We recently connected with Chris Naoki Lee and have shared our conversation below.
Chris Naoki, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
I’ve grappled with this question in different moments of my life, to be honest. Particularly in my 20s, especially at a time when the industry viewed me as a trope or a punchline, I definitely questioned my purpose as an artist. “Is this what I really want?” “Is there space for someone like me?” Many of my closest friends aren’t in the entertainment industry, so when I saw them getting promoted or finding financial success when I was still trying to make ends meet between closing that late night bar shift or scrounging for ancillary side gigs, it made me wonder…
So. I took a break from acting. I started to focus my work as a producer, writer, and director. I worked with start up companies. Built my production company from the ground up. Expanded my network. The 5 year break I took from acting allowed me to see the artistic industry as a business, and I discerned what I was bringing to the table once I came back to the acting world. The autonomy and agency would be invaluable in the years to come, and my diligence would only grow stronger.
Still at times, even in my 30s, with what seemed to be insurmountable odds from recovering from a pandemic that crippled our industry to fighting for what’s equitably right during these seminal strikes of the WGA and SAG, it feels like finding happiness as a creative artist can be like ‘Waiting for Godot,’ a play that centers on two characters waiting endlessly for the titular Godot. It’s an existential process without the desired result.
So for me, instead of pursuing this fleeting feeling of happiness, I try to simply be at peace. Am I at peace with what I am doing, at peace with the journey itself? We make choices in life, sometimes they pan out, sometimes they don’t, but as my father once said: you can not fail because whatever choice led you to either success (yay) or failure (boo), you take something away from it. A lesson. That’s something that stays with you until you make your next choice, and so it goes. If you can find content during those trial and tribulations of the journey, that’s the key. I’ve been fortunate in this business, being able to work in different capacities like a writer/director or an actor, but I know I am nowhere near my goal post. I’m also aware that those goal posts will keep moving, that’s part of my journey. So I will continue to fight for us artists today and stand up for the future generations that come after me, but not just because it brings me joy or happiness, but because that is the peace to my purpose. Leave it to an Aquarius to get all esoteric on you on the *first* question, but I feel that’s what I’d like to keep doing as an artist. Not just from a place of “is there space for someone like me,” but also “is there space for those I can advocate for?” Not only create and share your stories, but be selfless and curious of others journeys as well.
Chris Naoki, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Oh boy. I got the acting bug the very first time I saw Jean Claude Van Damme in ‘Bloodsport,’ a pinnacle of late 80s action cinema that I was definitely too young to watch. But I knew. THIS is what I wanted to do.
Fun Fact: 20 years later, I got to act with JCVD on the Amazon show ‘Jean Claude Van Johnson.’ I gave him a big hug at our wrap party and told him this story; what a full circle moment.
Born in Glendale, CA, and raised just outside of LA, I received my SAG card when I was 12, appearing on shows like ‘Suddenly Susan’ and ‘Strong Medicine,’ and after attending NYU for theater at the Atlantic Theater Company, I returned to LA to stay the course. Struggling actor life, here we come. Over time, I’ve been lucky to recur on shows like AMC’s critically acclaimed series ‘The Terror: Infamy,’ Apple TV+’s ‘Mythic Quest,’ Amazon’s ‘Too Old to Die Young,’ as well as guest spotting on staples like CBS’ ‘Hawaii Five-O’ to ‘NCIS: LA.’ One of my proudest moments in this business, though, was writing and producing my directorial debut film, ‘Dinner Party,’ which premiered at the prestigious SCAD Savannah Film Festival, distributed by Vertical Entertainment and is now currently available on streamers. The film deals with a layered premise of, “if you met your childhood friends today, would you still f*ck with them?” We shot this movie in four union days! I can still taste the stress.
As of late, I’ve been very fortunate to also get into the interactive video game space with voice and MOCAP (motion capture) work. I’ve appeared on games like ‘Starfield,’ ‘NBA2K23,’ and ‘Ghost of Tshushima,’ with a few more lined up. I see a lot of the entertainment and video game industry working together in the future, so it’s a space I’m looking forward to diving into more.
