James Saito | |
|---|---|
 James Saito in New York City | |
| Born | James Tomio Saito March 6, 1955 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1976–present |
James Tomio Saito (born March 6, 1955) is an American actor.
Saito is best known as the original Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dr. Chen in the ABC series Eli Stone, Harry Kim in the Netflix film Always Be My Maybe, and Kenji on Modern Love. In 2020, Saito became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[1]
Saito was born in Los Angeles to Japanese parents. He graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in theater. He later studied acting with actress Uta Hagen at HB Studio, located in New York City.
He was in the last group of students who studied with Sanford Meisner on the island of Bequia in the Grenadines and then continued with Meisner in North Hollywood.
Saito also appeared in the movies Life of Pi, Big Eyes, Wilson, While We're Young, I Think I Love My Wife, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Devil's Advocate, Henry Fool, Home Alone 3, Pearl Harbor, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and Hot Dog…The Movie.
Saito's TV credits include Grey's Anatomy, Altered Carbon, Prodigal Son, Broad City, At Home with Amy Sedaris, Elementary, Instinct, Iron Fist, The Deuce, Paterno, House of Cards, Madam Secretary, Hawaii Five-0, Person of Interest, 30 Rock, One Life to Live, Too Big to Fail, Blue Bloods, Rubicon, The Unit, Heroes and Villains as Tokugawa Ieyasu, As the World Turns, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Sex and the City, The Young and the Restless, Blood & Orchids, MacGyver, Hart to Hart, The Greatest American Hero, The Incredible Hulk, M*A*S*H, Law & Order, Miami Vice, and Farewell to Manzanar.
Saito has worked extensively in theater, including the Broadway productions of The King and I (1997) and David Henry Hwang's Golden Child (1998). Off-Broadway plays include Sarah Ruhl's The Oldest Boy (2014) at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center and Julia Cho's Durango at The Public Theater for which he won an Obie award in 2007. He also appeared in the Off-Broadway production Greater Clements in 2019.[2]
Saito appeared as Bob Lin in the film Love Hard, released in November 2021 by Netflix.[3]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | The Idolmaker | Eddie | |
| 1984 | Hot Dog…The Movie | Kendo | |
| The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | Masado Banzai, Buckaroo's Father | Scenes deleted | |
| 1987 | Beyond the Next Mountain | Sniper | |
| 1989 | Mortal Sins | Park Sung | |
| 1990 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | The Shredder | Voiced by David McCharen |
| 1993 | Silent Cries | Japanese Soldier | |
| 1995 | The Hunted | Nemura | |
| Die Hard with a Vengeance | Korean Proprietor | ||
| 1997 | Henry Fool | Mr. Deng | |
| The Devil's Advocate | Takaori Osumi | ||
| Home Alone 3 | Mob Boss | ||
| 1999 | The Thomas Crown Affair | Paul Cheng | |
| 2000 | Useless | Executive Oki | Short film |
| Aloha | James | Short film | |
| 2001 | Pearl Harbor | Japanese Aide #1 | |
| Love the Hard Way | Akiri | ||
| Another Bed | Bruce | Short film | |
| 2003 | Robot Stories | Roy / Groper | |
| 2006 | Brother's Shadow | Line Boss | |
| 2007 | I Think I Love My Wife | Mr. Yuni | |
| Ghosts of the Heartland | John Lu | ||
| 2012 | Life of Pi | Older Insurance Investigator | |
| 2013 | From the Rough | Won-Sik | |
| 2014 | While We're Young | Dr. Nagato | |
| Big Eyes | Judge | ||
| 2017 | Wilson | Warren Kudo | |
| The Only Living Boy in New York | James | ||
| 2019 | Long Shot | Minister Kishido | |
| Always Be My Maybe | Harry | ||
| 2020 | Tigertail | Hank | |
| 2021 | Love Hard | Bob Lin |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Farewell to Manzanar | Richard Wakatsuki | TV movie |
| Baa Baa Black Sheep | Third commando | Episode: "Up for Grabs" | |
| 1977 | Ensign Kira | Episode: "Divine Wind" | |
| 1977-1981 | M*A*S*H | South Korean Soldier / Park | 3 episodes |
| 1978 | The Paper Chase | Kai | Episode: "Bell's in Love" |
| 1979 | The Paper Chase | Student #1 | Episode: "The Apprentice" |
| Lou Grant | Steve Nakajima | Episode: "Hype" | |
| 1980 | Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb | Lieutenant Tatsuo Yamato | TV movie |
| The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story | TV movie | ||
| 1981 | The Waltons | Japanese Sergeant | Episode: "The Last Ten Days" |
| Soap | Hiro | 1 episode | |
| The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo | Steven Chiu | Episode: "The Roller Disco Karate Kaper" | |
