ET CETERA! Hanging Out with a Cool Gaijin Tarento in Tokyo!

Tony Cetera. Photo by Brett Homenick.

This afternoon (Wednesday, June 14), I spent some time with gaijin actor Tony Cetera near his home in Tokyo. I interviewed Tony almost exactly three years ago about his acting career, and, while most of his movie memories have faded over time, he's still a great guy to hang out with.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very cooperative, and, shortly after I arrived at the nearby station, a downpour suddenly started. The only good thing about it is that it didn't last all that long, and thankfully Tony and I had our chat in a dry location.

During our talk, a young American acquaintance of Tony's, who lives in the area, stopped by to join us. He had no idea about Tony's acting credits, and I told him about Tony's role toward the end of the Sonny Chiba actioner The Street Fighter (1974), which is a flick any self-respecting enthusiast of Japanese films should check out.

Tony Cetera poses with a publicity still from The Last Days of Planet Earth in a tokusatsu tome. Photo by Brett Homenick.

My favorite role played by Tony, though, would have to be that of Dr. Wilson in The Last Days of Planet Earth (1974). In the above photo, Tony holds a tokusatsu book I brought with a photo from his scene from the film. (Tony can be seen in the lower lefthand corner of the photo.) However, he didn't remember the scene when I showed the picture to him. I even showed him clips of the movie sequence on my smartphone, but -- as you'd expect -- none of it rang any bells. But I did get a kick out of it when Tony quoted his line, "God will understand," after I showed him the scene where his character says the line. 

We hung out for just over an hour, after which I had to get on with my day and say farewell. It was great hanging out with Tony another time, and I hope there's a chance to do it again soon.

Hangin' with a Gaijin Superstar!

Tony Cetera. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Friday, May 29, I was able to spend an afternoon with a gaijin actor whom I met for the very first time. Tony Cetera has lived in Japan since the early 1960s, and his credits include a wide variety of films, ranging from the Toho tokusatsu epic The Last Days of Planet Earth (a.k.a. Prophecies of Nostradamus, 1974) to the Sonny Chiba actioner The Street Fighter (1974). It was certainly a joy to speak with him about his career.

I'd known about Tony long before moving to Japan, and I'd always figured that when I moved here, he'd be one of the first I'd connect with. So you can imagine it still surprises me it took this long to make it happen. But good things come to those who wait.