Island People
Both sides of the footlights

Patrick Fujioka watches a play rehearsal at the Kamehameha Schools; Shandi Jarneski, standing, is the play director. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer

Patrick Fujioka may not be a real-life chef, but he does manage to whip up his own specialities, which include teaching and acting, pursuits that have landed him jobs he can feel good about.

Patrick Fujioka Age: 37 Hometown: Born in California, raised on O‘ahu, now lives in Waipi‘o Gentry with his wife, Colleen Position: Head of the drama department at Kamehameha Schools Claim to fame: "Chef Jeff" in a recent Zippy’s Restaurants TV commercial and "Da Mean Mongoose" in Lisa Matsumoto’s local-style, fairy-tale plays Next project: Part of the production of Matsumoto’s upcoming "On Dragonfly Wings," a stage adaptation of the award-winning children's book "Wailana the Waterbug," an allegory on the life of leukemia victim Alana Dung Quote: "The level of talent isn’t greater (on the Mainland). We have people that can do what they do."

And jobs he thoroughly enjoys.

During the day, Fujioka heads the drama department at Kamehameha Schools, tirelessly working with 120 students and teaching four classes.

But after work, he transforms himself into different characters, "Chef Jeff," the cook seen on recent Zippy’s Restaurants commercials being his latest incarnation.

That role has made Fujioka something of a celebrity, although he’s no newcomer to commercials. When he takes off his glasses and smoothes back his hair, he becomes the comical character who, in a spoof of cooking shows, prepares a meal in a demo kitchen by pulling out a ready-to-heat bag of Zippy’s beef stew.

Although he finds the commercial funny, he can’t watch himself on TV, he said: "I guess I’m just self-critical."

But this opportunity to be someone else, to play another character, is just one of his attractions to acting.

"I like the creative side of acting, and the immediate response to it," said Fujioka during an interview stolen from his prep period at Kamehameha Schools.

That fervor for creativity was evident in the Drama Room of the Performing Arts Building on upper campus that Tuesday afternoon.

Resembling a black-box theater, the classroom, though empty, seemed to capture a sense of creative energy. Preparations for a student’s one-act plays were well under way, with backdrops and sets being designed and built on the small stage fronting a room full of chairs. His office walls are lined with videos, books and scripts, from "Grease" to "Henry V" to "When Harry Met Sally."

Fujioka may be a well-known local stage actor, having performed in about 60 plays in his career, but he’s also very comfortable in the classroom.

In his first year at Kamehameha, Fujioka is already planning a full year of productions and field trips. He is directing "Little Shop of Horrors," which opens in April. And he’s helping to direct two student productions in the small theater. During a school year, he takes his students to about five plays, hoping to ignite that passion for the theater he felt when he was in high school.

"I want to turn kids on to what I got turned onto," Fujioka said.

Looking for an elective class to take during his junior year at Saint Louis, Fujioka signed up for a drama class. A fun, easy class, he figured.

But theater would become much more than fun, an important part of his life.

Playing Captain Bluntschli in George Bernard Shaw’s "Arms and the Man," Fujioka was bitten by the acting bug.

At first, it was still just a hobby. On the recommendation of his father, he took business courses at the University of Hawai‘i-Manoa. But during his sophomore year in college, his father died from an aneurism, leaving him and his younger sister to comfort and support their mom, who suffered from hysterical deafness.

A strong woman, his mom reciprocated that support, encouraging Fujioka to pursue a career in acting. He declared theater his major and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1987.

With a degree in hand, his future was still uncertain.

"There is only two things you can do with a drama degree," Fujioka said. "Try to make it in New York or L.A., or teach."

But Hollywood couldn’t seduce Fujioka to give up plate lunches and postcard beaches.

So teaching was his only alternative.

Prior to Kamehameha Schools, Fujioka taught drama for two years at Saint Louis and four years at La Pietra Hawai‘i School for Girls.

He views teaching as being able to foster and encourage local talent — something Hawai‘i has a lot of.

"I always wondered what Mainland actors had that made them so successful, and what local actors had to offer," he said. Before graduating from UH, Fujioka spent a year at Utah State, to find an answer to those questions.

"In Hawai‘i, there are those who are totally motivated. But there’s a lot who cruise," he said. "Up there, there was a stream of activity, and I got swept away."

The only difference between local and Mainland actors, he figured out, was the opportunities.

"The level of talent isn’t greater," he said. "We have people that can do what they do."

Teaching hasn’t smothered his passion for acting.

Famous for his role as "Da Mean Mongoose" in Lisa Matsumoto’s local-style fairy-tale plays, Fujioka has also left a lasting impression in other stage shows, such as "Blood Brothers" and "West Side Story." He has even co-directed some of Matsumoto’s plays.

"He is a wonderful, incredibly talented performer and director, and it’s always a joy to work with him," said Matsumoto, executive and artistic director at ‘Ohi‘a Productions, who has known Fujioka for about 15 years. "There are many things that amaze me about Pat, but the one thing that I think is always exciting to see is how he’s able to think on his feet. In live theater, things go wrong periodically, and Pat has the ability to think on his feet and get himself out of a situation and deal with a mistake. He’s just really, really gifted in his ability to be spontaneous that way. He’s so in the moment, in character. It’s really quite remarkable to see."

Theater is so much part of Fujioka’s life that he married another Matsumoto regular, Colleen Sullivan, who recently starred as the princess in "The Princess and the Iso Peanut."

Although he prefers the "instant gratification" stage provides, he also enjoys dabbling in TV and film.

In addition to the Zippy’s ad, he’s done commercials for American Savings Bank, Kapi‘olani Health and Schuler Homes. He was also the guy who painted himself into a corner in a commercial for a company he couldn’t recall.

The Zippy’s commercial, Matsumoto added, was fitting for Fujioka: It’s "been a regular meeting place (and hangout) for our gang, after rehearsals and performances, for meetings."

A movie junkie, he tries to watch all the new releases and has trouble keeping his critiques to himself. Ask him to name movies whose characters were miscast, and he’ll rattle off titles like "Top Gun" and "Titanic." Ask him about movies that surprised him, and he’ll report back on "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Notting Hill."

There are times when he will rent five movies in one night — and according to a theme. Sometimes it would be a "Godfather" theme or movies starring John Malkovich.

It’s more than an escape for him. This is his craft.

But he has no intention of leaving paradise to pursue a million-dollar acting career in Hollywood.

"Nah," he said, shrugging. "I’m a local boy. I think I would miss Hawai‘i."

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