Interview by tdhouchen
How long have you been in Nagoya, Matt?
I first came to Nagoya as an exchange student back in 2005, and though I’ve moved around quite a bit since then, I’ve stayed in the general area for the past seven years.
My university back in the US only had one exchange program for studying abroad in Japan, and that was with the one in Nagoya. Had there been other options, it’s hard to say where I’d have chosen, but I’m definitely glad it worked out the way it did.
How do you find Nagoya in terms of art/culture/creative arts?
I just moved into the city limits a couple years ago, so up until that point I wasn’t aware of what Nagoya had to offer, but upon moving it didn’t take me long at all to discover that Nagoya has a really active and open creative community. I’m always telling friends from out of town how easy it is to get involved and how many options there are here.
You’ve been doing some acting/model work, please discuss how you started this endeavor. Had you had any training/experience before?
Back in high school I was in the drama club and always had some kind of part in the annual musical. I’m not sure if that counts as proper training, but it was enough experience to reaffirm that I loved acting and singing. My childhood dream was to become an actor and voice actor, but growing up in Mississippi and Kentucky didn’t exactly afford me a ton of opportunities to pursue it. I can’t express how thankful I am to be living in Nagoya and finding more and more ways to close the distance between myself and who I want to be.
Please discuss how you made contact with the agents who represent you, and how a typical ‘call for a job/audition’ might go. Describe the process.
Some friends of mine from church had a teenage girl who was modeling through a couple agencies, and they said work might not come often, but that it was fun and paid decently. I signed up and waited about two years before anything came along. I was living in Gifu and working as an ALT at that time. The very same month that I moved into Nagoya to be closer to my new university job, I got a call for an audition for a movie that was set to be filmed in Nagoya. The audition process was genuinely enjoyable. First, I stood in front of a panel of five or six people and introduced myself. Then I sat down and watched as the other guys who were auditioning did the same (but much more eloquently). Finally, we were put into pairs and asked to do some improv with occasional directions from the director. A typical audition, I have since discovered, doesn’t usually include the improv and isn’t quite as much fun, but is otherwise about the same and always a great learning experience. Self introduction for the judges and camera, read a few lines or strike a few poses, wait for the call.
Is it possible to make acting/VO/model work a CAREER here in Nagoya?
There are some nice opportunities to be explored in Nagoya, but even in Tokyo, New York, or Hollywood a lot of people struggle to get by in this line of work, so I definitely wouldn’t count on finding consistent, reliable work here as a primary income. It’s possible, I imagine, but it’s a long shot.
What would your DREAM acting/model job here Nagoya consist of?
I would love to land a recurring role as a villain in a long-running drama. Bad guys get the best lines, and an ongoing role would mean time to mold my character into something truly memorable and enjoyable for people.
If it don’t make YEN, it don’t make SENSE, what is the PAY like?
The pay range for these kinds of jobs, in my experience, has been anywhere from volunteer to a little over 100,000 yen for a single day of work, but I would say the average has been around 20,000 per day. The pay is generally very good, I’d say, especially since I enjoy the work so much.
Finish the sentence, “If I were leader of Japan, I would..” try to get more gender equality in the workplace and a wider variety of breakfast cereals in supermarkets. Where are the Cap’n, Toucan Sam, and that silly rabbit??
I am SO with you on that one Matt, where’s my Cinnamon Toast Crunch and my Grape Nuts? Jeez..
Nice chat brother.
tdh
