Category Career

Love Scenes

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Depending on the typecasting which exists for an actor, kissing scenes or sex scenes may be a regular part of the mix. This can throw a wrench in relationships, and in some cases, result in their demise.

Performance kissing and lovemaking (or straight up nasty fucking, excuse the expression) has to look convincing and appealing. Many actors have stated that kissing and sex scenes for the film camera, television camera, or stage are rather different from regular intimate interactions. However, the intimate acts which actors must perform are still exactly that, intimate. It’s important for actors to build up some sort of relationship with their fellow actors prior to such scenes. And though the intimate act (be it a kiss, a fondle, or a full-on sexual act) must be performed in front of the entire crew, it’s still a shared moment which would make most people blush and squirm from the awkwardness.

I am also aware of the fact that actors might not be attracted to the other actor (s) in the scene, and that they might not even be the gender to which the actor finds him or herself attracted. Yet, as the saying goes, the show must go on. Then again, they may indeed be physically attracted to their co-stars. I have heard actors admit that they get an enjoyment, a charge, out of performing an intimate scene, because there is an exchange of energy between the actors, and the artistic process is in full force.

In addition, the actors must make the scene believable, which means the passion, the lust, the hunger, must all be generated from the actors’ past experiences. It’s all part of getting into character. So in that sense, the feelings are genuine. The question I have, though, is how fair is it to say that the character is the one in the midst of the embrace, and not the actor who is performing it? To me, that sounds like a cop-out. As someone who has had to endure a partner performing such scenes, I cannot accept the rationale that the actor is not the one engaged in the activity, and that because it’s acting, it’s perfectly acceptable. Call me a prude, call me narrow-minded, but the thought of my man swapping spit, grabbing an actress by the breast or ass, or grinding up against another human in the act of feigned copulation, quite frankly makes me sick to my stomach.

Actors will often offer this rebuttal: “It’s ACTING, it’s my job. It’s what I have to do. It’s my normal.”

It’s just work? Yeah, so is stripping. And porn. And prostitution.

And what about the feelings of insecurity and jealousy which I believe would and should naturally spark in an actor’s mate? If a partner cannot seem to adjust or accept the intimate performances which an actor may be called on to perform, is that partner being unfair? What about how the actor approaches his or her partner with the news that a liplock, a bump and grind, or nudity will be required for a scene? Does an actor have the right to wave the flag of “creative license” in the face of his or her boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse?

I’ll tell you this much: the idea of my man’s lips, tongue, hands, body on another actor bugs me to no end. Such activities are private, intimate interactions, and my strong belief is that they should NOT be shared with anyone else, even during an acting scene which is supposedly an artistic expression and completely make-believe. Pheromones are released during a romantic kiss, and can’t be avoided. And quite frankly, there have been enough stories about actors hooking up off the set because they discovered that there was a sexual or romantic connection, one that might be worth jeopardizing an existing relationship for.

The only other industries which require intimate encounters between humans are stripping, porn and prostitution. Perhaps the actions don’t have the same meaning as they do when the working individual is with his or her real-life love interest, but the activities are still very much occurring. Yes, I know those of you who are actors want to debate this, especially since you only feign sexual encounters. However, no other industry besides the ones I have previously mentioned even approaches the compromising positions and intimate encounters which acting does. For actors to be called upon to kiss, fondle and grind up against others, and to expect their mates to be completely okay with it just seems like the ultimate double standard, and I am not afraid to say that I find the whole thing rather unreasonable.

Here are a few admissions from actors which I found online:

“And when I kiss a woman, in my head, I WANT HER. I committed to whatever I was playing fully. This doesn’t mean I wasn’t professional and respectful, but as a young man making out with a young women (sic), I was thinking, THIS IS AWESOME!”

“Most of the answers here are very much along the lines of ‘it’s just a job’
However, I am what is often described as a method actress. I will look at my scene partner and think about what it would be like to kiss him, touch him, what he would look like naked, what he would do to me if we were alone, those sorts of sexy things. And also if we are working together for more than a day or so, I do tend to get a bit of a crush on my scene partner for a while. It goes away and I’ve never acted on those feelings.”

