Interview: Warren T. Takeuchi No stranger to science fiction, Toronto-born Warren Teruo Takeuchi has made the rounds of sci-fi series and features shot in Vancouver; he played a reporter in the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie The 6th Day, and he's guested on such series as Dark Angel, First Wave, Stargate SG-1, The Sentinel and The X-Files (the Mythos episode "Nisei"). Clad in the beige, kimono-style robes that the actors are wearing for a scene being rehearsed on a May afternoon in Vancouver, Warren took a moment in his trailer to discuss his new role as Kitaro Sasaki, the navigation, communication and translation specialist on the Liandra. Q: What did the producers recognize in you that made you right for this character? A: Essentially, all of us are the characters. For example, I'm Warren Takeuchi, and I am Kitaro. My personality is pretty much [his]. None of us is really acting, you know? We are the person. In the original script, the character's name was Li Chen, and Joe [Straczynski, the movie's creator] changed the name to Kitaro, as in the musician Kitaro, to reflect my Japanese background. "Sasaki" comes from Zen Buddhism. He's a very earnest character, very loyal and very honorable — someone who, if you told him to stand by a door to stand guard, he'd be there and not move off his mark for days. He just wants to do a good job. Sometimes he's too eager — he'll jump into situations not realizing what the full consequences will be. There's actually a funny scene that shows that part of Kitaro [laughs]. Q: How familiar were you with Babylon 5 before you got the role of Kitaro? A: I knew of the show — I'd seen a few episodes. To be honest, I never really watch TV very much at all, period. But I love science fiction. And I noticed that it was similar to Star Wars. Plus, it's very realistic and intellectual — very intelligently written. I've been doing a lot of reading to prepare myself for the character. Q: I understand you do martial arts. What kind? A: Wing Chun Kung Fu, which is what Bruce Lee started in. It's very practical for self-defense. And Wu Shu, which is very big and theatrical; if you're familiar with Jet Li, that's what he does. It's very big, beautiful stuff; very acrobatic. And Kendo, which is with the bamboo sword and the mask, armor, all of that stuff. Q: Thanks to your martial-arts skills, you're featured in a scene you weren't originally part of? A: Right. Scene 18, in a Minbari training facility. Joe didn't realize I had all of this martial-arts background. [When he learned about it, he] came up to me and said, Oh yeah, we'll get you to do it in the series for sure. And I thought, that's fine — I'd better train hard. [laughs] We're using these pikes — six-foot-long telescopic metal staffs — and go through these choreographed moves that almost like the kata in karate, where you do a sequence of memorized moves. And because I'm a human, I break out of that structure and do my own little thing; it's acceptable because I'm not a Minbari. Originally [a character named] Tannier [played by Todd Sandomirsky] was fighting a nondescript person, and Joe came up with the idea that that was probably the best place to introduce my character. I know Joe didn't want it to turn into a martial-arts action sequence, so I'm not doing any of this fantasy stuff [in the vein of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]. It's toned down a bit so it's more believable. I get my butt kicked by Tannier!