J: Hello. It’s Jason Marsden here.

T: Hi Jason.

J: We have a site for youth called MatthewsPlace.com. It has a lot of resources, directories and things like that for LGBT youth and their allies, and we also do these interviews to try to provide some context of what adult life is like and what kind of careers are out there, and how LGBT people can there are role models in every walk of life. And also for parents to realize that their kids’ career options are not closed off to them based on their sexual orientation.

T: Wonderful.

J: We had some politicians and corporate leaders and other folks too, but we’ve noticed there are so many more films and television programs that have inclusive messages, inclusive of LGBT characters and storylines. I’m 37; I went to high school in the late 1980s when there just wasn’t anything like that. It’s been really revealing, in the last 7 months getting into this job here, to just have my eyes opened as a consumer of film and television about how many choices are out there. And of course, this fits into that as well, having a lot of, very broad messaging about caring about yourself enough to stand up for who you are … that message I think rings true to those folks.

T:  I mean, as slow as progress is, you --- you mentioned you’re 37, right?

J: Uh-huh.

T: Yeah. I mean, even you being 37 during this time, has [meant we’ve] accelerated that process so much already, it’s shocking. I mean, man, there are some dark ages out there. I’m serious --- because really, this has been such a struggle.  And people who have been excluded and have been discriminated against and have been profiled --- we fully understand what the gay and lesbian communities have gone through and are still going through. I mean it’s something that I think Diana also realized and, can empathize [with] and is so exposed to, the circumstances that we face everyday. And oh, I mean there are stories and stories. And, this is something that, I think thankfully at this moment, feels like people are more vocal and less afraid of the consequences. And we all know the consequences could be dire, I mean really I mean it could be … life and death. So, really I mean that, the movement feels right. It feels that [there is] more momentum, that we need to take to continue to make this a large wave, to a tidal wave.  From that context is it interesting too, and this story line is obviously set in the early 1980s when things were much different. The dark ages.

J: Was there some cognitive dissonance in being involved in a project today when things are the way they are, doing story-telling about how different they really were just 25 years ago? Did that strike you?

T: Not for minorities. I mean we face the same problems today as we did yesterday and, and 25, 30, 50, 100 years ago. We’ve been in this country for 150 years or so, and … it’s one of those two-step tangos. You hope that it’s two steps forward and only one step back instead of two steps back and one step forward! Then we’re really screwed. I mean you just hope, yeah really, I mean figurative events and literally. And you can hope that, that… that at least whatever happens, that we are not going to shy away from the fact that, that this disenfranchisement is real, and it happens, and we wont stand for it. That is, I mean I hate to sound so militant about it, but that’s the only way to get things done. No one’s going to hear if you’re not making noise. So you’ve got to make some noise.  I’m not talking about militant in the extent of being violent, like during the civil rights movement when you’re talking about the Weathermen, you’re talking about the Black Panthers --- very, very extreme militancy. And you know what, they had their impact and people got hurt for good, for better, for worse, it happened and, and it brought some attention to the plights of the civil rights movement. Today hopefully we are wiser; hopefully we are grown up, matured as a nation, that we don’t have to go to violent means. And that’s what we’re hoping for.

J: And playing the Monk in this production, there’s a very strong spiritual quality to this movie. There are so many layers; there’s the sort of, “what’s right for LGBT youth,” there’s bullying, violence, social ostracization that goes on generally in a high school that’s depicted here. There’s the importance of standing up for yourself, and the martial arts element to the movie. But really underneath all of that is this message about valuing yourself enough to even bother to defend yourself. And it seems your character is sort of a pivot point in that story line in that film. Did that --- it must have struck you at the time that you come in with this, and you put down this marker in this film, in a very particular way. Did you feel that that? Was that message -- did it come through clearly enough at the end in the story line? And will people leave the theatres carrying that with them and really reflecting on them, do you think?

