixtures, that kind of stuff, Tulandai. So what it is that fixtures that you put things together to build like a section of plane and then you send it on to like St. Louis and then, you know, one of the major
For me, that was fun was that we had a, when the F-15 was introduced, it was a kind of crash program where we were working back to back, 12-hour shifts, first and second shift, just to get all that. And there was an area of the F-15, which is the first time that I came across, there was a variable inlet.
Jeremy (16:59.971)
Hmm.
Gerald Okamura (17:00.297)
It was kind of new. But yeah, so to shoot some of this stuff, you know, I had to get kind of creative on how to get away to do the projects. So.
Jeremy (17:16.502)
But there's a lot of similarity there too, right? If I'm understanding your job, your day job, you had to figure out what you could do to support the piece that needed to be built. Kind of the same thing in acting, right? You knew where you had to take the character and it sounds like it was up to you. How do you support that and move things forward?
Gerald Okamura (17:33.674)
Learn.
Gerald Okamura (17:41.745)
Yeah, you know, you're the first guy that came across to make the similarities. Brilliant. Well, you know, now you, now you, you get in a little bit ahead of me and, uh, you know, I, I'm the guest. I, I'm supposed to be looking better than you asking the questions, you know, so it's kind of pissing me off, but that's okay.
Jeremy (17:47.67)
Thank you. You told me I had to ask good questions.
Jeremy (17:59.779)
It's true.
Gerald Okamura (18:10.889)
I'll get back with you.
Jeremy (18:11.714)
We'll fix it.
Gerald Okamura (18:17.442)
Alright, let's get going man. I like this. How about your audience? Do you guys are enjoying this or is it too boring? I said you just, you let Jeremy know and then we can maybe spice this up or we can tone it down.
Jeremy (18:37.054)
Oh, never tone it down. Always spike it up. Always, always more. Always more. So, you went and you talked to this agent and you said, no, I'm not gonna be able to go to school because you've got your day job. Did that, it would sound to me like that would mean you wouldn't get parts, but obviously you got parts. So what was it that made that work out?
Gerald Okamura (18:38.601)
There you go. I'm with you. I'm with you.
Gerald Okamura (19:03.966)
Oh, wow.
The thing is I really changed agencies just to get away from, because the Asian agency had their people established. So the new guy coming in and the new guy is not interested in training himself and getting to some college courses or whatever, you know, so I changed.
But again, the thing is, a lot of times, you know, it's kind of what you look like, right? You know how that goes. It's like, so my thing, what happened was that while I was training in the martial arts, I dislocated my shoulder. I had hair and all that stuff. Okay. So I dislocated my shoulder.
working out. So then it became the question of do I let my hair grow or do I cut it? So I elected to cut it and the way the way I approached it was I went out and got one of those clippers and you put an adapter on and had
had the wife just kind of running over my head. So, you know, say you have a number one adapter. So you just go buzzing. And that was cool. So that was a different look. Until one day when she was doing all of that, she forgot to put the adapter on. So now.
Gerald Okamura (21:00.329)
This kind of picture, she starts on this side and she runs the clippers. Nyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Jeremy (21:18.633)
Hehehehe
Gerald Okamura (21:31.357)
you would know Eric Lee, my good friend Eric Lee, martial artist, King Akata. Anyway, we're good friends, so he calls me for a project. I had those short hairs, and all he said was, hey, are you willing to shave your head? You know, what's the difference? I'm already there. So that's how I started shaving my head.
just by that project. And then I found out that going on interviews, it seemed like I was the only bald-headed guy. So that kind of, hey, kind of stood out there. I was lucky in getting cast for all these different parts and it ended up special for different reasons. You know, so.
I didn't start that early, you know, because it wasn't my gig. I was more concentrated more on training in the martial arts. But well, training starts way back, you know, like when I was 12 back in Hilo, Hawaii, where I was born and raised.
Jeremy (22:43.662)
Well, let's talk about your training.
Jeremy (22:49.698)
Yeah.
Gerald Okamura (23:00.241)
I started judo. And I've told this story, but once people, I get into the division, age division. I think it was 12 to 13, judo. Okay, so I just started. I'm wearing a white belt and I win, I win my division.
So I'm up there in a podium or whatever with the second and third guys. And I'm looking either for a medal or for a trophy. And the first place prize was an aluminum green color suitcase. Did you picture that?
Oh, man.
Jeremy (23:58.911)
For winning a judo tournament as a 12 year old, they gave you a suitcase. Who picked up the prizes?
Gerald Okamura (24:08.213)
I don't know, they must have just said, well, this division, that's it. First prize gets a green, I mean, an aluminum, and I've had that aluminum suitcase for a while, I mean, for a long while. Because then I started putting all my weapons in there whenever I go to interviews. Yeah, in fact, it may be about
Six years, seven years ago is when I finally got rid of it.
Gerald Okamura (24:47.153)
even with some weapons in it. But it was kind of, you know, like I said, I haven't told that story in many interviews. This is the second time that I, and then the thing is, the first time it was, now it's kind of funny. I mean, now I like to tell you, hey, I won my division.