“It’s like running in the rain. There’s a certain point when you go, ‘[Expletive] it, I’m already wet. I’m not going to get any less wet, so I might as well just enjoy how this feels.’ I mean, sure, there’s awkwardness about being in a weird flesh-colored thong, bouncing on top of an actress. I am not a small human being. I weigh at least 200 pounds and I’m six-foot-two. And Wiig is a twig; she’s a skinny little thing. It’s weird and uncomfortable at first, but then all the awkwardness melts away and you think, All right, we’re doing this, so let’s have fun with it. You know what I mean? You’re in that moment and it’s happening and it’s not going to get any better, so you might as well enjoy it.” — Jon Hamm, on Bridesmaids

For more interesting quotes from celebrities regarding filming sex scenes, you can click on the link here:

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a31833/celebrity-quotes-about-filming-sex-scenes/

Fat-Bottomed Girls

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If I see one more fat-assed female wagging her goodies all over social media and claiming to be a “fit chick”, I swear I will scream. It’s one thing to have a sumptuous, full set of glutes which either Mother Nature was kind enough to dole out or which a consistent glute training routine created. It’s another thing entirely to have a wide, chunky, FAT derriere and pretend that such a poor display of physical fitness can pass off as an awe-inspiring example of hard work and dedication.

Basically, fat-bottomed girls are a dime a dozen these days. I say this boldly because I have seen far too many Instagram accounts which feature women who are amply endowed in the posterior, yet not through hard work and determination, and who think that there is some value in collecting followers simply on the basis of their smutty, slutty images. As was suggested in the Queen song “Fat Bottomed Girls” from 1978, girls who would ordinarily fail to catch the eye of a man who wanted a quality mate would do in a pinch when it came to casual sex. The song celebrates groupies who would never have a chance at being around musical superstars unless they agreed to engage in sexual activities for a night or two.

We now live in an age in which a woman like Kim Kardashian (yes, I am picking on her) is able to attain CELEBRITY STATUS on the basis of questionable criteria:

1. She has a huge derriere, and it isn’t shapely. Well, I guess chunky is a shape.
2. She has a certain amount of sex appeal and isn’t shy about disrobing.
3. She’s rolling in money so she can essentially buy her way to the top.

This begs the question, what is her talent? I challenge EVERY female who possesses surplus adipose tissue in her nether regions and who has a massive social media following simply on the basis of that part of her anatomy to tell me what talent she could possibly have. Because even if she DID have a hidden talent, no male follower on Instagram gives a rat’s ass whether she was a gifted violinist at one point or that she almost completed a masters program in criminal justice.

Just keeping it real.

A Funny Story My Favorite Aunty Shared

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Aunty Jean was my favorite aunt on my mother’s side of the family, and she made a tremendous impact on my life from a very early age. I remember meeting her for the first time during my first visit to Hawaii at the age of three. My uncle Tadashi had suddenly died of a heart attack, so my mom flew us both out to Hawaii to pay our last respects.

From the moment I set foot on Hawaiian soil, I was mesmerized by the islands and felt immediately at home. It certainly helped that I was able to meet my mother’s extensive family, and was greeted warmly by them. Jean was especially doting, and spent a great deal of time with me during our week on Oahu. She engaged me in arts and crafts, took me to the garden in the backyard to teach me about tropical fruits, and spoke pidgin English, a weird combination of Japanese, Hawaiian, and English which delighted my young mind.

Aunty also let me tag along and watch her cook. It was on one of those days during which I was watching her that I exhibited behavior which she thought was peculiar and brilliant, and went so far as to share the incident with other family members. The strange thing is that I barely remember the incident, but she remembered it vividly and loved retelling the story.

Aunty was standing in front of her kitchen sink, cleaning a whole fish. I stood next to her on my tiptoes, peering over the sink’s edge to watch her scale the fish.

Then I said, “Aunty, take one eyeball out.” She was alarmed.

“Why do you want one eyeball?”, she exclaimed.

“Please, Aunty, can I have an eyeball?”

She looked at me, impressed by my determination. “Well, okay, but I don’t know why you want it.” She proceeded to enucleate the fish on one side. “Okay, now what?” She looked down at me expectantly.

“Cut it in half.”

“What? Why do you want me to cut it in half?”

“Please Aunty.”

“Okay.” She shook her head in wonder and then cut the eyeball in half. “Now What?”

I held my hand out, palm up. “You can give it to me. Both pieces.”

Aunty obliged, placing two half-orbs onto my palm.

“Thank you Aunty.” I smiled at her, then looked down at the cross sections, studying their anatomy, bringing my hand to eye level to get a closer look. Once I had the anatomy lesson in my hand, I no longer paid attention to the full fish corpse which Aunty was cleaning.