T: I felt that it did --- because I think what we have here in this … it’s a lesson too, in terms of spirituality and, what it means. Things don’t have to be expanded and, be of great length to get a message across. That scene’s a very tiny scene. And, the impact I felt was so poignant. And so, without beating you over the head with it, without preaching to you --- it was just a conversation. Like any two old friends talking about something. But the difference is, that they are strangers. But they feel like friends, they feel like old friends. And that’s what I, was so pleased about in that scene. That it was able to convey that, strangers don’t have to be unfamiliar, strangers don’t have to be real strangers. And, I think that probably one of the reasons having that advantage of the relationship between Diana and I is, Diana’s a former student of mine. So I think that scene --- I felt she was so grounded because she was wearing so many hats. She was the producer, she was the writer, she was the director, she’s also the star of this film, and, needless to say that’s a huge responsibility, and lots of distractions. And this scene was near the end of production so I think it was really helpful that we know each other so well, and that we were able to ground that scene. And I think that scene, if it wasn’t as grounded as it is appeared now in the film, it probably wouldn’t be as effective. So I’m very proud of that scene and I’m very proud of what she’s done with it, because I mean really she could have done any film --- I would have supported it. To me it doesn’t matter. I said “Okay, you want to be a director, you go ahead and if you need my help I’ll be there, okay?” And she chose this. And I’m like “Go, all right!” It’s like, you sit back and … she could have very easily take a martial arts film, only lots of action, lots of fighting, lots of car chases, lots of emotions and all that stuff. She knows that stuff inside-out and backwards. One of the premier stuntwomen of our time. And she could have just let it go at that. But no, she chose something, a story that she’s close to, that goes across cultural and racial [lines] --- it’s a universal theme that people can identify with, anybody who’s been excluded, who’s been discriminated against can identify. And really importantly, I think, that the opening scene was an African-American minister. Very important because the African-American community have gone through the hardships and still going through their hardships today. When it comes to gay rights, they have that kind of interesting dynamic of this particular Christian, evangelical, kind of take on it, which surprised me … . But the fact that Keith David was in that opening visual --- film is still a visual medium! I don’t care what happens if you don’t say anything, you just see the picture it’s already packing a wallop, a really, really big impact. That you see an African-American minister from the beginning and at the end of the film. The bookend in this film, I think is very powerful. It’s a very powerful image.

J: Well there’s a lot in this film about, just about alienation in general … which maybe is the universal human characteristic that we all have experienced or labor with. And I sometimes feel like, a lot of our entertainment actually in a way feeds alienation in people --- having an isolating experience of watching something. And one thing that struck me about this film was it really forces you to confront [that] it’s not just the kid who’s feeling alienated because he’s gay and he’s being bullied; the bullies are alienated from themselves, in anger. Mother is struggling with being this, this parental role she doesn’t know exactly how to do right and is trying to do it anyway. And almost everyone in the film really --- except your character, that sort of serves to put that in front of people, make them look at it. And it’s just, very different from a lot of what ends up in front of our face, on film or television, I’m wondering maybe if I’m not the only person that’s picking up on that theme.

T: No, you’re not. And, really I hope all the audiences that get an opportunity to see this particular feature will come away with it the same way you did, because life gets in the way. We tend to see what’s in front of us and what’s affecting us. Sometimes needs reminding --- that “You know what, other groups go through the same thing.” And I think the African-American community is going through that in terms of their relationship with the gay community because, you have this kind of disconnect because you are so wrapped up in what’s in front of you and what you’re dealing with and what’s your plight. I think to be able to see it and identify it and go “Oh, hmm, wait a second, there’s not that much difference than what we’re going through” --- then hopefully there will be some kind of bridge, some kind of synapse of communication that connects those thoughts. And I think that’s what’s so beautiful about this feature. In some ways it’s really hard to take, to have everybody struggling with the same thing in different ways --- it’s almost a sensory overload.

J: Yeah, there are a few moments where I was making a little bit of a fist or something, like “Oh, come on, something good, some breakthrough happen here, please!”