Jeremy (25:03.21)
It's a pretty good story.
Gerald Okamura (25:17.709)
And they didn't give me a medal or a trophy, you know, and they gave me this green aluminum suitcase.
Jeremy (25:27.831)
It sounds like a bad joke. Right, it sounds like a bad joke from a sitcom.
Gerald Okamura (25:35.502)
But...
Jeremy (25:35.722)
Well, what are we going to give the kid who wins? Well, give him a suitcase. I don't understand the joke, right? Like it sounds like a joke that just doesn't, but truth is stranger than fiction.
Gerald Okamura (25:46.337)
Well, when it's, yeah, back then it was like, I don't want it, right? I'm here for a trophy, right? But what you gonna do? That was the only reward that I got for winning it. So, yeah, I took it home. For my dad, hey. He goes, let's see your trophy.
Gerald Okamura (26:13.129)
I said, here it is. What's that? That's a green suitcase, aluminum at that. So you're probably the only second guy that I'm sharing this with you. It's very precious. You and your audience.
Jeremy (26:31.655)
I'm thankful. That's it. What? But that, winning a suitcase obviously didn't deter you from training.
Gerald Okamura (26:42.185)
Oh, no, no. It was like, I might train on something else. They're gonna give me a green aluminum suitcase. Maybe I better train in something else other than judo. You know, that mentality. But it was a while. I played a lot of Little League, Pony League, baseball, so that's kinda.
I got away from it.
Gerald Okamura (27:17.058)
And following up in my martial arts career, I went into the army in 58.
Gerald Okamura (27:33.757)
About 6 days, 61, I got orders to go to Korea. Korea was a hardship to us, so it was only like 13 months. So while I was there...
Gerald Okamura (27:46.965)
The military post that I was assigned to had a Taekwondo class going. So that's kind of where I picked up my karate training or experience. Just kind of jumping in.
Jeremy (28:08.214)
Was it something you were passionate about or was it something you did to pass the time?
Gerald Okamura (28:12.937)
Well, the thing is, in Hawaii, they really didn't have much of...
say martial arts.
Gerald Okamura (28:30.901)
Taking Judo was at a basement of a church. And then all of a sudden they introduced Aikido. But then it became real secret. You couldn't watch the training. Number two, you had to go to the police station and register your hand. Why? I don't know. Okay, so.
because it became that secret training, you know, and at the basement of the church, you know, we trained there in judo, so we know all the little secret places where you kind of sneak. So we used to sneak around just to watch it train. So I got a little bit, you know, watching the Aikido guys, so I pick up this, pick up that kind of deal.
It's a little bit of this, a little bit of that. So the martial arts stuff kind of stayed with me.
Gerald Okamura (29:41.269)
Getting introduced to Kung Fu Sansu later on coming up here after military and all that. So this is in like 61 that I got out of the service, came up here. I went to school as an aircraft mechanic. And at that time, I got introduced to this Kung Fu Sansu. So the thing was.
still in me as a discipline more than anything else. You need something, somebody just to kind of guide you, you kind of get off the beaten path. So then when I took Kung Fu Sansu, or Sansao Kung Fu is what they also call it, it seemed like
everything was there. And for me anyway, I didn't really have to go search out other martial arts. I'm not saying the good, the bad, it was different. Sometimes I go visit friends that are instructors and I talk with them.
I pick up everything. And one of the things that my instructor told me when I was training in Kung Fu Sansu, he tells me, I want you to be a garbage disposal.
If you take in everything, what you don't want, you grind it and drain it.
Jeremy (31:36.11)
It's a great metaphor for that. I like that.
Gerald Okamura (31:37.817)
So my thing is yes, because what's good for me might not be good for you, might not be good for the next guy. You know, you pick and choose. I thought there was a fulfilling type of concept, you know, where I didn't have to go. Because he had everything. He had everything in there.
Jeremy (32:03.146)
You've mentioned your weapons a few times. I think you even said, you said to somebody, where my weapons go, I go. So obviously your weapons were something important to you. You even kept them in the suitcase, you said. What was it about weapons training that appealed to you so much? And did you know you wanted to train in weapons before you started training weapons?
Gerald Okamura (32:29.841)
Well, the concept behind weapons and weapons training, weapons, the uses of weapons, you know, the one thing that my instructor brainwashed me was that, hey, the weapon is an extension of you. So that means.
You can grab a sword, but once you grab the sword, you can't use the same hand to grab something else. So be careful on what weapon and how you use it.
So then for me it became more of a discipline finding what you can do with it more than and then what the limitations are. You know sometimes, yeah, you have a sword but you do have limitations because you have to hold the handle. Once you hold the handle, that hand can't grab anything so you have to rely on the blade.
Gerald Okamura (33:43.797)
what the blade can do for you in place of your hand.
So that kind of philosophy, that kind of training is more mental than physical. But you need to know all the aspects of what I call a toy. The toy needs to be in front of you with the pluses and the minuses. For me, anyway, that's...
