What really gave me a love of acting, I think, was doing shibai, the kabuki. And I liked the over dramatic-ness of kabuki, whereas regular acting, you’re supposed to be more normal. You know, and I like theater acting because theater is live and every single night and day that you perform, the audience is different, so the play is a little different. Other actors may forget their lines, you may forget, you know, you’re having to be on your toes and improvise, and try to keep that story flowing. At first, I used to always worry that I was going to forget my lines; I forget that other people forget their lines, and you’ve got to be able to pick up, you know, and help them, or other people will have to help you. That part isn’t thrilling, but it was all – I liked telling the story, and you could feel the audience, almost. It is like a communication with the audience.

acting actors artists arts entertainers Japan kabuki performing arts theater

Date: November 8, 2018

Location: California, US

Interviewer: June Berk

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Takayo Fischer, born in November 1932, is a Nisei American stage, film, and TV actress. During World War II, as a young child, she and her family were forcibly evacuated from the West Coast and spent time in the Fresno Assembly Center before being relocated to Jerome and Rohwer concentration camps. Fischer later lived in Chicago, Illinois, where, as a young adult, she won the crown of “Miss Nisei Queen.” She has appeared in dozens of major Hollywood films, including Moneyball (2011), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005). She also appeared in the stage production of The World of Suzie Wong in New York in 1958 and many productions with East West Players in Los Angeles. (June 2018)