Clyde Kusatsu: Person of the Week

Clyde Kusatsu is an American actor who has appeared in over 300 films and television productions since his debut in 1973 and has had three series. He is the Secretary of the SAG-AFTRA FOUNDATION after previously serving as the first elected President of the SAG-AFTRA LA Local, and was four times elected the National VP LA from 2013-2021 until succeeded by Michelle Hurd. He currently appears in A MAN ON THE INSIDE on Netflix.

Insta: dareelclydekusatsu X: @clydekusatsu

Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date?

A. Alcohol was my primary companion, and my sobriety date is Aug. 4th, 1994, so coming up on 32-year anniversary.

Q. Is there anything special in your sobriety toolkit that helps keep you sober?

A. Through the program and individual therapy, I absorbed the tools for maintaining my sobriety. We learn to make choices and check in each day, and when challenged remembering the Serenity Prayer.  All the reminders help, e.g. “Keep It Simple Stupid,” and especially “Principles Before Personalities” when making “Choices,” but most important “The Primary Purpose is to Stay Sober.”

Q. Do you think addiction is an illness, disease, a choice, or a wicked twist of fate?

A. It’s a genetic link that predisposes one towards addiction but one thing it isn’t…”A Wicked Twist of Fate.”

Q. Where are you from and where do you reside now?

A. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1948 when it was still a US Territory, and I’ve been in Los Angeles since 1971.

Q. What is one word you would use to describe yourself?

A. I’m still evolving and “uncovering and discovering” as we say in the program.

Q. Describe how you came to your “rock bottom” point.

A. Well, I’d say it was a high bottom and not “rock bottom,” but having to place your son at 13 in series of recovery programs and attending many of the parent sessions, I began to connect the dots and realized my responsibility and placement in the Family Dynamic. I was in a network series and doing film projects, but the Family was breaking, creating that Irony and Choice in accepting my part in this. A resentment my son had for a few years was that he got sent into recovery, and his dad came out sober, but what’s good is that he’s only behind me in Sobriety by a year. We look at it as the Gift we were allowed to discover and embrace, that has provided my foundation for over 32 years now.

Q. If you ever retire, would you prefer to live by the ocean, lake, river, mountaintop, desert, or penthouse?

A. Well, I’m still getting to work in my field and utilize my skill set whether it’s in front of the camera or behind the mic via voice-over or dubbing. I’m full of gratitude for that gift.

Q. How do you measure success?

A. One Day At A Time. Success is to continue to be that journeyman performer who still able to work and keep that skill set maintained and exercise…”Use It or Lose It.”  I don’t need to build an Empire, but just enough to qualify for Health Insurance.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?

A. Those unwilling to surrender and admit and own their part of their actions and behavior, instead of blaming others or situations, instead of taking responsibility for their choices and actions. There is a reason the “Anonymous” is part of the articles of Recovery, and beware of “Self-Promotion.”

Q. If you had an extra million dollars, which charity would you donate it to?

A. I would work to find ten worthy programs that are in need of support and funding rather than just “One.” The old “Three Sisters” application to farming where you plant corn and beans, which provide the nitrogen to feed the corn and squash to cover the ground and suppress the growth of weeds while also enhancing the soil, is a wonderful model of multiple sources that can compliment each other for the betterment of the soil that keeps the ground healthy for continued growth.

Q. Who has been the biggest influence throughout your life?

A. I would say the long line of mentors I have encountered who have guided me through the journey on the path of life.  There is no “one”, but the primary influence would be “Recovery” and the tools it provides of many of us to use and keep using….”It Works If You Work It…”

Q. If you could give advice to your younger self what would it be?

A. Get into therapy, and learn about yourself sooner instead of trying to do it alone, and with will-power for they are the false idols of what it takes to be a successful person in Life.  But hey, sometimes the best teacher is the ditch we fall into or the obstacle that stops us from pausing to reflect and perhaps find that other way through…and most importantly not allow “Shame” to prevent us from admitting and growing….that’s a hard one which basically means “get yourself up and dust your self off, and start all over again.”

Q. Who made you feel seen growing up?

A. Well perhaps it’s just the Soul I was born with, along with an intelligence and mind to Learn.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?

A. Hmmmm that is an interesting proposition, because you’re opening yourself to disappointment because they all are “Human”.  #CoDependentNoMore

Q. What major event or realization shaped who you are?

A. The situation or moment where I discovered I may have a “problem” then the final surrender and admission that “I am an Alcoholic!”  And instead of shameful judgement and reaction, 99% of the time I was greeted with “Congratulations” and affirmations and validation.