That's the way I took in everything. But the mystery of the ninjitsu art was, hey, I can hide stuff and I can use it when I need it. So that mystique kind of kept me interested in.
Jeremy (34:18.583)
Yeah.
Gerald Okamura (34:38.977)
But there was always this, you know, if you're, you know like a ninja, okay, you have stars. Okay, so in a movie, the shooter cane is made with good metal points and all that, look fancy, real thick. Okay, you're throwing it away. Even if you throw it to your enemy, you kill the enemy.
But if you want it, you gotta go retrieve it.
No, in reality, you would think that they would get, and they didn't have that much availability of metal, but all this rusty stuff, that was the metal. I mean, that was the metal that they used for their weapons, right? I got a bunch of rusty old anything. I don't care what shape it is. If I throw it at you for a distraction, I'm not going to pick it up.
Jeremy (35:29.358)
cheap stuff.
Gerald Okamura (35:42.097)
You know, I'm gonna find another hut that has more of those rusty...
objects, metal, whatever. So the mentality is for me, I play with that kind of idea and concept, you know, pluses and minuses, pluses and minuses, yin and yang. So you kind of play with that. But then at the same time, you get caught in, hey, what about if you had this kind of
Jeremy (35:50.924)
Makes sense?
Gerald Okamura (36:20.445)
Hey, what if you have this kind of weapon? And then...
kind of jumping ahead of your question. Then it's like the movie comes in. Huh? Oh, now wait. Hey, hey, hey. You know, that opens a lot of doors, opens a lot of minds, lot of eyes. And you go, hey, okay, I throw the star, but what if it's attached to a chain? I can pull it back to me after I use it, right?
You know, things like that, you know, you kind of have to think about things like that when you talk about weapons. You know, right off the bat, they say, don't throw your weapons away. Pretend you see all the ninja guys, man, they're throwing stuff, you know, daggers, whatever, and you never see them go and pick it up.
You know, they take off. That's a chance, the distraction that they have, just to escape. So they're comfortable with that. So, you know, weapons can go, boy, you start on weapons with me. It's like, you know, the yin and the yang just kind of grasp you with like.
which direction you want to go, you know? It's like, you know? Well, see, at the same kind of question later on, you're going to ask me, which is my favorite movie? I know you're going to ask me.
Jeremy (37:52.89)
I can tell.
Jeremy (37:57.206)
Do you have a favorite weapon?
Jeremy (38:11.474)
I usually don't ask that. I usually don't. I used to when I was a novice interviewer.
Gerald Okamura (38:12.717)
Oh, thank you. Thank you. You know what? You usually don't, but I know you now. You are going to ask.
Jeremy (38:25.023)
I am now.
Gerald Okamura (38:25.789)
Yeah, see, I knew that. Anyway, we'll get to it.
Jeremy (38:29.95)
Actually, I'm going to ask you who your least favorite director was.
Gerald Okamura (38:34.013)
Oh, I do have a name. I do have a name. I did a TV series, A Man Called Sloan with Robert Conrad. Robert Conrad was my big hero when he did Wild West. You remember that? All the, like a ninja, right?
Jeremy (38:35.66)
Get you in trouble
Gerald Okamura (39:03.913)
a lot of imagery. He was my big hero. And then I had a chance to work on a new project that they were developing called A Man Called Sloan. So Conrad was in it. Mr. Conrad, Robert Conrad. And I got a chance to do some stunts on it. And I went, this is it. I'm gonna, I'm gonna finally meet.
Jeremy (39:04.354)
Yeah.
Gerald Okamura (39:33.88)
hero.
Gerald Okamura (39:37.425)
Now, you can delete whatever I say, cause this guy is a prick.
Jeremy (39:44.778)
I have a feeling I know where this is going.
Jeremy (39:50.53)
Hehehehe
Gerald Okamura (39:53.265)
About the time I was doing the TV, he was doing that commercial with the battery and says, I dare you. No, you might be too young for that. Yeah. He had that energized battery on there and his thing is, I dare you knock it off. Oh man, I would have bought, I would have bought a...
Jeremy (40:06.934)
Yeah, I don't... I think that's before me.
Gerald Okamura (40:21.409)
dozen of them suckers and He wasn't the director. He was the main actor They had a female director and That guy actually took over the female director
Gerald Okamura (40:42.613)
I don't want to say job, but when we were shooting the scene, he was the one that was calling the shots. And I go, wait a minute, you're the actor. Why are you directing? There is a director. So now that's turning around 180 degrees, which is, which is the best director that I work with.
Gerald Okamura (41:13.214)
Okay, so now everything comes down to big trouble.
Gerald Okamura (41:20.565)
For me, it seems like it's the most iconic project that I worked on.
Jeremy (41:27.126)
I think it's the one people most know you from.
Gerald Okamura (41:29.561)
Right, right. And it was Carpenter that created that character that I used in the project.
Gerald Okamura (41:45.981)
It was one of those where cattle call audition, everybody goes there. I take one of my students, I throw him around, but I also brought some of my weapons that I created, you know, for the movie.
Jeremy (42:01.847)
in the suitcase.
