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I didn’t want to focus too much on Lost because it’s over and I know you get a lot of
questions about it… so let’s get it over with. At the time, did you know that your character
would be seen in more than just the training videos from the second season?
[laughs] No, I didn’t – it wasn’t supposed to be more than that one orientation film.
It turned out that I did it and a couple months later they called and said they needed to do a couple more, and then
they kept calling and I was glad to do it. It turned out to be a heck of a thing.
 At what point did you find out that your character would actually be seen on the island?
I didn’t know until, they don’t really tell you until you get the script – pretty
much the day before or the night before. So the fifth season, I had a little more to do because they were
able to focus a little bit more on the character, but even then I didn’t have an idea what it was going to be about
– I was very pleasantly surprised.
No kidding, especially since you had a chance to film in Hawaii.
I know, I miss my little trips to Hawaii. [laughs]
What is it like after Lost, are you finding it hard to lose the Lost title since it
was such a big show?
Not
really, while it was going on – even now – it’s getting less and less – because it was such a phenomenon,
people recognize me in the grocery stores and a lot of people come up to me and say they loved the show. It’s
just great to meet fans, and fans of Lost are either – if you are a fan of Lost, you are pretty much a true
avid fan who knows every detail about what’s happened here and there. People would ask questions,
and I’d say “Well, I think… but I’m not sure”… I think they knew more about it than
I knew.
 One thing I noticed online was that there was actually a bobble-head made for your character, have you seen that?
Yes, they did come out with a bobble-head of one of the many different names
that Dr. Chang came up with. Yeah, it’s very funny; somebody sent me a couple of them and I’ve
given a couple of them to people – and it’s a blast. It’s not every day that you get
a bobble-head made. [laughs]
 Earlier in your career you did one of my favorite roles, you were Shredder [in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret
of the Ooze]. How did that come about?
Yeah, well… it just… they did the first movie, which The Shredder was played by my friend James Saito, and
then they did the sequel and I’m not sure – I think – something happened but they casting the movie to replace
him. The casting call went out, my agent sent me in to audition and I was lucky enough to get the part
– and I was like “Wow, this is great”. I started doing a lot of – I read comic
books a lot, not as much as I used to, but I did read the comics that came out. As soon as I got the part
I went out and got as many as I could find, and I just started reading them and seeing what it was all about.
I was a little disappointed in the second one that I didn’t get to do too much action stuff, I guess they decided…
I think one of the things they told me was they wanted to tone the violence.
Yeah, it was a little more childish than the first one was.
Yeah, so basically I just kind of sit around wearing that cape… [laughs]
Do you know martial arts at all, would you have been able to do some of the moves?
I know some basic stuff, I’ve studied martial arts for a long time,
I’ve taught it too – I’m not anywhere near what some of those guys can do. Every time
I do something I usually get an extra… or double. Man, these guys… some of the stuff that
they do… wow [laughs] I can’t even begin to get to that point. It would have been fun to do,
I’ve done some martial arts in other stuff and it’s always fun to do some action.
Would it have been pretty easy in that suit? It seemed like it might have been a
little bulky on you.
No, you know… the suit
wasn’t… it was ok, it was that helmet. Because I thought it was going to be like a plastic
thing, but it was really made of metal, and it was big and it was heavy. Once you put it on – I guess
it was like those knights and the helmets – where you really can’t move your head – I wouldn’t have
been able to do too much wearing that helmet. [laughs]
And from what I remember, you weren’t seen that much without the helmet… were you?
Right, right. I spent like an hour every day just in the
morning in makeup because they’d put all of these scars on my face... and this and that… but you don’t
really see too much of it because once you put the helmet on you see through the little slits here and there, but basically
you just see the eyes.
Did you know
that the Turtles were such a big franchise when you took on the role?
I saw the first movie and thought they did – and they didn’t have a big budget – and
I thought they did a clever job with the turtles, and I didn’t realize that they were that popular. I
guess not just the movies, but the show.
And I would never have
thought that the turtles would still be around today with a new TV show and new animated movies.
Yeah, right. I guess each generation makes a new discovery.
Just last year I was in an audition waiting – this guy walks by and I think “Wow, he looks familiar”
– and it turned out to be one of the turtles. [laughs] “Wow man, I haven’t seen you in
years”.
You mentioned being
a big fan of comic books, what are some of your favorites?
When I was younger, I think I read mostly Marvel… the only DC stuff I kind of read was Batman, and that was pretty
much it. And then when I was still kind of reading it – I started reading the Superman stuff.
Marvel was: The Avengers and Spider-man.
I wanted to talk a little
bit about your very first acting job… “GI Joe”.
Oh yeah, that’s right.
What was that like? Do you remember much about it?
Yeah, that was another lucky job for me – because they were – they introduced that character
“Quick Kick” and each one had a shtick that they did and Quick Kick’s thing was bad impressions…
they told me that he was a former Hollywood stuntman [laughs] and so I went in when I auditioned and did a really bad impression
of John Wayne and whoever else I could think of. They called the next day and said I had the job.
The voice-over world is very – there was a small group of people that did it, they’re just incredibly talented
voice-over actors. They do all – when you watch the cartoons on Saturday morning – most of
them do all of them – so many characters. I was like this kid, like a fish out of water – I
was in awe listening to these guys. When it was my turn to go into the mic and do my stuff – getting
through it was a great day. [laughs]
Yeah, I’ve
noticed that you didn’t really do much voice-over work since then.
Yeah, I did some video games… and then one or two scenes here or there, but voice-over work was
not my thing. Those guys are amazing and they could do it in their sleep, it’s very hard to break
into.
You mentioned that you had to do bad impressions
for your character – was there ever a time when you did too good of a job impersonating someone and they told you to
go back to make it sound worse?
No… [laughs] no…
and thank God that it wasn’t all of the time… once every few episodes in the midst of fighting he’d throw
in a line here or there… which was about my speed. [laughs] Thank God for that.
What are you working on next?
Right now I’m not really doing anything. After Lost I’ve done
guest-star work on a couple of TV shows, I have one that I think is starting this month on Fox… it’s called The
Chicago Code. It’s a cop show that stars Jennifer Beals. I think I did
the third episode, and again I play the bad guy. Which is fine with me, but I’m not sure why that’s
most of the stuff that I do… it’s a lot of fun. Maybe I just come off as a bad guy, I’m
not sure. [laughs] Anyways, I did that and another new show called Franklin & Bash – it’s going to
be on TNT – it’s about a law firm. But yeah, that’s about it – just waiting for
the next job.
What do you do when you’re not acting?
Well, mostly right now I’m chasing my five year old daughter full time.
At night you say “Wow, I’m so tired, I don’t know if I did anything today…” [laughs]
So that’s been the last few years. And to relax I used to… like I said… teach martial
arts a little bit, but I really don’t have time now. My one other hobby right now is archery, which
I try to go to the range every Saturday for a couple of hours. It’s surprisingly addictive –
I’ve been doing it for about a year, and once I started it was like crack… I was going through withdrawals.
And I’m sure it’s a great way to clear your mind.
Yeah, it is – it’s relaxing. And it’s
a little frustrating at times… I don’t play golf… it’s kind of like golf, sometimes it comes together
and it’s great and your swing is perfect… you hit that sweet spot, and then the next time you do it somehow you
can’t do the same thing. It’s fun.
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