“Quick, Ryan!” I blurted out. “What anime did you grow up watching?”
I was interviewing actor, martial artist and noted young philanthropist Ryan Potter, star of Disney’s Big Hero 6, when his reps told me my previous question was the last. So of course I snuck one more in.
“Oh man, oh man,” he tells me in a strong southern California accent. “Let’s be real, I grew up watching Studio Ghibli films, Katsushiro Otomo, [and] Satoshi Kon.” Damn, this kid was hardcore. It’s great to know that a big-budget Disney movie inspired by decades of anime and tokusatsu starred a total fanboy himself.
“It’s hard to say individual projects, but I feel like One Piece and Akira are my two biggest influences.”
An adaptation of an obscure Marvel comic series, Big Hero 6 was a Thanksgiving blockbuster that grossed over $520 million worldwide and is a nominee for Best Animated Film at this year’s Academy Awards. It will also be available on Disney DVD and Blu-ray on February 24.
Raised in Tokyo before moving to the United States at the age of 7, Ryan began his acting career at 15 in the Nickelodeon television series Supah Ninjas. He later had a recurring role in Fred: The Show and starred in the indie drama Senior Project before landing the lead in the latest hit from Walt Disney Animated Studios. In Big Hero 6, Ryan plays boy genius “Hiro,” the leader of the bombastic titular super team who must stop a mysterious masked villain from wrecking havoc all over their Blade Runner-esque hybrid city of San Fransokyo.
In a case of art reflecting life, the actor himself is something of a hero: In 2011, Ryan founded founded Toy Box of Hope, an annual holiday collection drive for homeless children in Los Angeles.
I recently spoke to Ryan — who at 19-years-old knows White Tiger kung-fu and can beat up my 23-year-old jell-o ass — about his downtime, playing an Asian-American superhero, and his desire to always help people.
Let’s start with you before anything else. You’re an actor, martial artist, director, a philanthropist, and you still have plans to study art and film in college. You’re hella busy. What’s a guy like you do to just chill?
Ryan: [laughs] My question for you, before I answer that, is are you located in San Francisco?
I’m not, but I have been there though!
Ryan: Were you raised in northern California? Because you just said “hella.” [laughs] Really it’s just kind of taken up with hobbies. I play soccer once a week with friends. My martial arts training, my photography, I try to shoot a couple times a week. I just try to stay busy.
So Big Hero 6 was, put simply, huge.
Ryan: It was!
Congratulations on its success! So how does that feel for you, to star in an Oscar-nominated picture? What went through your head when it was first announced?
Ryan: Thank you! I’m still trying to process that they allowed me to be in the film! So everything that has come after, kind of driving through those gates at Disney for the first time, trying to meet the Disney standards, everything after that has just been kind of a bonus, I think … the success of the film, it being received so well internationally, and now all these different nominations and awards. At the Visual Effects Society Awards we were nominated five times and won five times. At the Annies, we walked away with a couple of awards, and now the Oscar nominations.
I don’t know, it’s hard to put into words. I feel like every actor on Big Hero 6 kind of uses this same word over and over, this whole experience has been surreal. It’s every kid’s dream to be part of a Disney film and, you know, no matter how old you are, that kid in you that just is just gleaming going in to work for Disney.
Big Hero 6 is about family and friends and coping with the loss of loved ones. With the charities you’re involved, I think that’s something you know pretty well.
Ryan: Absolutely.
So how much of yourself did you channel into Hiro? How deep did you have to go as an actor?
Ryan: With Hiro, I just got to play myself. I got to play myself in extraordinary circumstances, like flying and fighting alongside some superheroes. But really at the end of the day, it was kind of my personality and thought process when I was 13 or 14, you know? I’ve had an older brother from Big Brothers Big Sisters for, man, well over ten years now. I mean, he’s one of the biggest mentors in my life.
That relationship between James [my mentor] and I, and Hiro and Tadashi, is very similar. He just makes sure I’m okay. He checks in on me. And, yeah, I feel like channeling myself into Hiro wasn’t necessarily kind of… I wouldn’t put it in those words, but it was more just channeling past experiences and past emotions and kind of lending them to Hiro.
With how big superheroes are now in pop culture, how did you feel about playing an Asian-American superhero in a big Hollywood movie?
Ryan: It’s the greatest thing ever. [laughs] Because, I mean, there really aren’t a lot of them. Dick Grayson can be played by an Asian-American, that would be pretty cool, and Nightwing could be played by an Asian-American too. But past that, like, even the things that come to mind. Iron Fist? Wait no, that’s a Caucasian dude. There’s really not a lot of room for Asian-American superheroes. So I’m just over the moon I get to play literally me, a 14-year-old me, in this film. It’s kind of a dream come true.
I’m Filipino and 23, and even I was like “Dude! That’s me!” when I was watching.
Ryan: Yeah! Exactly! I think that’s why the film did so well, because how relatable it is. Every character you see on screen. Any audience member around the world can find a character on screen and be able to relate to them one way or another. Whether it’s the way the look or whether the way they act.
About your philanthropy. You’ve played heroes on screen and you’ve become sort of a hero for kids, and I know you’ve also been an advocate for NOH8. What attracts you to being so active in your community?
Ryan: I’ve never quite understood why. I really don’t have a reason behind it other than the fact that I know I need to help in one way or another. When I moved from Japan to the United States, it was a huge culture shock.
Because how prevalent the homeless issue is in the United States kind of blew my mind. Because in Japan, the homeless population, they hide themselves much better than they do here. And driving down places like Hope Street and downtown LA, and even now it’s just branching out and there is just more and more homeless people every day. It just really breaks my heart.
I didn’t understand [back then] why these people were living on the streets and didn’t have a home. So, I think kind of from that, and then having experiences with being bullied in middle school and high school, and that’s why I reached out to the NOH8 Campaign.
But I don’t know. I’ve always [wanted to help]. Even now, a job I that I would love to take on is being a firefighter. Ever since I was a little kid, in kindergarten, [they asked] “What’s your dream job?” I drew this picture. “Oh, I wanna be a firefighter.” And the little caption below, they asked why do you want to be a firefighter? I said, “I want to break down doors and save people!” [laughs] I don’t know, it’s an old passion of mine. Just to be able to help people and save people one way or another.
That’s awesome. Hollywood could benefit from way more people like you.
Ryan: [laughs]
Disney’s Big Hero 6 will be out on Disney DVD and Blu-ray on February 24. It is available now iTunes and On Demand.