Did you bring the weapons in the suitcase?
Gerald Okamura (42:07.513)
in the suitcase, in the attache case, in a foot locker. I'm telling you, those kind of stuff, I used to take everything. Foot locker, suitcase, attache case, anything I could, just in case, just in case.
Jeremy (42:24.523)
I believe it.
Gerald Okamura (42:30.945)
So anyway, audition and all that, and they don't tell you right off the bat if you get it. They say, thank you, you go home. That afternoon I get a call, they say, and I know the stunt coordinator, and they say, hey, we wanna use you on this project. Oh, okay. Okay, tomorrow you go down 20th century, go to prop shop.
and they'll give you your weapons for this project. So I go there and it's kind of like, kind of like a, like a Bentham Chicken. Man, you know, my chest is out there because I got picked, right? And on top of all of this, he tells me, I'm leaving your name at the gate so you can drive on the lot. Ho ho, hoi, hey. You know?
Jeremy (43:23.907)
Hmm.
Gerald Okamura (43:27.249)
I'm a movie star now, right? I can drive on the lot. So anyway, I drive on the next morning and I go there and I go to a prop shop and I go to, I'm Gerald Okumura. I go, oh yeah, we know you. He goes, okay, just wait here, we'll bring you. And the guy comes out and he's holding this two gold plated pearl handle six-shooter.
Jeremy (43:29.163)
Yeah!
Gerald Okamura (43:57.069)
And he goes, this is what John wants you to have for your character. And I went, I don't care. I'm on the project, right? You can give me a toothpick. I'm still happy. Right? It's like, then the other guy comes out and he brings the holster and just so happy, double holsters and just so happens.
It fits me perfect. So I put the holster on, I put the guns in, I'm standing there, you know. And I'm really not a gunman.
Gerald Okamura (44:40.533)
then he says, oh, wait a minute, John wants you to have these. And the guy comes out with those, Ted Valerius.
But the big deal is that the big joke in fact, them sucking bullets are like, you know, it doesn't fit in the six shooter. I mean, the six shooter's not, you know. And I said, okay, okay. So that was the kind of joke. I don't know if a lot of people caught on right away, I think, when it got shown at the theater. I don't think they kind of caught the d***.
joke. But all the repeats and all that everybody, you know, like now with Facebook and stuff, they said, you know, I bet you were happy that you didn't have to reload your six-shooters with those bullets. It never fits in the six-shooters. You know, that kind of joking kind of, you know,
not to interrupt you. I know you were going to ask me a really nice question. Yeah, it's like, okay. And so I said, okay, this is my character. What I didn't know was that, and I found out later, big trouble in Little China was supposed to be a Western.
Jeremy (45:54.506)
I did, there was something I wanted to ask you, but keep going.
Gerald Okamura (46:14.833)
Huh? You didn't know that? Used to you? Yeah. So later on I'm taking shit. I must have been the only western guy, right? Six shooters. I mean they had guns, rifles and all that but they were all dressed in, I mean I was dressed in the wing comb, the black pants and the gi, but I had those all through the whole shoot. I had the six shooters on me with the band of herds.
Jeremy (46:17.023)
I didn't know that.
Gerald Okamura (46:44.969)
I was just kind of guessing that I was the token Western guy, you know. But yes, that would be one for a reason would be one of the major. And then John, talking about directors, is one of two directors in all the times that I worked with all the different projects.
know me by my first name.
Gerald Okamura (47:18.554)
Sam Packinpah would be the other of the two. Those two guys will call me by my name. The other guys they wouldn't know me. Hey, hey, hey. Yeah. But man, John Carpenter and Sam Packinpah, I cannot go wrong. Can't go wrong.
Jeremy (47:41.838)
It says a lot, I imagine, about the impression you made, but also the kind of people they were.
Gerald Okamura (47:48.417)
Could be, could be, you know, it's like, and that's why I say, you know, I know other friends of mine started way before me, you know, stunts and all that stuff. But it seemed like some of the projects that I got attached to or participated in, there's always something that's happening that, you know, I can share with.
people like you on interviews and stuff, where it's kind of funny. For me, it's really funny. But behind the scenes kind of stories, to me, is the most enjoyable. Whether it's good or bad, whether it's good or bad. Some of it is bad, you know what I mean? Some of it is really negative, but what are you gonna do, right? So for me, I...
I kind of use it as compensation, you know? And they say, no, hey, I'm the bad guy. I don't have any bad stories.
Jeremy (48:50.166)
Do you have any of those bad stories that you want to share?
Jeremy (49:02.602)
No, but of other people. Other people, Bats. Because I'm sure you have none yourself.
Gerald Okamura (49:09.187)
I don't bother with other people. I concentrate about me and only me.
But don't get sidetracked with other people. This is my inner world. And I expect you to be on the up and up and just concentrate your effort only at me.
Jeremy (49:32.514)
Yes, sir.
Gerald Okamura (49:33.385)
Yeah. Thank you. Okay.
Jeremy (49:37.385)
When, huh?
