Where were you born?
I was born on the island of Oahu. In a hospital!
Where did you go to school?
I went to Kaneohe Elementary School.
Who was your best friend?
My best friend’s name was Mike Takebayashi. We had Math and Language Arts together and read Captain Underpants. We hung together at recess and told jokes to each other.
What were your favorite stories as a kid?
I liked reading fantasy series like Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Pendragon. I loved all kinds of movies from action blockbusters to epic space operas. From a young age, when I saw or read something I liked, I wanted to know why I liked it. I got into filmmaking and creative writing as a kid and spent time trying to emulate my favorite creators, including stand-up comedians!
When did you start acting?
I started acting onstage the summer after sixth grade where I played the Baby Elephant in the Jungle Book Kids.
Why do you like theatre?
I have so many reasons why I like theatre, but I’ll say I like transporting audiences to new places and allowing people to forget their lives for an hour while they share a meaningful experience together. Theatre is extra special because it’s always more personal than watching a movie, or viewing a piece of visual art—the actors are right there making eye contact and living and breathing scenes right in front of you!
What’s the most challenging part of acting in Trash & Treasure?
The most challenging part of Trash and Treasure has been trying to deconstruct the process of recycling to find an interesting story to tell in that world.
Why is Trash & Treasure an important story to tell?
When you get a thing from someone, or from the store, it has a whole life with you before it (or it’s wrapper) gets thrown away: A new toy travels across the world from a factory all the way to a store, then to your house before you take the packaging off and throw it in the trash. But after you throw that away, it lives a whole other life in transit, where it gets shipped around and used before eventually being made into something else. Your rubbish can is like an international airport for stuff!
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