| The Two Lives of Carol Letner | Professor | TV movie | |
| The Incredible Hulk | Viet Interpreter | Episode: "Viet" | |
| The Fall Guy | Police Officer | Episode: "Japanese Connection" | |
| Bosom Buddies | The Man | Episode: "All You Need Is Love" | |
| 1982 | The Greatest American Hero | Kelly Kim | Episode: "The Hand-Painted Thai" |
| Tales of the Gold Monkey | Japanese Lieutenant | Episode: "Once a Tiger..." | |
| 1983 | The Renegades | Sam Chow | Episode: "On the Pad" |
| Girls of the White Orchid | Officer #1 | TV movie; alternative title Death Ride to Osaka | |
| 1983-1984 | Knots Landing | Reporter | 2 episodes |
| 1984 | Hart to Hart | Yamahiro | Episode: "The Dog Who Knew Too Much" |
| Scarecrow and Mrs. King | Ronnie Quan | Episode: "The Mole" | |
| T.J. Hooker | Lab Technician | Episode: "Hot Property" | |
| Charles in Charge | Chinese Food Delivery Man | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| 1985 | Street Hawk | Joe Ching | Episode: "Chinatown Memories" |
| Covenant | Cabbie | TV movie | |
| MacGyver | Ming | Episode 1.2: "The Golden Triangle" | |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Anesthesiologist #1 | Episode: "Night Fever" | |
| Crazy Like a Fox | Chinese Henchman | Episode: "Year of the Fox" | |
| Miami Vice | Howie Wong | Episode: "Golden Triangle: Part 2" | |
| 1986 | Blood & Orchids | Halehone | TV movie |
| The Young and the Restless | Roy Namaguchi | 2 episodes | |
| The A-Team | Kwai Li | Episode: "The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair" | |
| 1987 | Hill Street Blues | Bob Ashahina | Episode: "Days of Swine and Roses" |
| Airwolf | Tim Shimizu | Episode: "X-Virus" | |
| 1988 | Miami Vice | Ma Sek | Episode: "Heart of Night" |
| C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf | TV movie | ||
| War and Remembrance | Operations Officer (Yamato) | TV Miniseries; Episode: "Part 3" | |
| 1989 | Gideon Oliver | Johnny Chen | Episode: "Tongs" |
| 1990 | Counterstrike | General Loctuck | Episode: "Power Play |
| Top Cops | Johnny Kai | Episode: "Paul LeBoeuf/Johnny Kai" | |
| True Blue | Episode: "Chinatown" | ||
| 1992 | To Be the Best | Tony Chiu | TV movie |
| 1994 | Law & Order | Mr. Tanaka | Episode: "Scoundrels" |
| 1994-1995 | New York Undercover | Detective Chang | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | Star Trek: Voyager | Nogami | Episode: "The 37s" |
| 1996 | Gargoyles | Taro (voice) | Episode: "Bushido" |
| The Tomorrow Man | Dr. Lorechi | TV movie | |
| 1999 | Sex and the City | Korean Man | Episode: "Ex and the City" |
| 2000 | Strangers with Candy | Drug Tester | Episode: "Blank Relay" |
| Law & Order | Yoshi Yoshimura | Episode: "Dissonance" | |
| 2001 | 100 Centre Street | 2 episodes | |
| The Atlantis Conspiracy | Police Officer | TV movie | |
| 2002 | Third Watch | Sgt. Yee | Episode: "The Long Guns" |
| 2004 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Mr. Miyazaki | Episode: "Great Barrier" |
| 2005 | Starved | Captain Wong | Episode: "Thank You, I Love You" |
| 2006 | As the World Turns | Kano Yamamoto | 2 episodes |
| 2008 | Heroes and Villains | Ieyasu Tokugawa | Episode: "Shogun" |
| 2008-2009 | Eli Stone | Dr. Frank Chen | Main cast |
| 2009 | The Unit | Chu | Episode: "Chaos Theory" |
| 2010 | Rubicon | Mooney | Episode: "The Truth Will Out" |
| Blue Bloods | Dennis Eng | Episode: "Chinatown" | |
| 2011 | Too Big to Fail | Chinese Official | TV movie |
| One Life to Live | Judge Lee | 9 episodes | |
| 2012 | 30 Rock | Chef | Episode: "Leap Day" |
| Person of Interest | Glen | Episode: "Bury the Lede" | |
| 2013 | Hawaii Five-0 | David Toriyama | Episode: "Ho'onani Makuakane" |
| 2014 | Madam Secretary | Japanese Foreign Minister Shimbakura | Episode: "Just Another Normal Day" |
| 2016 | House of Cards | Dr. Krebs | Episode: "Chapter 50" |
| 2017 | The Deuce | Kim | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | Paterno | Doctor | TV movie |
| Instinct | Haru Onishi | Episode: "Heartless" | |
| Marvel's Iron Fist | Yu-Ti | Episode: "The City's Not for Burning" | |
| Elementary | Dr. Ken Fukata | Episode: "Uncanny Valley of the Dolls" | |
| 2019 | Broad City | Trang | Episode: "Bitcoin & the Missing Girl" |
| Modern Love | Kenji Inouye | Episode: "The Race Grows Sweeter" | |
| Prodigal Son | Dr. Higa | Episode: "The Surgeon" | |
| 2020 | Altered Carbon | Tanaseda Hideki | Main role (season 2)[4] |
| Grey's Anatomy | Hershel Roberts | Episode: "Sing It Again" | |
| Dash & Lily | Arthur Mori | Recurring role[5] | |
| 2023 | The Company You Keep | Joseph | Main role |