Gerald Okamura (49:43.039)
Oh, I'm enjoying this, Jeremy.
Jeremy (49:43.51)
When I'm glad, I am too. When I talk to artists, whether it's actors, musicians, painters, sometimes when they're in the middle of putting something together, writers, they know that there's something that's gonna be good there. It's not even done and they know that it's going to be good.
Was there any hint of that? Because Big Trouble in Little China, while maybe not the biggest commercial success, has a really strong cult following. People love that film. Did you know while you were on set that it was going to be that kind of movie? No.
Gerald Okamura (50:24.075)
Yeah.
Gerald Okamura (50:29.061)
No, because if you remember the theatrical release was a bomb. A bomb. Yeah, it just never went anywhere. One of the problems was the Asian people that gave the okay. This is the funny part. The premier was.
Jeremy (50:37.814)
That's what I thought I remembered. I didn't want to commit to that, but I didn't remember it.
Gerald Okamura (50:58.625)
big trouble was on the 20th century lot. Hundred dollar plate dinner and premiere that they were gonna donate the proceeds to Chinese community, Asian community.
Gerald Okamura (51:17.941)
So they take the money, thank you, and then they start shooting down the project, from what I heard, from what I heard. And even I was hearing a story about that's why John didn't want to do it. At that time, John didn't know. Now, I could be wrong. This might what I heard, that he didn't want to do number two. Yeah, he was having so...
was getting so much flack. And to me, you know, I don't know, because I worked the project, it was like, hey, let's do number two kind of deal. You know, I didn't see anything negative about the whole thing. I felt that it was an entertainment, you know, it's not an Oscar kind of, but it was an entertaining type of. And then what happened when they went.
VHS and all that stuff. No, it's a cult. We already celebrated 35 years two years ago. 35 years. The other thing that's nice for me is that my character is as alive as the 35 years.
Gerald Okamura (52:42.629)
For some reason, they like to use the character, you know, cartoonish, to whatever they want, you know.
Jeremy (52:54.966)
Because it's distinctive. I mean, no one looks like you in that movie.
Gerald Okamura (53:02.149)
Well, thank you. I know you're lying, but thank you.
Jeremy (53:06.487)
Hahaha
Gerald Okamura (53:09.697)
To add to that, on the 35th anniversary that year, prior to that, we contacted a brewing company in Houston, Texas, you know, where they have the draft beers where you get like 15 different flavors. Draft beer, you know, we got them to do one of me. So I do have my own beer, you know, limited run.
Jeremy (53:37.795)
Have your.
Gerald Okamura (53:38.933)
and with my face on it and that kind of deal. Yeah, so you know, yeah. The only trouble is I can't get the beer out of there, you know, the laws are, I'm not really sure, but I couldn't get them legally to send it to me.
Jeremy (53:44.695)
Oh, that's great.
Jeremy (54:02.998)
Yeah. Well, you got to go. You should have a special night and you can serve beer to people. I mean, they love that. I'd go.
Gerald Okamura (54:07.473)
Well, see... You know, it's like... You know, it's uh...
Gerald Okamura (54:16.235)
I might have one to show you, you know?
Jeremy (54:19.046)
Yeah, I love it. I love it. To the audience, if you're listening and not watching, you're missing out, right?
Gerald Okamura (54:27.741)
telling you I'm gonna look after those guys I'm going after those guys you just tell me which guy is not clicking in you must have any knowledge you got all electronic tech all the electronic information give me those names that the guys are not tuning in yeah we'll go after but this is this is one of them
Jeremy (54:32.311)
You should.
Jeremy (54:36.834)
I'll send you a list.
Jeremy (54:52.123)
I will, I will, I will let you know. Cause I'll get emails from people saying, oh, yeah.
Gerald Okamura (54:56.689)
And then I think about the year after that, another company made another one for me. So I got two beers. The only trouble is, is that it's limited and I can't get it here. Now, why do I have one here? You know, like everything else, you know, you get people that very creative.
Gerald Okamura (55:26.537)
I got some, there are ways, yes. And funny, but you know, with social media, Facebook and all that, you know, there's other people like in the UK.
Jeremy (55:26.85)
There are ways.
Gerald Okamura (55:41.753)
one of the places. This is, I know you can't send, you can't send or sell me a beer, you know. But if you drink the beer, save the can, I'm willing to buy the can. As a collectible, right? Now it becomes a collectible. So again, talking about this character, man, it's like 37 years, 38 years. No, that sucker guy, he's still alive.
Jeremy (55:57.89)
Yeah, for sure.
Gerald Okamura (56:11.113)
He's still shooting six shooters. He hasn't reloaded that sucker in 35 years. So again, that's a blessing, you know. But again, it's like, yes, it's one of the favorites, but, you know, for a different reason. So there's others, you know, different reasons. Some of them.
Jeremy (56:38.474)
What are some of the others that stand out for you as distinctive roles that you enjoyed putting together?
Gerald Okamura (56:45.787)
Well, the thing is, showdown in Little Tokyo. The only reason for that was I worked with Brandon Lee.
