The scene in the cab

[attagirl]

Interesting how people lose touch and it is just mentioned once he realizes it was Dhalsim that we should start another tournament.

What was the inspiration for you to decide this was the job you wanted. Meaning the movie.

[Zangief]

Is this question for Sean (Sean T. Krishnan, the actor who plays Dhalsim)?

[Dhalsim]

Interesting how people lose touch and it is just mentioned once he realizes it was Dhalsim that we should start another tournament.

What was the inspiration for you to decide this was the job you wanted. Meaning the movie.

Do you mean why as an actor did I want to be a part of this project? Well it just seemed like a lot of fun, to play a video game character and to spoof it the way we did. What irony to have what could have a been a very spiritual character that takes himself too seriously deteriorate into a cynical potty mouthed New York cab driver after all those years. It's been fun, and I had no idea the internet medium could be so popular and reach so many people. I'm an actor mainly with a stage background as well as TV and Film based out of NY mainly. I occasionally get recognized from TV here and there or especially if I'm in a play but it was funny for me the other night to have a waiter approach me in a Los Angeles restaurant asking for an autograph and that he was a fan of the show, I thought it was a joke initially. It seems to be a popular series. It's also fun to shoot and its a great cast and crew, and Sam Reich is an excellent director.

If you want to get a better sense of some of my other work you can always go to IMDB at:
http://imdb.com/name/nm0846615/

[Zangief]

I don't get asked for autographs often (I guess they figure Zangief's too dumb to write, LOL) but I get asked to pose for pictures with fans all the time. I get recognized as Zangief every single day and sometimes get approached by people from other countries who've watched the show in their homelands and I've personally seen our series with Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Japanese subtitles and it reminds me of just how far reaching this show is.

Dhalsim is one of my favorite characters because, aside from having more superpowers than any of the rest of us (Sean gets all the special effects), he's the character with the perpetual "moral dilemma". As a deeply spiritual man, he's opposed to fighting but he's just so darned good at it that he wins a lot of tournaments and has sent a great deal of money to his impoverished village in India. That's why he wears the skulls of children who died in the plague back home; it's a reminder to both his opponents and himself as to why he's a warrior.

Like Sean, I'm also amused by Dhalsim's gritty assimilation into New York City life, interpreted beautifully by Sean, by the way.

[Dhalsim]

That's fantastic, I hadn't realized so many people from other countries were watching and have actually approached you, awesome!

[Zangief]

I really think it's the character more than anything else. Like the shaggy pompadour and big sideburns of an Elvis impersonator, the shaved head, Mohawked and bearded look is so well associated with the Zangief character that it's hard to miss him in public. I can pretty much guarantee that, if I were to shave off the regulation Mohawk, probably few would recognoze me as the actor who portrays him. The appearance is that specific to the Russian Street Fighter.

Prior to being cast as Zangief, with just the shaved head and the beard, I'd get recognized anywhere from once to three times a week as Drummer Bear. Today, it's a daily occurence. Just the other day I was cruising on my bike down Central Avenue in Jersey City Heights and got shout outs to Zangief three times in only about an eight block range!

It has its negative moments, too, though. Zangief seems to be a character whom people either love or hate and I've been given the finger, been informed by a motorist that "ZANGIEF SUCKS!" and even been called a "commie bastard", as I've told Sean already. It's a decidedly mixed bag but it's all exciting.

As for the show's international appeal, I do know from the feedback we get that we're big in Italy, really big in Brazil and all over South America and we're HUGE in Japan! One of the nicest emails I've gotten is from a fan in Moscow thanking me for the way in which I'm representing Russia through Zangief! And I'm only an American of German-Irish descent!

Even Sam Reich himself wasn't quite prepared for the runaway popularity of his creation!

[Dhalsim]

Must be weird to get insulted for looking like a Russian video game character on the streets of Jersey! Well it's fun seeing the different responses regardless I'm sure.

[Zangief]

LOL! Yes, it is (weird and fun, that is), and it's really helped me appreciate why so many people either love him or hate him so much. Personally, I've come to adore him just like he's a real person. He takes a lot of heat for the poor choices he's made over the years but that's really because he's, um, "intellectually challenged". When you consider that Zangief, like Atlas, symbolizes strength itself, it really underscores his biggest weakness; he's "not the sharpest tool in the box" as one reviewer pointed out. Maybe it's that kind of innocence that endears him to me all the more.

Frankly, Sean, as an actor, I'd really be interested in finding out just how you see Dhalsim and just how and why you connect with him. He's the exact opposite of his Russian buddy; highly complex, deeply philosophical and at an advanced level of spiritual understanding that few of us will ever know. Initially, I thought that Zangief and Dhalsim becoming good pals was an unlikely pairing but now I see how much the two of them compliment and balance each other as a duo.

[Dhalsim]

Well I suppose I enjoy seeing the pious let loose a little bit, and I just ran with it from there. He's got a good heart but just seen a lot in life (and in the back of his cab I'm sure! ) after his dreams went astray that made him a potty mouthed, cynical New Yorker but hopefully still endearing and doesn't really want to be that way at the end of the day, in fact it's Zangief he gives him an old spiritual slap to light the fire in his belly again so to speak to want to do something with his life.