Q. What sound or sounds do you most remember from your childhood?

A. The Community of TV and how the world was through that Medium.

Q. What do you love most about living sober?

A. The clarity that I don’t need to smoke or drink to find solace, and with that clarity the gratitude of being sober.

Q. Which part of your treatment and recovery do you feel was the most interesting or unexpected?

A. Through Meetings and one on one therapy, I uncovered a path and journey where “I wasn’t Alone”…there were and are coincidences that accompanied me and the wonder of making those connections that culminated in me being guided into a Journey of Recovery.

Q. What’s your concept of a Higher Power?

A. There is the Power of the Universe and it is the act of surrendering by praying for guidance or letting go all “Buts.”

Q. What is your Astrological sign?

A. VIRGO.

Q. Who is your favorite celebrity in recovery?

A. There are no favorites…we are all yin and yang!

Q. What book(s) have you read more than once?

A. “The Big Book” and Melodie Beatty’s “The Language of Letting Go” which was like a Gideon Tome for many years…as a daily mediations which always seemed to fit that day though a different year…just what I needed to hear or remind me.

Q. What books are you reading now?

A. No one specific book, just a pile in my office and another pile in my Kindle Reader.

Q. If you were giving a dinner party for your 3 favorite authors, living or dead, who would they be?

A. That I cannot really answer…all have feet of clay at some point or another as the defects are what seem to propel their writings and need to write about.

Q. Which film have you watched the most?

A. John Ford Films e.g. THEY WERE EXPENDABLE, Cavalry Triology, 12 O’Clock High, THE WAY WE WERE, THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, actually a wide variety Epics, Comedies, and Dramas.

Q. Who is your favorite film director?

A. Sydney Pollack with whom I got to work with on THE INTERPRETER….which I think was his last film….but THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, THE WAY WE WERE, and others still stand the test of time.

Q. What book would you most like to see turned into a movie or TV show that hasn’t already been adapted?

A. That I don’t have the breath of knowledge to venture into the conversation.

Q. Are you binge watching any TV series?

A. SLOW HORSES, DARK WINDS, SHRINKING, HIJACKED, REACHER, PEAKY BLINDERS, LANDMAN, YELLOWSTONE, and many Brit series e.g. GRACE, SHETLAND, CALL THE MIDWIFE, ALL THE CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, IN THE LINE OF DUTY, and many others.

Q. What is your favorite App?

A. Google.

Q. Who is your favorite performer, living or dead?

A. Robert Redford.

Q. Who are your heroes in real life?

A. Robert Kennedy Sr., Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, James Carville.

Q. What are some of the most memorable songs in your life?

A. The Way We Were, The Shadow of Your Smile, Great American SongBook, Beatles.

Q. What is your favorite city?

A. Honolulu.

Q. What is your favorite cuisine?

A. Japanese.

Q. What is the best concert/performance/play you’ve ever attended?

A. Maurice Chevalier in Concert.

Q. What are five things you always carry with you?

A. Contact rewetting drops, Kleenex…’bout it.

Q. What is the best and or worse piece of advice someone has given you?

A. You Got This….Just Relax & Breathe.

Q. What is the best piece of advice you’ve given someone else?

A. Got Nothing.

Q. What is your most treasured possession?

A. Motion Picture Academy lapel button with ’93 — they were only given out one year.

Q. What do you value most in a friendship?

A. Loyalty and a Good Ear.

Q. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

A. Getting Sober and Recovery.

Q. What is your favorite compliment to receive, and why?

A. You’re a good actor…Aspiration meets Accomplishment…to continue practicing my dream for over 53 years now and being relevant.

Q. What is your biggest fear?

A. The end before the breath of the possible and more.

Q. Where do you go when you’re seeking solitude?

A. Just a quiet place.

Q. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

A. Patience.

Q. What would constitute a “perfect” day for you?

A. Accomplishing a task and checking it off the to-do list.

Q. What is your biggest regret?

A. That I didn’t seek therapy and earlier and wipe out the expectations imposed on me by family, culture, and times.

Q. What is the greatest risk you’ve ever taken?

A. Pursuing Acting.

Q. Which living person do you most despise?

A. Our Current President.

Q. What is something you’ve learned about yourself in the last six months?

A. That when you think you got it, you don’t, and need to move forward.

Q. What is something you are currently curious about?

A. How does coding really work amidst all that typing on the keyboard.

Q. What do you love most about yourself?

A. I’m empathetic.

Q. What is your greatest extravagance?

A. Multiple TVs and subscriptions.

Q. When did you realize you were a grown-up?

A. Oh heck, I still am in the process.

Q. How important are your pets to you?

A. They were a great comfort to hug and get hugged back, but I’m too old to handle the labs now.

Q. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

A. It’ll be fine!  How are you?  But a good one is Are you Well?