So that is special. Little small independent movie, Cage 2, Cage 2, Furegno was the lead.
But Bruce Lee's daughter Shannon worked on that. So that little bit of that is special. You know, so there's, and then.
this one movie when Police Academy was doing all the movie, we did one called Ninja Academy. So that, so now I'm the big sensei, they come to my school and I got to train them, all the different kind of people. So again, that had special meaning for me. So it's real hard, you know,
just to kind of pick. Then we get into say like Andy Sedaris, I don't know if you know Andy Sedaris. He had a project like 10 projects, but he was using Penthouse and Playboy samples. So a lot of TNA, a lot of explosion, that kind of deal also. And that had its own audience, because I remember.
Gerald Okamura (58:26.585)
After he passed away, the UK had a Andy Sedaris week, so they had the whole week. You know, each day had one of his movies kind of deal. I was privileged enough to work on four of his. The first one, I was just a bad guy. And then the other three, I actually was one of the principal players.
to the point of, and this ain't good now.
The whole concept with this group of girls and guys was like a private...
investigation group, you know, not a government group, but anyway. Julie Strain, she was 83 Penn of the Year for Penn House, and a real tall six footer. She passed away, so rest or so. But I got a call for that project from...
Mrs. Severus, she tells me, we're looking for a real bad, and not the good kind of bad, but the bad bad. Elvis, Elvis impersonator.
Gerald Okamura (59:56.329)
I said, okay, if you're looking for a bad, bad album, simple, I can do it. She goes, good, we want you in this thing. And then a couple of weeks later, she goes, we might want you to lip sync. And I says, that's getting to be work. No, I gotta do some work. Then it was like,
You're a martial artist, he's a martial artist. Maybe we can get some moves while you sing it. So now it became work. But the funny thing is we went down to...
Gerald Okamura (01:00:43.478)
Three-fourth Louisiana to shoot this thing and at that time they had those steamboat casinos
familiar with. They're in the river but it's a paddle boat that they use as a casino. Anyway, we go there and then the lounge. Well before that we went to Vegas. I'm the lounge show in Vegas. The marquees and it was uh
Jeremy (01:00:59.818)
I used to work on a paddleboat, wasn't a casino, but I worked on one.
Gerald Okamura (01:01:23.669)
Elvis Fu was my name for that. My character name was Fujiyama, I think. But everybody used to call me Fu. And then just so happened that my gig was an Elvis impersonator. So they made me a white jumpsuit and all that. I'm on that stage and doing the thing.
You familiar with Elvis's performance? Kinda. You know, after he sings, he pulls out his handkerchief, wipes the sweat off his face, throws the handkerchief to the audience. Eh? All right. My gig on that, or my take on it, I do all that stuff, I'm done. Oh, I do my little warm-up, little twitch of the nose.
And then I pull out my silk blue handkerchief. I'm wiping myself. There's two people in the audience, two females. So I wipe my face. I look around and oh, I throw the handkerchief to her. She catches it. So I'm there like that. She throws the handkerchief back to me.
Gerald Okamura (01:02:53.444)
In a way, what, what? Just to ad lib all of this stuff.
So again, you know, projects like that, I had the luxury of just ad-libbing some stuff. So, you know, sometimes working the low budget stuff is fun. You know, the main stuff, everything is union. So, yeah. So like I said, it's a lot of good stuff, bad stuff, you know.
Jeremy (01:03:02.464)
love it.
Jeremy (01:03:15.826)
It sounds like it.
Gerald Okamura (01:03:30.313)
But it's been a fun ride.
Jeremy (01:03:35.551)
What? It's clear what your martial arts brought to your acting. But did you bring anything from your acting back into your martial arts?
Gerald Okamura (01:03:49.726)
I think for me the biggest would have been discipline. Seems like both of them needed discipline in one way or the other.
Gerald Okamura (01:04:05.697)
The other thing going back and forth on those two things would be know when to quit, know when to save.
Gerald Okamura (01:04:20.657)
If you can't do it, don't tell somebody that you can. What I'm talking about is the stunts. You know, if you can't do it, then not. But you know, all the fighting and stuff to me, it was kind of, uh,
Gerald Okamura (01:04:39.745)
For me, the discipline was there. The thing that I had to remind myself always, and one of the actors, in fact, Robert Wagner was the one that always said that, you know, he appreciates the stunt guys for making him look good. And so that stuck in my, in the back of my mind that kind of reminds me and says, make the actor look good. Don't.
hit the actor. That was one of the main things. You hit the actor, you're out. Yeah, but they can hit you accidentally. And that has happened. I got nailed by Charlie Sheehan when I was doing Hot Shot Spot 2. I mean, he nailed me with a back fist to the jaw. Oh yeah, bang, I went, woo.
Jeremy (01:05:30.318)
Mm-hmm.
Gerald Okamura (01:05:37.297)
And the funny thing was that we were in a building with rafters. It must have had like about 400 extras in there. Remember the Rambo thing when Rambo went and fought in the Thailand? And they simulated that, so this is the spoof of it. So when Charlie actually nailed me, you know, they didn't have a referee then, but for this thing, they had a referee.
