| Jimmy’s
darkest days
August 14, 2001
Researching and filming War Diary where
he plays a Japanese officer during the Japanese occupation in World
War II in Singapore make up the darkest days of Jimmy T’s life.
We go up close and personal to find out more.
By Peng Wan Joo
(Click on pictures for larger image)
 Read
about what fellow cast member, Keagan have to say.
Back from LA after a month long vacation where
he took the chance to rest and recharge after his hectic and grueling
filming schedule, Jimmy looked visibly refreshed when we talked to
him at the press conference held for War
Diary, a serial featuring the ups and downs of a Singaporean
family during World War II which will debut on Channel 5 tomorrow
night.
Glad to be back in Singapore
 “I
am so glad to be back in Singapore. I miss the people and everything
around here,” says the man who was bred in America. And this
he says is due to the warm and wonderful friends he has found over
here.
“Though I am essentially the “foreigner”,
the people here treat me very well and they do little things like
bringing me to try the different food and teaching me Singlish,”
he says with a laugh.
“When you think about how the Japanese
treated the Singaporeans during war and you compare the kind of
reactions people here have towards Japanese, I think Singaporeans
are the most forgiving people on earth!” says the Japanese
American with a bright smile.
Researching for his role
 If
you had talked to Jimmy half a year ago when he was filming War
Diary in Singapore, a smile would be the thing you are most unlikely
to see on his face because he was feeling lonely and unhappy all
the time.
It all started when he was given the chance
to play a Japanese officer in the serial, War Diary.
“As American Japanese, I did not know much
about World War II. In US, Japan is like the victim and seen less
as an aggressor,” explains the professional and enthusiastic
actor who then decided to research his role by reading up and talking
to people.
Other than picking up books like The Rape of
Nanking, Japanese Occupation, Price of Peace and Force 136, Jimmy
also talked to some people who have been through the war.
Because he plays the Japanese aggressor, he
wanted to be fair and hear their side of the story too. “I
went back to Japan and tried to talk to my mother’s relatives
about it. But they were Buddhists and their religion is rather against
the war and they were reluctant to talk about it. In the end, I
did not find out a single thing,” he said.
Jimmy does not support war too for he thinks
that war is very senseless. “The only innocent victims are
all the people since wars are only about money and political power,”
he says.
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