T: And it took a little time and we finally get to the promised land at the end. But I guess --- some films, you just have to go along with it and, and hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel, and there is … in reality there is, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. So, I’m very encouraged; because when you’re talking about entertainment you’re absolutely right. Everything that we see tends to be a little more homophobic, a little more unthinking and insensitive and not very caring, because those things sell internationally, so they really, in terms of Hollywood and how they deal with this stuff, is that Hollywood’s discrimination is not about any other color than the color green. If it isn’t going to make money they don’t care. Whatever sells, they’re going to make more. So in some ways, I mean I can almost forgive, but what they need to do really is start doing more of the other things to counter-balance. Because your films are not going to make the huge kinds of money that we’re talking about when you do an action film. We know that. Advertise Avatar; thank God that film has some kind of story. I mean, props to Jim [Cameron] because, he didn’t have to tell a story with Avatar. He could have done the special effects; there will be a whole world that is into that techno, that special effects world, that will already make that a box-office phenomenon. But he didn’t give up --- he just kind of said “You know what, it’s an opportunity for me to tell a story that is compelling” --- and that’s what he did. And that’s what we need. We definitely need films that are going to counter-balance the other side; the whole world is about balance. And we’re out of balance right now.

J: Did you learn anything from this, anything new that you took away from it that you didn’t expect going into this project originally?

T: I really didn’t think that, that one scene --- because as an actor you never get to see the final product until the final product. I really didn’t have that much expectation of that particular scene. I just said, “It’s a good scene,” I mean, how it’s going to play, where it’s going to be. Because storytelling is storytelling --- we need to know when that piece of the story comes in and I have to be at the right place. It cannot just come in out of the blue and have no value to it. Correct that --- it can come out of the blue as long as it pays off because in some ways that scene does come out of the blue, and you really didn’t expect it. And that’s what the pay off on the other side is --- that in this one brief moment of this film, that you’re able to come away, with something, and that’s something I didn’t expect before watching the film. But wow, seeing it is a whole different matter. So I was very happy with the outcome, and that this thing had the possessiveness of the particular scene or the work that doesn’t necessarily coincide with a good script, a good director, a good cast. I’ve done that, I’ve done good script, good cast, good director, it’s like “Oh my God this stuff is unwatchable, I can’t watch this,” it happens. Through the creative process it’s very tricky --- just because you have an all-star team, it doesn’t mean that they’re going to perform like an all star team and, really to Diana’s credit, she was able to assemble this particular team of actors, to bring to life what she’s written. And any time you do a film you hope there’s some miracle involved, because it’s a really difficult process because there’s so many people involved.  You tell them about every aspect of production that has to click: production design, costume design, cinematography, writing, editing, music. There’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen. So, so you really need strong leadership, a good strong vision, and know the direction you want to take --- this film, here it is – we’ve got “ The Sensei.”

J: So: final thoughts for say a 16-, 17-year-old from a racial, geographic, religious or sexual minority somewhere in this country who dreams of a career in Hollywood --- can they do that? Are those dreams achievable to people despite their differences? What’s your experience, then?

T: You know what, regardless of you believe, it’s achievable or not --- you still have to try. If that’s what’s in your heart, to do it, you have to do it. Regardless of the hardship, regardless of … the final result, you must think about the process. And, if there’s any hatred in your heart in any shape or form against anybody, just take five seconds, give yourself five seconds, let the mind think it through before you act. I think we’ll go a long way with just those two ideas.

J: Well said.

T: Thank you.

J: Well thank you sir, very much. This has been a treat. I usually sit here with Excel spreadsheets in front of me trying to place functions. So actually getting to do some of the program work has been a delight.

T: Aw, I’m glad you got a chance to. Yeah.

J: So, thank you so much.

T: Appreciate it.

J: We really appreciate it. Wish you every success with this and…

T: Thank you.

J: Drop us a line once in while if you’re involved in anything you think we should know about.

T: You got it. And there’s a film I have opening on the 26^th of February called Formosa Betrayed --- also a period that takes place in the 80s, and it’s a political drama based on true events, that’s another kind of mind-boggling period, for the Taiwanese. So it’s a film with, James Vanderbeek, John Heard, fairly decent, really impressive cast. So something worth seeing. It opens nationwide February 26^th. Try to catch it.

J: We’ll look.

T: Yeah, that’s a plus. Thank you.

J: Take care of yourself.

T: You too.

J: Alright. Buh-bye.

T: Buh-bye.