Jeremy (01:05:51.21)
Yeah.
Gerald Okamura (01:06:05.257)
When Charlie nailed me.
Gerald Okamura (01:06:10.149)
Charlie actually was the first guy that came to me. As soon as the director says cut, Charlie came and checked on me to see if I was okay. But the group, that group started to chant. He says, kill the bastard, kill the bastard. They were yelling at Charlie, kill, they were yelling at me to kill Charlie. Man, they were like, boom, boom. So.
The funny part is usually you shoot one good one and they'll shoot a second for safety. They call it safety, just in case. And the director says, no, that's it. Moving on to the only shot one. But that wasn't, yeah, it nailed me good, man. But again, it's little things like that makes the project special for me anyway.
Jeremy (01:06:56.362)
good scene. It's a good scene.
Gerald Okamura (01:07:07.557)
So there's a lot of little things that whenever I get interviewed, oh yeah, you remind me of those incidents and I get a chance to talk about it and I enjoy it. And again, it's almost like I need to make you enjoy the interview as well as your people.
That's the whole name of the game. I don't care what I do personally, but if I can share some of the funny things behind the scenes, I feel that's a good interview. Just to share. Yeah.
Jeremy (01:07:56.694)
When everybody has a good time, everything works better. Whether it's, you know, I mean, for me, it's classes. When I teach, I try to make sure my students have fun and at the same time I have fun. If we all have fun, everybody gets more out of it.
Gerald Okamura (01:08:11.583)
That's the key word. Only three letters in it, but boy, it's big. That word is big, very big, for a whole lot of reasons. Fun, I mean, that's key.
Jeremy (01:08:31.438)
Do you have any roles upcoming?
Gerald Okamura (01:08:34.922)
You know how this old body is, you know. I'm 82 right now. In November, I'll be 83.
The body is shot. But I can share with you, this is a secret ambition of mine. So I'm gonna kind of whisper it to you. At my age, in my physical condition, I am looking for a romantic leave.
Jeremy (01:09:19.054)
We'll see what we can do.
Gerald Okamura (01:09:20.893)
Yeah, you can do. You got connections.
Jeremy (01:09:25.974)
Well, I know it depends on what you're looking for. You should send me an email with your criteria and we'll put it out to our audience.
Gerald Okamura (01:09:33.977)
Hey, any romantic lead is okay with me.
Gerald Okamura (01:09:41.681)
I can still grunt. Can't do anything more but grunt.
Jeremy (01:09:55.522)
This has been a lot of fun. I really, really appreciate you coming on and spending some time with me.
Gerald Okamura (01:09:58.71)
Oh, like I said, it's, you know, yeah, it seems like, you know, just talking story with you is like, you know, we go from here, we go from there. There's no timeline, you know, it's not like from this day to this day. I mean, we go from here, we go from, we go back to there.
Jeremy (01:10:20.63)
You know why I do it that way? Because I've learned this the hard way. If you're ever really bored and you want something to help you fall asleep, go back and listen to some of the first episodes that I did. And I had questions, and I would ask the question and the guest would answer the question.
Gerald Okamura (01:10:36.391)
All right.
Jeremy (01:10:43.542)
And then I'd ask the next question. And what I found the hard way was I was making it about me and not about the guest. And so now what I do is I figure if I keep you talking, you're probably gonna talk about things you wanna talk about. So my job is just to keep you talking. So you keep saying things that you're passionate about talking about, and then everybody has a better time.
Gerald Okamura (01:10:53.566)
Oh.
Gerald Okamura (01:11:13.109)
good philosophy. You know, like two weeks ago I got this request for an interview. So the very first, and that's the first time anybody asked me that, and today when I told you about how old I am and all, this guy, first question on the list is like, nowadays.
How old are you? So somebody told me, are you going to answer that?
Where I'm at right now, I said, I don't care. I mean, I never did care how old I am. Some people are very touchy on that. I mean, so if I was 50, I'll tell them I'm 50. So this one here, I just said, well, right now today, and I gave them the date a couple weeks ago, and I said, yeah, I'm 82. But if you wait until November of this year, I'll be 83.
Jeremy (01:12:22.39)
It's the thing we have the least control over.
Gerald Okamura (01:12:22.449)
on the, you know, simple as that, you know. So, you know, at first I thought it was kind of a big deal question because I'd never been asked that before. And then after a while I go, ah, you know, so who cares? I'm 82, 83. It's just that my acting days or stunt days are kind of limited.
And I think it's between the martial arts stuff and you get your aches and pains and you get old and all that kind of deal. But yeah, but I still like to kind of share stories. So yeah, I call that talk story. I talk story with today, I talk story just, so every once in a while you grow up.
Jeremy (01:13:20.195)
I love stories.
Gerald Okamura (01:13:21.449)
you throw in a particular question, yeah, I'll answer it, you know, that kind of deal, so yeah. So it's a fun concept for an interview, I think. It's like, you know.
