|
|
Post by petrolino on Oct 20, 2017 21:59:25 GMT
Actor James Hong has received a number of lifetime achievement awards on the film festival circuit which is nice because he's long been overlooked by Hollywood. At the inaugural Asian World Film Festival held in Culver City, California in 2015, Hong was honoured with a special award for his life's work. He worked as a stand-up comedian and impressionist before finding success as an actor. He was a founding member of theatre troupe the East West Players in 1965. What are your favourite performances by James Hong?
“Hello, Albert. This is James Hong from Hollywood,” the actor prominently stated on my voicemail. It was the first of many phone calls I'd have with the Chinese American thespian to discuss his plans during his return trip to Minneapolis. Nearly 30 years have passed since the actor last visited his home state of Minnesota. Before the red carpet events and blockbuster movie roles, James Hong first realized his entertainment dreams in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. It was in Westminster Church where he first graced the stage and in the former Bryant Middle School where he began to hone is craft. Standing in Jensen's Supper Club's kitchen, Hong reminisces about his days before Hollywood where he spent three and a half years washing dishes at the now closed Nankin Chinese restaurant. Today the Minnesota-native has turned into bona fide Hollywood veteran. Hong has been featured in movies such as Big Trouble in Little China, starred in one of the most famous Seinfeld episodes and garnered much recognition for his voice-over role as the goose noodle shop owner in the exceedingly successful animated movie Kung Fu Panda. In a career that has spanned over 50 years, Hong has amassed more than 500 movie and television appearances and helped pioneer roles in Hollywood for Asian Americans."
- Andy Leung, China Insight
James Hong & John Carpenter
Thanks!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post by petrolino on Oct 20, 2017 23:07:42 GMT
Hi paislene. I noticed a campaign online to get him a star in Hollywood so I'm guessing he doesn't have one. It would be nice to see him recognised in this way as I believe he's lived and worked in Los Angeles for much of his life. |
|
|
|
Post by teleadm on Oct 21, 2017 15:54:03 GMT
A love those bit part actors!!!  Forget it, it's Chinatown |
|
|
|
Post by jervistetch on Oct 21, 2017 17:15:53 GMT
I always think of CHINATOWN first when I think of James, too, but mention must be made that he is the star of one of the most celebrated episodes of SEINFELD, "The Chinese Restaurant ".  |
|
|
|
Post by Doghouse6 on Oct 21, 2017 18:39:11 GMT
I share the strong association that teleadm and jervistetch make between James Hong and Chinatown. It's all the more remarkable that he makes such an impression from appearing briefly in only three sequences, one of them silent as far as his involvement is concerned - Jake's first visit to the Mulwray home and his two to the house where Katherine is staying - and uttering only three lines in English in the entire film. As illustrated in teleadm 's frame grab, his baleful glare at Jake, followed by the slamming of the door, its reopening a moment later with his impassive, one-word bid of entry ( "Please") and then a stern command ( "You wait"), deliver a fully-fleshed characterization: subservient yet suspicious; loyal to and protective of his mistress. Minutes later while silently serving iced tea to Evelyn and Jake, Hong is mostly out of frame, but Dunaway skillfully integrates his presence into the scene's as-yet-obscure subtext: notice the fleeting but pointed glance she shoots up at Hong's unseen face when Jake refers to Katherine as "pretty, in a cheap sort of way," as though to both note and forestall any visible reaction from him that might betray their shared secret. The last sequence in which he's seen finds him simply repeating the last line from his first scene ( "You wait") as Jake pushes his way past into the house, accompanied by what I presume is an exchange of Chinese obscenities. That's pretty much it for Hong in Chinatown, but what an indelible part of that remarkable film's intricately-woven fabric he is. In his cameo reprise of the role in the sequel, The Two Jakes, Hong enjoys a scene that hints of intervening history between he and Jake in the eleven years since the first story, as their mutual antipathy has evolved into geniality: KHAN: "It's been a long time, but I read about you in the papers once in a while."
JAKE: "What can I say? Trashy publicity's part of my business. The less you want, the more you get."KHAN: "Please! I enjoy it. I'm sure many people do. Besides, you are very successful."JAKE: "I can't complain."He then becomes sage...
KHAN: "Does that mean you are happy?"
JAKE: "Who can answer that question off the top of their head?"
KHAN: "Anyone who's happy."
...and issues a cryptic yet resonant warning about Katherine, the reason for Jake's visit: JAKE: "If she's in trouble, I just wanna help her."
KHAN: "If she is in trouble, you would not be the one to help. Like her, you are a prisoner of the past. You would do her more harm than good. Such things have happened."In the course of the scene, Khan also obliquely provides a clue to a key character's true identity that will become clear to Jake only later. One of the film's weaknesses is perhaps excessive reliance on Chinatown nostalgia, of which this scene could be considered a part, but that nostalgia also furnishes some of its more enjoyable moments in familiar, "old home week" surprise appearances such as Hong's. |
|
|
|
Post by marshamae on Oct 21, 2017 19:03:16 GMT
Hong is featured in a favorite of mine ,Black Widow, as the sleazy PI Debra Winger hires to start investigations in Honolulu. He has so two of TGE funniest scenes with some of TGE best lines" were you sarcastic as a child? A sarcastic little baby? " . Then as a bonus he gets a really nice dark scene.
His few good movie parts were scant return for the endless series of house boys, store owners and foreign functionaries. At least he had a regular gig as a son of Charlie Chan on TV. It gave him recognizability, something that most actors of Asian descent find hard to achieve.
|
|
|
|
Post by petrolino on Oct 22, 2017 1:26:24 GMT
I always think of CHINATOWN first when I think of James, too, but mention must be made that he is the star of one of the most celebrated episodes of SEINFELD, "The Chinese Restaurant ". I never saw that episode though I do enjoy 'Seinfeld'. I might scan youtube later, thanks. On a related note, I'm pulling for Julia Louis-Dreyfus who is battling breast cancer, to make a full recovery. She's so awesome in 'Troll' (1986). Her and her family have all my best wishes. |
|
|
|
Post by petrolino on Oct 22, 2017 1:30:56 GMT
I share the strong association that teleadm and jervistetch make between James Hong and Chinatown. It's all the more remarkable that he makes such an impression from appearing briefly in only three sequences, one of them silent as far as his involvement is concerned - Jake's first visit to the Mulwray home and his two to the house where Katherine is staying - and uttering only three lines in English in the entire film. As illustrated in teleadm 's frame grab, his baleful glare at Jake, followed by the slamming of the door, its reopening a moment later with his impassive, one-word bid of entry ( "Please") and then a stern command ( "You wait"), deliver a fully-fleshed characterization: subservient yet suspicious; loyal to and protective of his mistress. Nice breakdown, thanks. I like 'Chinatown' and 'The Two Jakes'. Saw some great pictures a blogger posted online of Jack Nicholson and James Hong hanging out together. Also, new pictures of Hong hanging with Dustin Hoffman to promote 'Kung Fu Panda 3' (2016) lol.  |
|
