If you enjoyed Love, Once and Always which premiered on the Hallmark Channel earlier this year (starring Amanda Schull and Peter Porte), then there is a good chance you may remember a small but vital character named Niven. It just so happens that Hiro Kanagawa played this character, and in this second Hallmark film of his career, he created quite the memorable role. However, Hiro’s career spans several decades, and his impressive body of works is permeated with incredible opportunities and diverse characterizations. In fact, more than likely, you have seen him and may not have even realized it. Recently, Hiro honored me by taking some time to answer a few questions about his career, and I am delighted to share him with my readers today!

Photo by Kristine Cofsky

RH: Please tell us a little about your background and how you made the decision to become an actor.

HK: I’ve been involved in the arts all my adult life and first acted in plays and student films in high school. And although I took some theatre classes in college and acted in a few plays, I was more seriously into writing, music and visual art in those days. I didn’t start training professionally and working as an actor until my late twenties, but I was used to performing and expressing myself, so it wasn’t a huge leap. For me as an Asian man, the biggest question was whether it was a sustainable way to make a living. Turns out, in my case, it was!

Your list of credits is so incredible, I almost don’t know where to begin. But I’ll ask–what was your first professional job within the entertainment industry, and what are your memories of it?

First professional gig

My first professional on-camera gig was 1986 or 1987: a music video in Montreal for a glam rock band. I wasn’t actually in the band and didn’t actually play music, but they wanted me air guitar-ing. I still have an old Polaroid of the costume, very glam, very much of its time.

My first TV gig was playing an Elvis impersonator on the short-lived Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures series in the early days of Fox. So I guess my earliest roles reflected my interest in music.

You have guest-starred on so many shows throughout the decades. Please tell us about one of your most memorable guest-star roles and why that one stands out to you.

The X-Files

I guest-starred on The X-Files twice in its heyday, Seasons II and IV (and one more time in Season X). It meant a lot to me at the time to guest star twice on such a hit show—I took it as an affirmation of my abilities as an actor. I also had my first major experiences on those episodes with “movie magic”: heavy-duty SFX prosthetics as well as a fire stunt. On top of all that, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson were genuinely nice people, as was Chris Carter. I wound up doing 3 X-Files, 4 Millenniums, and a Lone Gunman for Chris Carter.

In addition to The X-Files, two other shows stand out as more major recurring roles for you–Altered Carbon and iZombie.  What did you appreciate about those shows and the characters you played?

iZombie — “Maternity Liv”Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2015 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

Those two are also career highlights for me. Both had really great production values and strong writing, and wonderful leads—miss them all!

Altered Carbon

Interestingly, I would say Lt. Suzuki and Captain Tanaka are definitely cut from the same cloth—both career cops who bleed blue but are deeply compromised. I would have loved to explore both those characters a little more—there were unanswered questions with Suzuki before his untimely death, and Tanaka certainly had a lot of complexity to explore, especially in relation to Ortega and her father.

While I had seen you in other works, you didn’t come to my attention until I saw you in a Hallmark movie. Your first one was Hailey Dean Mystery: Murder With Love. What was it like being on your first Hallmark movie?

Honestly, I wasn’t aware that was a Hallmark production until you mentioned it. I knew it was a TV movie, but earlier this year when I appeared in Love Once and Always, I went around telling people that was my first Hallmark. The mood on set is a top-down thing; if the producer is stressed out, it trickles down and everybody else is stressed out. In my limited experience, what I’ve found is a friendly, fun atmosphere on Hallmark sets. The producers (mostly women, in my experience) are super-friendly and having a good time telling their stories, and that positive energy affects everybody, including me of course.

Love, Once and Always

This year, Hallmark viewers got to see you in Love, Once and Always. Since this was a more typical Hallmark romance, what did you enjoy about working on that set and film?

I get a kick out of shooting in mansions and country clubs and opulent locations around town that I didn’t know existed or wouldn’t ordinarily get to visit. On Love, Once and Always, we shot in a recording studio owned by Bryan Adams, the Vancouver Club, and a grand old mansion on the UBC campus. You wind up seeing fascinating things: Bryan Adams’ collection of vintage microphones, a portrait from Queen Elizabeth II’s inauguration that she signed, and so on. That’s definitely one of the perks of working on a Hallmark romance set in swanky locales.