My aunt found my fascination with a sliced fish eyeball completely odd, and was overcome with the strong sense that I would become either a scientist or a physician when I grew up. How right she was. During my entire grade school, high school and college years, I was in large part a science nerd, and when dissections, science experiments or surgeries on small animals were presented to me as class assignments, I dove in with feverish enthusiasm. At one point during college, I held a major in science illustration (I later switched to exercise science and obtained my Bachelor’s degree in that field). Eventually, I endured the rigors of medical school as well as three years of family practice residency, and I have enjoyed a career as a board certified physician for 13 years.

Fighting The Sirens

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Anyone who works in the entertainment field knows that audible distractions can really throw a wrench in the works while filming, recording, or taping. Interruptions on set prolong the time that talent and crew must be on set to get clean, usable takes. Otherwise benign sounds like a cough, jangling keys, or a barking dog will register on audio recordings, requiring the director and talent to pause until the noise has subsided, then re-shoot the take.

I have been on set for many different projects over the years and have been witness to various noise distractions. However, I had never experienced a nonstop cacophony of sirens and horns while on set until a couple of weeks ago, while I worked on a commercial set in New York City. Our first day on set was punctuated by a relatively steady stream of horns and sirens which added another ten minutes to our shoot day, since we had to pause for every single one, then launch into an additional take each time we had an interruption.

Day two was even worse, because evidently an “incident” in NYC right near the studio warranted a profusion of police vehicles, ambulances and fire engines at the site. In addition to all the sirens which blared for several hours, irate drivers on the road insisted on expressing their frustrations by leaning on their car horns. It’s no exaggeration for me to say that the steady interruptions emanating from the neighborhood added another twenty minutes to the shoot that day.

It’s difficult to maintain your cool when you land a perfect take, only to have a siren or horn blare right at the tail end of the take. Guess what that means? It means the take is rendered worthless because of the extraneous noise.

Everyone on set became increasingly irritated by the challenges to getting a perfect take. It became a bit of a joke as we kept rolling, launching into another take, only to have another siren assert itself and ruin that one as well. It was like a big F*&% YOU to all of us on set, and it kept occurring!

The clamor of alarms continued mercilessly, and our frustrations rose in direct proportion. Towards the end of the second shoot day, we switched to uttering expletives to more adequately express our increasing annoyance with the whole situation. The one positive note about all the interruptions and our reaction to them was that we all bonded even more during the project.

If you are planning to shoot a commercial, television project, film, music video or other entertainment related footage in New York City, and the studio you shoot in isn’t soundproof, you had better brace yourself for the probable onslaught of noise which will challenge the patience of everyone on set.

Bound And Determined

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People frequently ask me what my biggest life goals are.  As a chronic overachiever, I entertain many different interests and am pretty fearless about diving into new ventures and determining whether I have talents which fee them. 

My BIGGEST passions lie in the fields of medicine and fitness.  From the time I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science, I have been completely committed to fitness and to leading by example.  My medical degree is another feather in my cap which increases my knowledge and my influence, but I always strive to combine all my talents and interests together as much as I can in order to lend a number of perspectives on health, wellness, anti-aging and fitness.

My ultimate goals in medicine and fitness are to:

1) Have my own TV show.  A few years ago, I began stating that I wanted to become the female version of Dr. Oz.  I said this at first in jest, then became more intrigued by the idea until it became one of my ultimate goals.  I reasoned that if Dr. Oz can command the attention of women around the globe (his viewer demographic appears to be mostly women between their early 20’s and late 60’s), why couldn’t an attractive 50-year old female physician, fitness professional, IFBB Pro, writer, and model who is also highly experienced in aesthetic medicine, nutrition, fitness and anti-aging achieve something similar? That shift in thinking was all I needed to spark a tremendous goal which I am constantly trying to manifest. And come hell or high water, I will reach this goal.

2) Establish a foothold in the fitness industry as an icon for the older crowd.   This is also HUGE for me, whether it manifests via workout content, products which are sold with my name or endorsement on them, or even a specific show on television or the internet. Instead of allowing my chronological age to deter me from going after I want, I use it to empower my goal set and am proud of forging new ground in territories which other people may be afraid of stepping into. I also refuse to allow others to discourage me because they have narrow minded ideas about what someone my age should be doing. I will not be the stereotypical fuddy-duddy who grumbles about my age and who lets it block me from my goals.

