Jai Tatsuto West
Jai West at event for Good People in 2019
Born
Jai Tatsuto West

(1976-10-24) October 24, 1976
Other namesJei Uesuto
Lotus Chamelion
Occupation(s)Actor, poet
Years active1990 - Present

Jai West (ジェイ・ウェスト; born October 24, 1976) is an actor and poet of French Canadian and Japanese descent born in Vancouver, British Columbia and currently based in Tokyo, Japan.

He is best known for his work on screen as manic Japanese American gangster Lee in Sion Sono's Hazard (2005), a thief grappling with his sexual identity in Gen Sekiguchi's Survive Style 5+ (2004), and portraying Beethoven in the popular Tokyo Gas commercials. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, from 21 Jump Street (1990) to Takashi Shimizu's The Great Horror Family (2004) and Takashi Miike's Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (2006). West has released two spoken word poetry albums in Japanese and English under the pseudonym Lotus Chamelion.

In 2018, he became the chairman of Iron Chef Canada.

Career

In 2000, West collaborated with his then-girlfriend, J-pop singer Olivia Lufkin, on two tracks for her debut solo studio album, Synchronicity, which was released by Avex Trax. He co-wrote and performed on "Liquid Skies", a whimsical fairy tale about a pegasus and a mermaid coming together to fulfill their longing for wings and "Soulmate", a duet that explores the theme of reincarnation. The album peaked at number twenty on the Oricon Charts.[1]

In 2016, West starred alongside Pamela Anderson and Dree Hemingway in the Canadian-Japanese drama The People Garden. He played a mysterious driver and worker.[2][3]

In 2018, West was announced as the Iron Chef Canada chairman, which premiered on October 17 on Food Network.[4]

In 2021, West portrayed the arch-villain Lyon Arkland in the Kamen Rider film Zero-one Others: Kamen Rider MetsubouJinrai. The movie's release coincided with the 50th anniversary of the historic tokusatsu superhero franchise. Lyon Arkland is the CEO of ZAIA Enterprise, a global weapons manufacturing company and transforms into Kamen Rider Zaia.[5]

Filmography

Jai West and celebrity chef Susur Lee on Iron Chef Canada Season 1
Film
Year Title Role Notes Ref
1995 Once in a Blue Moon Mexican Bandito
2000 Worst Contact Kerara Short film
2001 Bus Panic!!! The Busjacker Short film
2004 Survive Style 5+ J - Burglar
Lost Samurai Bob Short film
Writer
Co-producer
2005 Hazard Lee
2006 Hachimitsu to Clover Man at party
13 no tsuki Mori
Big Bang Love, Juvenile A Deranged Prisoner
Cherry Girl Joji Direct-to-video
2007 Tokyo no uso Tamura
Tengu Gaiden Louis Short film
2008 Love Exposure Bosozoku Leader Credited as Jei Uesuto
2010 King Game Johnny B.
2014 Pancakes Billy
2016 The People Garden Mak Credited as Jai Tatsuto West [2][3]
El Diablo Foreigner Short film
2017 My Little Guidebook Luke Gardener [2]
2018 Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story Club Customer
2020 Sayo The Driver
2021 Zero-One Others: Kamen Rider MetsubouJinrai Lyon Arkland/Kamen Rider ZAIA V-cinema
Prisoners of the Ghostland Jay
Television
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1992-1998 KidZone Himself
1990 21 Jump Street Young Ioki
1993 Highlander The Kid
1992-1994 The Odyssey Spook / Feelgood
1995 The Surrogate Matt TV film
2001 Yonimo kimyô na monogatari: Aki no tokubetsu hen Jack the Rabbit TV film
Segment: "Mama shin hatsubai!"
Credited as Jei Uesuto
2002 Mike Hama, the Private Detective Jake the Bellhop Known as "Shiritsu tantei Hama Maiku" in Japanese
2004 X'smap: Tora to raion to gonin no otoko TV film
The Great Horror Family Tonaka Kyoojoorou
2005 Tameiki no riyû Tetsuya Ihara
2007 Ojisan Sensei Nakategawa 12 episodes
2018-present Iron Chef Canada The Chairman Chairman of Iron Chef Canada [4]

References

  1. "OLIVIAの歌詞一覧リスト".
  2. 1 2 3 O'Hara, Matthew (May 10, 2016). "The People Garden: A mysterious bi-lingual role for Japanese Canadian actor Jai West". Nikkei Voice. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Monk, Katherine (April 24, 2016). "Nadia Litz and Jai West dig deep in The People Garden". The Ex-Press. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Clapson, Dan (September 18, 2018). "Daily bite: Iron Chef Canada to debut on October 17". Eat North. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  5. 映画ナタリー編集部, Natasha. "Vシネ「ゼロワン Others 仮面ライダー滅亡迅雷」あらすじ解禁、敵役はジェイ・ウェスト". 映画ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-04-14.
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