Before I started studying martial arts, I had temper problems. I could definitely fly off the handle. Being raised in the south in 1956 definitely gave me some memories to latch onto for negative emotions.

Native Americans say, "It's a good day to die," and samurai live their life to die honorably, so that kind of energy creates a certain mindset of reactiveness with control to a point. And after that, it's gone.

People say, "How come you play bad guys so much?" And I say, "Well, have you seen many Asian good-guy roles?"

I was clear: "I don't want to play businessmen with bifocal glasses and cameras, so if you're going to give me an Asian bad guy to play, then I'm going to give you the baddest Asian bad guy you've ever seen, and you're not going to forget that I was in the film."

Looking back at my career, if there's one word that most people use to describe me, it's intense.

Americans really don't understand the Japanese nature, but it's not an easy thing to understand.

When you start working on a series, it's almost too much work. It's like a movie a week.