3) Launch my own specialty skin care line.  I have wanted to do this ever since I held the position of Director of Cosmetic Research at a Los Angeles area hospital.  Since I am of mixed ethnicity I would love to tailor a line of skincare products and cosmetics towards individuals of multiple ethnicities who have unique concerns. I honestly believe that there are too many harsh and reactive chemicals which are used in skincare products and cosmetics, and also understand first-hand that people of color have different needs and issues.

4) Design women’s fitness apparel and swimsuits with a distinctive edge.  I have yet to see clothing and swimsuit designs which incorporate the design elements I have always wanted to see and which are edgy and appealing.  The only thing that has been my real stopping point here is that I cannot stand sewing! When I was 17, I designed an entire spring line of active apparel for a company, and was thrilled to see my vision made and sold. Decades later, I’d love the opportunity to delve into that world once more.

What do I want to be when I grow up?  Lots of things!  I will keep my nose to the grindstone to make these goals and dreams manifest.

I’d Rather Have Genuine Followers…

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It is astounding to me how many people will try to cheat the social media system in place these days by buying followers. A few of my friends have jumped on the follower-purchasing bandwagon, and though I understand to some extent why such a practice is appealing to them, I honestly believe it is cheating. I have seen Instagram profiles grow literally overnight (examples are: from 12k followers to 26k, or from 2,700 to 88k), and the number of likes on images grow (more examples: from 45 to 1,200, from 300 to 8,000). Sorry, but I call bullshit on every single individual whose profile has a sudden surge without any valid reason for it. It’s all so obvious!

Furthermore, followers who are purchased are typically not interested in what a person has to sell, and are only interested in a follow-for-follow, like-for-like benefit. For those of you who are guilty of purchasing followers, I will be blunt and tell you that your group of fair-weather followers is as ephemeral as the Sahara wind. So if you insist on building a phony world for yourself, by all means, have fun with that. But you will lose genuine followers in a heartbeat. I just won’t play into that game of illusion.

Yes I AM a Doctor!

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doctor-bag2It appears to be a lifelong curse for me to have to deal with people who never seem to take the fact that I am a bona fide medical doctor seriously. Most recently, I was challenged by a hater who didn’t bother to check facts and find out WHY I had “board-certified physician” on my main Instagram profile. All she saw was B.A. in Exercise Science and stupidly assumed that I had no other credentials. I purposely left out all my medical certifications and titles because I had to include my fitness background, writing and modeling descriptions in a limited number of characters.

She attacked me by posting a challenging comment on MY Instagram post, so I wrote to her clarifying my background and then blocked her because her comment was rather scathing. She returned through a different IG profile and BLASTED me, hurling profanity at me via another public comment. So I threw all her filthy words back to her and blocked her again. I REFUSE to be bullied by haters, especially those who don’t bother to do some research before hurling false accusations and insults against people they don’t even know.

Even those who know me through social circles will exclaim, “Oh wow, you mean you’re a DOCTOR doctor? That’s amazing!”, as if my medical training and career are somehow not supposed to be taken seriously by those near and dear to me. I want to yell, “YES, I am a doctor! Why didn’t you believe me the first time I told you? Why do I have to somehow prove it to you?” What irks me is that I don’t see these people doubting the abilities of their friends who work in any other industry, be it certified public accounting, law enforcement, or any other respected profession. I honestly resent the insinuation that my credentials somehow don’t count because I don’t wear a white coat all the time (by the way, I can’t STAND wearing those polyester nightmares) or flaunt my professional title like a badge.

For those of you who question what my credentials are, I will be very clear. Several years after I obtained my Bachelor’s degree, I completed four years of medical school which culminated in a medical diploma. After that, I completed my internship year (which was also my first year of family practice residency training) and became licensed as a physician. Two more years of residency training in family practice followed, then I sat for my specialty boards and became board-certified in family practice. Eight years later I had to sit for board recertification, and that process will repeat itself every eight years until I retire from medicine.

I am not a nurse or a physician’s assistant (though those professions are highly respectable, and attract some of the smartest and most compassionate people on the planet). What I AM is:

Degreed.
Licensed.
Board-certified.
Physician…ahem, a.k.a. Medical Doctor.
Yessir.

I may not be conservative or conventional, but I expect the same amount of respect as a physician who chooses to fit the mold and wear conservative attire and a white coat. My patients refer to me as Dr. Naito, not as Dr. Stacey or Stacey. I have worked VERY hard to become a physician, and I also recognize how hard my colleagues work as well. That is why when I am around other physicians, I err on the side of caution and refer to them as DOCTOR and not by their first names unless they specifically ask me to refer to them on a first name basis.