Jeremy (01:13:36.962)
Are there any stories, listen to the whole question, are there any stories that we missed that you want to share? I wanna make sure that we don't end before you, if there's something you're holding on to, you wanna leave us.
Gerald Okamura (01:13:48.185)
No, not so much a story, but again, it's an incident that happened when we were shooting Ninja Academy. I had this real big fight toward the end, you know, with the rich school compared to my old-style school, Ninja school. And so we...
We have a conflict there. I mean, a big fight toward the end. So while we're in the process of shooting all that, toward the end of the sequence, I had this guy thrown over log, he's leaning over log. So I grab his hair and then I give him a, you know, a palm to the back of his head. Yeah, you know. So I'm doing that about.
Gerald Okamura (01:14:49.653)
five times, but after the third time, I'm getting ready to hit him and the director yells, Cut, cut, and he's yelling, cut, cut. I'm in the middle of this fight. I'm hyped now, you know? And then he calls cut, he walks from his chair to had a group of the good and bad guys in ninja outfits.
Okay, so he walks to the group, he goes straight to this one guy. Okay, this guy has his glasses on.
Yeah, you're way ahead of me. He goes up to him and goes nose to nose and he goes, ninjas don't wear glasses.
Gerald Okamura (01:15:49.441)
And that's a body of mine. That's a body of mine, the guy that had the glasses on. And after the scene, he says, don't call me for any kind of work. I'm not working with you no more. He said, that's it. And then he had to add, you ate warm food under a tent because it was kind of raining that one day. And he says,
You feed me box lunch. I got a sandwich, I got an apple, I got a bag of chips and a can of soda. I'm not going to work with you anymore, so don't call me. In the name of God.
Gerald Okamura (01:16:37.593)
I had to throw that in. I mean, you know, like everything else, you know, the background people is the background people.
So if you know the concept of shooting a movie and stuff like that, there's this half of it here and half of it there, kind of even on a low budget film. But yeah, that's the kind of story that...
Gerald Okamura (01:17:05.545)
I'm hoping that the audience is sharp enough to kind of realize what is happening behind the scenes, doing the shoot. Things like that can happen. For me, it did happen. I had fun repeating that. I mean, it's like, come on. I'm halfway there finishing my fight scene. And this guy is like...
Not this happening, he just had his glasses on. What the hell, man?
Jeremy (01:17:42.783)
love it.
Gerald Okamura (01:17:43.161)
So that's kind of some of the stuff, you know. And if we come into the end, you know, it's really what I want to say is, number one, to thank you and Andy, or Andrew, I take that back, for thinking of me and inviting me to be part of your project.
Jeremy (01:18:09.646)
Thank you.
Gerald Okamura (01:18:10.297)
Second is that I hope it's enough of entertainment for your people.
Gerald Okamura (01:18:26.141)
Yeah, what happened? You cut me off.
Jeremy (01:18:29.854)
I didn't. I didn't cut you off. No, the internet does things sometimes. So the recording, that's why we'd use this offer as the recording software handled all that.
Gerald Okamura (01:18:34.03)
No, no, I know you. I know you guys on that end of the world. I know you guys at the end of the world. You guys pulling some crap here. You're cutting me off. I know that. I know that. This time change. Hey, you guys better watch it because I'm going to be on the plane. The next plane. I'm gonna come see you guys.
Jeremy (01:18:57.386)
I hope you do. Come see us for, when's your birthday? We have a big event in November. You should come see us.
Gerald Okamura (01:19:03.277)
Uh, no travel for me. No travel for me. Uh, yeah. I, you know, like even I haven't been back to Hawaii. That's about a five hour trip on a plane. Uh, I don't know if I can sit for five hours, you know, that kind of deal. But, you know, uh, getting back to brass tacks. I mean, really, uh, I've enjoyed this, uh, interview.
You know, and usually what I tell the people that are interviewing me, you know, if it's fun enough and if you want to do it again and your audience requests, because I'm going to go on and request that you do another interview, you know, you know how I can do it like 25 times and vote. So I'm going to vote for myself that you're working for another.
Jeremy (01:19:35.47)
Then I did my job.
Gerald Okamura (01:20:03.145)
This is just a joke. Now don't take me serious. Well, half way serious. Just don't take me serious all the way. Just kind of halfway. But again, it's like I've enjoyed it. Like I said, I just saw interviews, especially audience. Those are the people, because I was.
Jeremy (01:20:06.478)
We'll do a safety tape.
Jeremy (01:20:19.086)
Thank you.
Gerald Okamura (01:20:30.441)
I was told a long time ago by David Hasselhoff, keep your fans happy, you know, give them signed autograph and all that kind of stuff, sign the pictures, but they are the only ones that can keep you there. That's David Hasselhoff when I did Knight Rider. So, you know, it's always like, yes, you might laugh at some of my jokes and stuff, but you know, I always...
have to think about your audience. And are they laughing with you and me? Or are they laughing at me, which is gonna piss me off? You can laugh with me, but not at me? Now get that straight now. You can laugh with me, but not at me. That's my philosophy.
Gerald Okamura (01:21:28.537)
Thank you