Because Nothing Says "French Revolution" Like a Sequined Cape
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 | posted by Mike
So, I was talking to the Official Father of TVFF the other day on the phone and he was recounting a funny thing that he saw on television.
While flipping through the channels this past weekend, however, Dad came across a show on PBS that commemorated some anniversary of the musical Les Miserables and which featured performers from around the world on stage together. Well, one of the performers looked kinda familiar to him and, when they went back to the studio after the piece was over, the host pointed out that "you might recognize one of the performers" because he was none other than the Chairman himself, Takeshi Kaga!
Now, I think we've always known that Takeshi Kaga -- better known as "Chairman Kaga" of the original Iron Chef -- was a well-respected actor. Apparently, he also has no problems hamming it up by biting into a bell pepper, too.
See, that's the funny thing about Japan. Over there, big stars appear in commercials, something which may be seen as "beneath" big stars over here in the U. S. of A. If you've ever seen Lost in Translation or visited the site Japander.com, you'll also know that even some American actors don't seem to have much problem with doing those kinds of things...if the money's right and the commercial won't be showing up here in the States.
And, sure enough, someone out there in Interwebland was good enough to upload the performance to YouTube, and now you can find it below. Kaga comes in around the 35 second mark.
Labels: Iron Chef
