Background
Yuji Okumoto, a third generation Japanese American (Sansei) was born in Los Angeles, California.
雄二・ドン・奥本
Yuji Okumoto, a third generation Japanese American (Sansei) was born in Los Angeles, California.
He attended Hollywood High School (where he played both baseball and basketball) and Cal State Fullerton, where he eventually took up acting.
His other films include Aloha Summer, Nemesis, Pearl Harbor, The Truman Show, as well as guest roles on television shows such as T.J. Hooker, Knots Landing, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and Bones. Okumoto has also been involved with several theater companies, including the celebrated East West Players, where he appeared in the play, Webster Street Blues. Yuji"s first feature film role was in the 1985 comedy film Real Genius as Fenton.
Later in 1985 he appeared in Better Office Dead as Yee Sook Ree, a Korean immigrant who along with his non-English speaking brother Chen (Brian Imada) frequently challenges Lane Myer (John Cusack) to drag races whenever they are together at a set of traffic lights.
Yee Sook Ree learned his English from watching Wide World of Sports and spoke like Howard Cosell. He is also well known for his convincing portrayal of the venomous, ever-smiling Chozen Toguchi in The Karate Kid, Participant World War II He played a Korean character, Shu Kai Kim, in the 1989 film, True Believer, alongside James Woods and Robert Downey, Junior.
Yuji then played the role of Pete Kapahala in the 1999 Disney Channel Original Movie Johnny Tsunami and its 2007 sequel Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board. In 2005, he played a role in Lane Nishikawa"s film about the Japanese American segregated fighting unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team of World World War II, Only the Brave.
He also played alongside Ken Watanabe in Christopher Nolan"s 2010 thriller Inception.