Known For
Acting
Born
Mar 24, 1960
Place of Birth
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Credits
51 titles
Chris Tashima
Biography
Chris Tashima is an award-winning American actor and director. He has starred in numerous independent feature films, most notably as the romantic lead opposite Joan Chen, Allison Sie, Kelly Hu and Autumn Reeser, in Eric Byler's Americanese which won a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Cast at SXSW. He was awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role, at the inaugural Love International Film Festival, for his portrayal of Papa Nakaji in Tim Savage's World War II family drama Under the Blood Red Sun produced by Dana Satler Hankins. He portrayed real-life educator/activist Shigeo Yoshida in the 442nd RCT origin story Go For Broke from producer/screenwriter Stacey Hayashi. Most recently, he played the hard-nosed Uncle Bob in the generational family comedy No No Girl from writer/director Paul Daisuke Goodman--for which he received two nominations at the Austin Revolution Film Festival, and he plays Hiro in Brian M. Tang's action/fantasy short Kodama, receiving its world premiere at SXSW 2023. Tashima received an Academy Award® for directing the dramatic short film Visas and Virtue, a re-telling of the heroic actions of Holocaust rescuer Chiune Sugihara. In addition he co-wrote the screenplay adapting a one-act play by Tim Toyama, and starred as the Humanitarian diplomat Sugihara. He also directed, co-wrote and starred in the WWII Japanese American internment short film Day of Independence which was nominated for a NATAS Northern California Area Emmy®. These two directorial works came from Tashima's own Cedar Grove Productions, an indie entertainment house aiming to "Boldly defy mainstream Hollywood by giving Asian Americans the close-up onscreen."
Known For
Filmography
Kodama
Hiro
No No Girl
Uncle Bob
Searching for Anna May Wong
Self
Surviving Theater 9
Professor Cambro
Go for Broke
Shigeo Yoshida
Under the Blood-Red Sun
Papa Nakaji
Real Playing Game
Mr. Chan
Lil Tokyo Reporter
Sei Fujii
Model Minority
Ken Tanaka
Half Kenneth
Masamichi
Americanese
Raymond Ding
Day of Independence
The Umpire
Barrier Device
Actor in Diamond Jeweler Commercial (uncredited)
The Shield
Chris Yamamoto (scenes deleted)
Independent Lens
Director
Lani Loa: The Passage
Bong
Visas and Virtue
Chiune 'Sempo' Sugihara
Strawberry Fields
Mark
Vital Signs
Surgeon
Requiem
Philip
The Perfect Weapon
Bag Man
Liberace: Behind the Music
Carpenter
Unsolved Mysteries
Stunt Coordinator (segment "Brandon Lee")
Fun House
Carpenter
Barry Manilow: Big Fun on Swing Street
Carpenter
Good Morning, Vietnam
Carpenter
Overkill
Nagumo Jr.
Near Dark
Carpenter
Lethal Weapon
Fire Rescue Attendant (uncredited)
Pee-wee's Playhouse
Carpenter
Night of the Creeps
Extra (uncredited)
The Karate Kid Part II
The Rockabilly Club Dancer (uncredited)
Chisai Samurai
Director
Savage Dawn
Extra (uncredited)
Once Bitten
Dream Sequence Extra (uncredited)
Generation
Gang Extra (uncredited)
Killzone
Crawford's Men
Moving Violations
Parade Extra (uncredited)
The Sure Thing
Frat Guy at Punch Bowl (uncredited)
Sara
Concert Goer (uncredited)
Scandal Sheet
(uncredited)
Not My Kid
Student (uncredited)
The Mechanical Universe
Freefall Rider (segment "Magic Mountain")
The Hour of the Ox
James
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
Club Patron (uncredited)
1st & Ten
Reporter (uncredited)
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Boy in Nancy's English Class (uncredited)
Highway to Heaven
Camper's Dad (uncredited)
St. Elsewhere
Technician (uncredited)
The Fall Guy
Bar Patron (uncredited)