Hiro Kanagawa: Identity, Fighting Stereotypes, and opening the doors for others.

Hiro Kanagawa

All of the opportunities we enjoy today—everything from civil liberties to social standings to professional opportunities are made possible because of all those who preceded us. But what did they have to overcome to make this possible?

Hiro Kanagawa is an actor with over 200 credits that include everything from Smallville, NBC’s “Heroes Reborn” to Taishi Okamura in Amazon’s “Man in the High Castle” to Captain Tanaka in Netflix’s “Altered Carbon.” Now, he’ll be joining Star Trek Discovery. He’s also an award winning playwright. But these incredible achievements have been hard fought. At the start of his career, Hiro has struggled with the very limited opportunities that existed for Asians. He faced dilemmas like do you take the very few parts available but know that you are also reinforcing stereotypes?

It is a delicate negotiation between whether or not to take what was give-stay in that lane and the impact that it would have on your own personal self worth. Hiro has been at the forefront and shares how he navigated this process, what he had to do not only to build his own career but open the doors for all those who follow. And listen in on what his thoughts are on whether or not he thinks any progress has been made.

Hiro’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/hirokanagawatv

Hiro’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hirokanagawatv/

Yvonne Chapman Returns 2: Exceeding Expectations

Yvonne Chapman

Photo credit: Richie Lubaton

Yvonne Chapman gives a pitch perfect performance as the sophisticated, lethal and complicated assassin Zhilan on CW’s hit Kung Fu. Yvonne hits every beat whether it be during intricate fight sequences nailing the choreography with very step and strike or quietly grounding more tender, heartbreaking scenes that make her character nuanced, redeemable and has audiences rooting for her character.

We got to meet this talented actress on her first appearance Reppin 4.4: Yvonne Chapman where we learned about her personal background, also her first career in Corporate Finance, the sexism she had to face, to the fear and expectations she had to overcome before her leap into entertainment to the importance of community. We went deep and learned about this remarkable talent. We continue our conversation here, she shares even more important insights and lessons learned. And you will learn even more about who she is and what makes up her integrity and character.

Yvonne’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/yvonne__chapman

Yvonne’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ypchapman/?hl=en

Reppin 5.2: Meegwun Fairbrother

Meegwun Fairbrother

Photo credit: Kevin McIntyre

Meegwun Fairbrother is an indigenous actor and screen writer in Canada. He’s has appeared in the role of Owen Beckbie on BURDEN OF TRUTH for four seasons. He has enjoyed performing in five seasons of the television series, Mohawk Girls for APTN. Additional television work to his credit includes two leading roles (twins) in Syfy series Helix; a recurring lead on Netflix’s Hemlock Grove and guest appearances on The Beaverton, Murdoch Mysteries and Haven. His feature film credits include roles in Beeba Boys for Deepa Mehta and Breakout for Damien Lee. 

Meegwun is of Ojibway and Scottish origin, from Grassy Narrows First Nation. From age two to thirteen, he lived up on many First Nations communities across Northern Ontario. He grew up hunting, fishing and enjoying the outdoors while taking part in many Ojibway cultural practices.

Belonging and identity is fundamental need for everyone. Finding and establishing a sense of self impacts how we navigate the world and the prism of how we view life and how we are seen by society. But what happens when all that you were taught, from practices, language, to rituals— all disappear? When your fundamental foundation is gone and you inherit the the collective pain, how does one go about finding their place?

Meegwun grappled with this experience, and he shares his insight here. Meet this talented actor and see how it impacted him and his work and find out if he’s been able to regain his footing.

Meegwun’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/bmeegwun

Meegwun’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meegwun_fairbrother/?hl=en

Reppin 4.11:Tony Giroux

Tony Giroux

Photo by: Richie Lubaton

Tony Giroux is a talented dancer and actor. He’s danced with Pitbull, Rhianna and Zendaya to name a few. As an actor, he has appeared in Descendants, Descendants 3, ABC’s Once Upon A Time. And he co-starred in Lifetime’s FIRST Asian American centered holiday special, Sugar and Spice Holiday. Currently you can see him as Adil in Freeforms’s supernatural hit, Motherland: Forth Salem.

With everything going for him, you maybe surprised how he struggled to find his identity and where he belonged. Tony is of French and Chinese descent and reveals how he relates to his characters and how grappled with finding connection.

