Amin Abbas Dubai

Keisuke Hoashi, an American actor of Japanese descent, spoke exclusively to Arab News Japan about his work in the film, TV, theater, commercials, and voiceover industry.

Originally from New York City, Hoashi is best known for his recurring character “Shinji Kojima” in “Bob’s Burgers” TV show, which is now in its 11th season on FOX/Disney.

Hoashi told Arab News Japan that he decided to become an actor at the age of 20, as he had just quit work as a musician.  

“My years in music school made me realize that I just did not have the passion to become a professional musician. It left me with a huge, painful hole in my heart, which I struggled to fill with my Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing, then with my post-undergraduate life as a writer & graphic designer for the New York State Government. Unfortunately, nothing was working, and I was becoming increasingly unhappy with my life,” he explained.

Hoashi said it took him two years to finally say to himself: “Okay, you quit music, and you’re miserable. So what other creative things have you done that have made you happy?”

His answer was “acting in plays in elementary school!”  

“Even though I had not done any acting since I was ten years old. I was untrained, inexperienced, had never even auditioned for an acting job, and didn’t even have any friends who were actors,” he said.

He then took it upon himself to audition for a local theater production and was rewarded with the lead role of ‘Jamie’ in the play ‘My Fair Lady.’

“My first professional acting job was a 1994 commercial for Burger King. I played a singing chef, singing ‘I don’t want to set the world on fire,’ alongside actor Red Jackson. I have done more than 80 commercials since that first one, including spots for IBM, TD Ameritrade, Georgia Coffee, Pontiac, Miller Beer, Microsoft, KFC, Wells Fargo Bank, and Hershey’s,” he said.

Hoashi had his first paid acting opportunity on the set of ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’ in 2001, when he played a sushi delivery boy.

“I did several voice characters for the video game (Halo 2). The game developers created an experimental companion website for the players, where they could take clues found within the game to explore the website “ILoveBees.com” and find out more about the backstory of the Halo universe,” he explained.

Hoashi said his role in the industry did not come without challenges. “My biggest challenge was my lack of formal training as an actor. My degrees are in English, Music, and Technical Communications. This meant that I had a LOT of catching up to do when I arrived in Hollywood.”

“I didn’t know how to behave on a set, how to work with cameras, or even how to dress for a headshot. Worst of all, I was absolutely terrified by the thought of auditioning in front of real, live people for a TV or film role,” he said.

“Luckily, my mentor Tommy Demenkoff was able to give me a helpful startup tip. He recommended that I aim to work in television commercials, and to begin by going to the same commercial acting school he himself attended when he first moved to California,” Hoashi added.

“That school was run by Lyle Hill, former producer on three American TV shows, and he turned out to be the perfect match for me. He and his classes quickly taught me the fundamentals of professional acting and led to my signing with my very first talent agent.”

Hoashi is well-known for voicing ‘Shinji Kojima’ in ‘Bob’s Burgers’ TV series on FOX/Disney, he shared with Arab News Japan the story of doing the voice of the character.

“I love talking about this job! That was the most exciting phone call I’ve ever gotten, my agent calling me on Friday afternoon to tell me I had an audition for Bob’s Burgers on Monday morning,” he said.

“A note on the Hollywood audition process: for most acting roles, no matter how big or small, as many as 1,000 actors are submitted by agents. Of those, only 20-30 people are selected to audition. So I was well aware that I had been extremely fortunate just to have gotten this opportunity — not to mention how amazing a role this was! It would be a dream come true, doing an anime voice for a hit TV show,” Hoashi added.

However, Hoashi said that his father had passed away just a day before his audition.

“On Monday morning, going into the audition at Warner Bros Studios, I decided to let my dad’s life inspire me. I chose to use his voice, his Japanese accent, his vocal mannerisms, and the very sound of his laugh, as the base of the character ‘Shinji Kojima,’” he said.

“My memories of my father helped me to read Shinji as if he were a real person. I drew upon my feelings of loss for my dad to bring genuine emotion to the script, where Shinji talked to Bob and Linda about his broken relationship with his daughter Yuki. And yes, I did cry in the audition, both as Shinji Kojima … and as myself.”

He then got the role and was told on the same day that his father’s remains were cremated in Japan.

“Yet, he has been with me for every Old Japanese Man voice job I’ve booked since that wonderful, terrible week in 2014. Especially when I returned to “Bob’s Burgers” to reprise my role as Shinji Kojima for 2019’s episode (The Hawkening),” he added.

Hoashi said his finest performances included ‘Bozo-san’ in ‘The Detour,’ Jerry the accountant in ‘Startup’ with Adam Brody and Ron Perlman, and his first TV commercial ‘Georgia Coffee’ as a parachutist.

“I am always especially excited when I book a role on a big, established, hit TV show. These include ‘The King of Queens’ with Kevin James; ‘Mad Men’ with Jon Hamm and Robert Morse; ‘Hawaii Five-0;’ ‘Law and Order,’ where I got to imitate the legendary Judge Lance Ito; and ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ in which I play Hello Kitty’s best friend,” he said.

Hoashi took inspiration from Japanese anime and manga after he was introduced to ‘Battle of the Planets,’ the American adaptation of “Science Ninja Team Gatchaman” (科学忍者隊ガッチャマン, Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman) by Tatsuo Yoshida.

“It began showing on American TV in 1975, and it was seriously the coolest, most exciting, most realistic-looking cartoon I had ever seen. ‘Battle of the Planets’ was incredible for a little kid like me: science fiction, adventure, action, martial arts, even romance, all in one show,” he said.

Hoashi told Arab News Japan that he also likes series like “Food Wars/ Shokugeki no Soma,” “Parasyte,” and “Assassination Classroom” as well as “Dragonball”