Charles Rahi Chun with James Franco and Seth Rogan promoting The Interview.
This week’s TDQ Q&A is with actor Charles Rahi Chun. Charles spoke with us about his role in and his thoughts on the controversy surrounding the movie “The Interview,” the differences in working on TV shows and movies and where he sees his career heading. Here is this week’s TDQ Q&A with actor Charles Rahi Chun:
The Daily Quarterly: Who was your favorite actor growing up?
Charles Rahi Chun: John Travolta had a monopoly of cool TV and film roles when I was coming of age. “Saturday Night Fever” was one of the first films I saw in the theaters and he followed that up as Danny Zucko in “Grease,” who was the epitome of cool to a kid. All this after being “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble” and Vinnie Barbarino on TV. I also really dug Bill Bixby as “The Incredible Hulk” – the man had a deep well of emotion and a beautiful heart.
TDQ: What was your favorite movie growing up?
CRC: “Saturday Night Fever” was pretty cool, but my very first movie experience was “Bugsy Malone,” which was amazing to watch as a kid because the entire cast was children dressed up as adults. Later, as a teen-ager, I was really struck by the movie “Fame,” which also happened to be directed by Alan Parker.
TDQ: What made you want to be in show business?
CRC: I grew up watching a lot of television, so my heroes were TV characters. “The Six Million Dollar Man,” Starsky, Hutch, and Pa Ingalls from “Little House on the Prairie.” As I got older, I was fascinated with psychology and what drives us to do what we do as human beings, and the more I learned about acting, the more enthralled I became with the craft. When I got to Connecticut College and explored performing and choreography and using my body as a vessel for collaborative story-telling, all of these influences merged leading me to pursue acting professionally.
TDQ: What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
CRC: It wasn’t really advice that anyone gave me, but I’m told that athletes never think about winning or losing while in a game. They only focus on the next shot or hit, staying very present in the moment, and I like to live my life that way. Because ultimately, that’s all there is.
TDQ: What’s the worst advice you’ve ever gotten?
CRC: “Be safe.” Nothing new ever gets discovered from being safe. Continue reading