Behind-the-scenes
Salvation

Viewers also got to see you on season two of the CBS show Salvation. While your character was only on briefly, what was it like working with that cast and crew?

Jennifer Finnegan reminded me that we had actually worked together previously on the TV movie What Color is Love? It’s great to re-connect with actors in that way. Your paths cross briefly, then diverge, then cross again, and you journey together for a while before going your separate ways again. It’s like a metaphor for our gypsy existence. And although I didn’t work with him, I heard from a mutual friend that Dennis Boutsikaris said “hi”—another actor I’d worked with over twenty years ago. It was great meeting Ian Anthony Dale—I think all of us Asian actors are generally aware of one another and it’s great to have an opportunity to meet someone like that who’s been on your radar for a while.

Please tell us about any other upcoming works you have.

Christmas Toy Swap

I’ve just wrapped my first Christmas movie: Christmas Toy Swap for Lifetime, starring Vanessa Lachey and Brendon Zub, and two wonderful child actors, Lina Renna and Christian Convery.  Susan Hogan and I are Vanessa’s parents so it’s an unusually diverse cast for a Christmas movie, which is awesome–it certainly reflects the multi-cultural reality of my life.  First Christmas movie and first time playing a grandpa!

I understand you also have done some writing on a few well-known shows. Do you have plans to do more writing and/or directing in the near future?

I don’t have any directing plans, but I have a number of film and TV projects I’ve written that are making the rounds. And I have a big play commission coming up. I am very excited to announce that I’m writing the stage adaptation of Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto, the winner of Canada Reads 2018. I will be featured in this event at Theatre Calgary on October 28th!

As an Asian in the business (with a pretty long career, I might add), have you faced racial/cultural bias in the industry? How have you seen that change over the years?

I don’t feel I’ve faced overt bias. But certainly most people would agree there has been systemic or institutionalized bias in media, and one could argue that has limited my opportunities, especially for leading roles. I do think that is really changing in a big way for Asian, especially East Asian actors. Kim’s Convenience is a huge hit, as is Fresh Off the Boat, and the film Crazy Rich Asians was very big this summer as well. I also know of a number of major productions featuring Asian leads coming up and hopefully, I’ll land in one of them. At my age, I might have missed my shot at romantic leads, but I certainly feel that opportunities for silver foxes like me are there, and luckily with my track record I’ll be in a position to take advantage of them when they come my way!

Photo: Kristine Cofsky

I applaud Hiro’s commitment to continuing to strive for excellence in every role he is given, no matter the genre, network, or perceived significance. Hiro is a working actor extraordinaire, and it would appear that he is not set to retire any time soon. The fact that he pursues the arts which fuel his soul is a testament to his work ethic and obvious capabilities, and I look forward to seeing him in many more productions in the future. Furthermore, we can only hope that his writings will also be featured in the months and years to come, for there is nothing I enjoy more than seeing a richly diverse production comprised of a variety of cultures and creeds as it mirrors what our global society has become.

If you have not had the opportunity to check out Hiro in either of his Hallmark works (I would also highly recommend Salvation season two, The X-Files, and too many more to list here), I invite my readers to keep an eye out for the replay of any of these movies and/or shows so that you can appreciate the impeccable styling Hiro brings to all of his projects. Moreover, be sure keep a lookout for his Lifetime Christmas movie Christmas Toy Swap, for the Christmas offerings on all networks this year have certainly raised the bar immensely. Additionally, if you are longing for more of Hiro Kanagawa in your life, feel free to visit all his links below and follow him where applicable. As the media to which we are exposed has become increasingly heterogeneous, it is fantastic to witness the wealth of Asians (as well as other formerly overlooked groups, such as, Hispanics, women, and African-Americans/Canadians) that are gracing our screens, and I’m overjoyed that Hiro is a vital part of that distinct group!

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