I also have a few other projects in development at the moment, notably one with the legendary James Hong. We are currently developing an animated feature that centers around the lores of James’ family history combined with fantastical adventures and shadow puppets. I’ve also been working with two wonderful authors and have adapted a creative non-fiction into a screenplay, centering around a true story of a man who escaped the internment roundup of World War 2, and the perilous journey he makes to become a world class photographer.
My career has led me to many different nooks and crannies of the industry, so it’s been a privilege to constantly reshape and reinvent my perspective of this business. Adapt or die, so they say. But I’m only as good as the people around me, so I share much of my success with them. Teamwork is vital on sets, so I hang my hat mostly on being able to communicate with my team as effectively as I can while also leading with empathy. I ain’t perfect, but it’s all in the effort. It’s important for me to take moments and acknowledge that artists, executives, audiences, we’re all human, we’re all going through our own human experience. I try to make sure my work, and ultimately my work ethic, reflects that type of grace.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
That perhaps our struggles are not so dissimilar. I also like to believe there is art in everything, in any profession, so creativity wouldn’t be exclusive to only creatives. An actor prepares, so does a lawyer for their opening statement to grab the jury’s attention. A writer structures stories, so does a software engineer who codes an app that has a beginning, middle, end. A director leads on set, just as a head chef guides their kitchen through a dinner rush. There is art everywhere. In us. We have similar challenges, trying to fight the powers that be for an equitable share of the larger pie, or trying to adapt new technologies like AI without sacrificing our own value.
For me as an actor and director, it’s definitely not as glitzy as some non-creatives may think. The grind of auditions, long set days, writing deadlines, and the strenuous emotional and physical work can be overwhelming, but the audience won’t usually see any of that. They’ll only see the final product or a polished version of me or the accolades. There’s a lot of work and a lot of other people who contributed to that perception of me or whatever I created, but we’re often judged and rewarded from our results, not from our process. I feel in so many ways, that extends to not just actors and creatives, but to all of us who function in today’s world. It’s so much about the results, and less about being kind to the process. I’d love to see us flip that switch at some point, and I know it starts with me as well. To be kind to myself but also to others’ processes that I am not familiar with.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Honk if you see us out there on the picket lines! Go support independent work!
But also – I have a lot of thoughts on this.. I think in terms of support, I personally feel where we’ll need it most is how consumers accept AI integration in our industry. In the dawning age of all things artificial intelligence, we can’t deny the potential effects it’ll have across the entertainment industry in the years to come, not to mention the immense impact it has already made. How will corporations and politics use it to their full benefit? As of now, the majority of audiences generally choose to consume their art done by another person. I don’t believe that desire will ever go away (knock on wood), but I believe it will also be a communal effort between artists and audience to stand together. To keep the higher ups from shortcutting our artistic process just to beat quarterly expectations. There is no doubt that AI will shift the working landscape across most industries in the years to come, and I believe if used correctly, it can be a major benefit for us all. Granted there are many layers to this, so pardon the short answer, but I feel if society accepts AI as the assistant and not the originator, that would be one way to help support creatives who will adapt and integrate new tools while also having leverage in the negotiating room.
On an unrelated, perhaps more macro, note – dialogue is important. Talking about art and how it makes one feel is an integral part of the human process. It helps us reflect on our own emotions and experiences. If you see a great film, a play, or binge a fantastic show or listen to a new album, feel free to engage with others on what made you love it. Even better if it’s independent since word of mouth is powerful. That conversation you have can lead to new paths, new ideas, new levels of empathy and understanding, further expanding their human perspective. It’s where creativity bears fruit, and thrives by passing it forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chrisnaokilee.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisnaokilee
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrisnaokilee
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpWBb8PenLn8eESgusGQsKQ
- Other: https://linktr.ee/chrisnaokilee
Image Credits
Andrew Ge, Noah Lance, Logan Walcher