This is a fiercely candid conversation. Find out IF he’s been able to reconcile his place and how he did it.

Tony’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/tkgiroux?lang=en

Tony’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tkgiroux/?hl=en

Reppin 4.7: Dr. Samantha Yammine AKA Science Sam

Dr. Samantha Yammine

Photo Credit: Al Quintero

Dr. Samantha Yammine is a Neuroscientist and popular Science Communicator better known as Science Sam.

Throughout her life and career, she’s faced challenges and understands what it’s like to be overlooked. Because of this, she is passionate about empowering people to explore science by making it more familiar, accessible, and inclusive.

She’s harnassing the power of social media like instagram, Tik Tok to make science more accessible, and garnering millions of views every month to better help people assess risk, spot misinformation, and have informed discussions with their friends and family.

She has been a guest Science Correspondent for a variety of shows on Netflix, TVO Kids, CBC GEM, Discovery UK, CBC Radio, and AsapSCIENCE. Find out how representation and science directly effects YOU. Meet her here on Reppin.

Dr. Samantha Yammine’s website: https://www.samanthayammine.com

Dr. Yammine’s Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/heysciencesam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/science.sam/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heysciencesam

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd53z3Lp5Wh-335pOMDxO0g

Reppin 4.4: Yvonne Chapman

Yvonne Chapman

Photo credit: Laura Baldwinson

Yvonne Chapman is a talented Chinese Canadian actress. She’s currently on CW’s hit Kung Fu as the complicated, alluring, sometimes heartbreaking but always lethal villain Zhilan. Her other credits have also included CBC’s Street Legal, CW’s “The 100”, ABC’s “The Crossing.”

Before she was kicking ass on screen, she was doing well in the world of corporate finance! On Reppin, Yvonne shares how she had to overcome her fears, break away from her family’s expectations, all sense of stability to take a giant leap of faith in an effort to make the life and career she wanted. Find out how she found her voice and her footing. And find out how her diverse upbringing, the challenges she faced and her ”late” start in entertainment actually HELPED her.

She reveals the lessons she’s learned and pays it forward here.

Yvonne’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/yvonne__chapman

Yvonne’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ypchapman/

Reppin 3.8: Benjamin Von Wong

Benjamin Von Wong

Benjamin Von Wong is a talented innovative, creative, artist, photographer and activist. His work has been described as a mix of fantasy and photography and combines everyday objects with shocking statistics. It has attracted the attention of corporations, like Starbucks, Dell, and Nike and has generated over 100 million views for causes like ocean plastics, electronic waste, and fashion pollution. Most recently, he was named one of Adweek’s 11 content branded masterminds.

He is also the host of the Impact Everywhere Podcast.

Meet this incredible talent as he shares what he’s learned and how he infuses his creativity with purpose and how he’s working to make a change.

Benjamin’s website: https://www.vonwong.com/

Benjamin’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/thevonwong?s=20

Benjamin’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vonwong/?hl=en

Impact Everywhere: https://impacteverywhere.org/

Photo Courtesy: Benjamin Von Wong

Photo Courtesy: Benjamin Von Wong

Reppin 2.12: Nicola Correia-Damude

Nicola Correia-Damude

Nicola Correia-Damude is an award winning actor and singer. You’ve seen her on Shadowhunters, Burden Of Truth, October Faction, The Strain, Coroner and My Spy. Nicola has also been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for her Guest Starring performance on Remedy and received the Best Actress in a feature film award at the San Diego FilmOut Festival for her work in Margarita. Nicola comes to REPPIN and shares her personal challenges of being mixed race, self identification, body diversity, inequalities, what she’s learned and what she’s doing to open doors for others. You’ll see she’s not only a talented actress and singer-but she’s out in front working to open doors for others.

Nicola’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/nicolancd

Nicola’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolasummer/?hl=en

Reppin 2.8: Osric Chau

Osric Chau

Osric Chau is a Canadian actor and martial artist who starred as Kevin Tran on the CW’s mega hit Supernatural! Some of his other credits include Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Blood and Water, Demon X, Arrow and The Flash. Osric shares some personal stories about self identity and discovery, you’ll find out what risks he’s taken, if they have paid off, what he’s learned and what he’s doing be the change he wants to see. This is an incredibly insightful conversation with this amazing talent.

Osric’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/OsricChau