Jai West (ジェイ・ウェスト; born October 24, 1976) is an actor and poet of French Canadian and Japanese descent born in Vancouver, British Columbia and currently based in Tokyo, Japan.
Jai Tatsuto West | |
|---|---|
 Jai West at event for Good People in 2019 | |
| Born | Jai Tatsuto West October 24, 1976 |
| Other names | Jei Uesuto Lotus Chamelion |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, poet |
| Years active | 1990 - Present |
He is best known for his work on screen as manic Japanese American gangster Lee in Sion Sono's Hazard (2005), a thief grappling with his sexual identity in Gen Sekiguchi's Survive Style 5+ (2004), and portraying Beethoven in the popular Tokyo Gas commercials. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, from 21 Jump Street (1990) to Takashi Shimizu's The Great Horror Family (2004) and Takashi Miike's Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (2006). West has released two spoken word poetry albums in Japanese and English under the pseudonym Lotus Chamelion.
In 2018, he became the chairman of Iron Chef Canada.
Career edit
In 2000, West collaborated with his then-girlfriend, J-pop singer Olivia Lufkin, on two tracks for her debut solo studio album, Synchronicity, which was released by Avex Trax. He co-wrote and performed on "Liquid Skies", a whimsical fairy tale about a pegasus and a mermaid coming together to fulfill their longing for wings and "Soulmate", a duet that explores the theme of reincarnation. The album peaked at number twenty on the Oricon Charts.[1]
In 2016, West starred alongside Pamela Anderson and Dree Hemingway in the Canadian-Japanese drama The People Garden. He played a mysterious driver and worker.[2][3]
In 2018, West was announced as the Iron Chef Canada chairman, which premiered on October 17 on Food Network.[4]
In 2021, West portrayed the arch-villain Lyon Arkland in the Kamen Rider film Zero-one Others: Kamen Rider MetsubouJinrai. The movie's release coincided with the 50th anniversary of the historic tokusatsu superhero franchise. Lyon Arkland is the CEO of ZAIA Enterprise, a global weapons manufacturing company and transforms into Kamen Rider Zaia.[5]
Filmography edit
| Film | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
| 1995 | Once in a Blue Moon | Mexican Bandito | ||
| 2000 | Worst Contact | Kerara | Short film | |
| 2001 | Bus Panic!!! | The Busjacker | Short film | |
| 2004 | Survive Style 5+ | J - Burglar | ||
| Lost Samurai | Bob | Short film Writer Co-producer |
||
| 2005 | Hazard | Lee | ||
| 2006 | Hachimitsu to Clover | Man at party | ||
| 13 no tsuki | Mori | |||
| Big Bang Love, Juvenile A | Deranged Prisoner | |||
| Cherry Girl | Joji | Direct-to-video | ||
| 2007 | Tokyo no uso | Tamura | ||
| Tengu Gaiden | Louis | Short film | ||
| 2008 | Love Exposure | Bosozoku Leader | Credited as Jei Uesuto | |
| 2010 | King Game | Johnny B. | ||
| 2014 | Pancakes | Billy | ||
| 2016 | The People Garden | Mak | Credited as Jai Tatsuto West | [2][3] |
| El Diablo | Foreigner | Short film | ||
| 2017 | My Little Guidebook | Luke Gardener | [2] | |
| 2018 | Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story | Club Customer | ||
| 2020 | Sayo | The Driver | ||
| 2021 | Zero-One Others: Kamen Rider MetsubouJinrai | Lyon Arkland/Kamen Rider ZAIA | V-cinema | |
| Prisoners of the Ghostland | Jay | |||
| Television | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
| 1992-1998 | KidZone | Himself | ||
| 1990 | 21 Jump Street | Young Ioki | ||
| 1993 | Highlander | The Kid | ||
| 1992-1994 | The Odyssey | Spook / Feelgood | ||
| 1995 | The Surrogate | Matt | TV film | |
| 2001 | Yonimo kimyô na monogatari: Aki no tokubetsu hen | Jack the Rabbit | TV film Segment: "Mama shin hatsubai!" Credited as Jei Uesuto |
|
| 2002 | Mike Hama, the Private Detective | Jake the Bellhop | Known as "Shiritsu tantei Hama Maiku" in Japanese | |
| 2004 | X'smap: Tora to raion to gonin no otoko | TV film | ||
| The Great Horror Family | Tonaka Kyoojoorou | |||
| 2005 | Tameiki no riyû | Tetsuya Ihara | ||
| 2007 | Ojisan Sensei | Nakategawa | 12 episodes | |
| 2018-present | Iron Chef Canada | The Chairman | Chairman of Iron Chef Canada | [4] |
References edit
- ^ "OLIVIAの歌詞一覧リスト".
- ^ a b c O'Hara, Matthew (May 10, 2016). "The People Garden: A mysterious bi-lingual role for Japanese Canadian actor Jai West". Nikkei Voice. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
- ^ a b Monk, Katherine (April 24, 2016). "Nadia Litz and Jai West dig deep in The People Garden". The Ex-Press. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
- ^ a b Clapson, Dan (September 18, 2018). "Daily bite: Iron Chef Canada to debut on October 17". Eat North. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
- ^ 映画ナタリー編集部, Natasha. "Vシネ「ゼロワン Others 仮面ライダー滅亡迅雷」あらすじ解禁、敵役はジェイ・ウェスト". 映画ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-04-14.