Henry Hayashi doesn't just portray samurai warriors and profound thinkers for the screen...they're in his blood - literally. Henry's mother comes from a line of samurai warriors and athletes; and Henry's father comes from a line of monks and philosophers. Growing up in the small beach town of Encinitas, California, Henry would never have imagined how much the traditions of both heritages would in ...
show all Henry Hayashi doesn't just portray samurai warriors and profound thinkers for the screen...they're in his blood - literally. Henry's mother comes from a line of samurai warriors and athletes; and Henry's father comes from a line of monks and philosophers. Growing up in the small beach town of Encinitas, California, Henry would never have imagined how much the traditions of both heritages would influence not only his life but also the roles that he would embrace in his career years later. Born on December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day, and to a direct survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, his mother, Henry was destined to have a determination. After receiving his Criminal Justice degree from San Diego State University, Henry quickly realized he didn't have the "right stuff" to be an undercover narc for real. Instead, he discovered his passion for acting and headed to Hollywood, taking his knowledge of the criminal world with him to aid in creating interesting, cutting-edge characters. It wasn't long before Henry was a working actor in film and television, including roles in Sgt. Bilko, Blue Streak and Star Trek. But it was with the feature film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, which Henry's ancestral samurai spirit was unleashed as he beat out thousands of other actors to portray a character based on Nobunaga Oda, one of Japan's most famous daimyo during the late 16th century and a real-life ancestor to Henry. Several years later, after a world-wide casting search, Henry's samurai essence was rekindled when he was cast as Nobunaga Oda's most trusted warlord and friend, Ukita, in the British television production of Heroes & Villains: Shogun. Henry has also turned to his legacy of truth-seekers for inspiration when he was cast as Hugh Laurie's doppelganger in the Emmy winning season finale of House M.D., and as a doctor looking for answers opposite William Shatner in Boston Legal. Henry's creativity extends beyond acting and into what is known as "automatic writing" of screenplays. This is a process where spiritual stories seem to come from nowhere, allowing knowledge and energy to stream through him without knowing what he is writing until the story is completed. Henry has written seven screenplays in this fashion and garnered industry attention from the likes of Snoop Dogg, Jacob Vargas, Allan Kaufman, and director Clark Johnson. When he's not acting or creating Henry embraces his legacy of thinkers by running a real estate investment-development company that focuses on building energy efficient, eco-friendly homes. He and his wife, Tina, also recently completed the construction of their own ultra modern eco-green-healthy home, in the hope to educate and inspire others to live and build sustainable housing themselves.
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