Extreme martial artist is well known for his work in "The Last Dragon"

Synopsis - Louis interviews Taimak Guarriello, star of the 1985 classic, ‘The Last Dragon’. Taimak speaks on future plans and past experiences , even revealing a new script in the works.

Louis - You have to forgive me. This is my first interview with Insomniacmania. I am a little nervous to be honest.

Taimak - Oooh Wow!

Louis - And especially to be speaking to you, it is just such an honour…

Taimak - Well thank you so much. It is an honour for you to call me.

Louis - Thank you. Okay let’s start the interview….

Taimak - …I just want you to know that I know you’re nervous but you can’t say anything wrong. There’s nothing you can say that is going to be wrong.

Louis - Thank you, thank you, you are making everything so much easier for me. Okay, first question: Anyone that knows you will remember the character Leroy Green from the 1985 classic, ‘The Last Dragon’, what were your fondest memories from the set?Taimak - Well…working with Vanity (for obvious reasons), hah, working with the Chinese Guy, with Sho’Nuff, everybody was so funny. I had to work with my little ‘brother’ Leo O’Brien; it was hard to keep a straight face throughout the whole shoot. The whole thing, I just couldn’t stop laughing.

Louis - I have to say, along with Breakdance, that was one of my favourite movies of the 80’s. Do you still keep in contact with the cast of Last Dragon?

Taimak - We did for a few years, but then a lot of us got other stuff going. But right now, Michael Schultz and I and some other writers and developing stories for the sequel. We are bringing back Sho’Nuff and Ernie Reyes Jr.

Louis - Wow!!! That’s really good! I hope to hear more from the project.

Taimak - It’s not been pitched yet, but we are ready to involve a big director.

Louis - Oh brilliant, brilliant! Next question. How did you get into the movie industry and is it a career that you have always perceived yourself as being in?

Taimak - Yeah, ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be a movie star or actor, but I never pursued it seriously, but then I won the New York Kickboxing title, and I did some school plays. I never pursued being a professional actor and all of a sudden, this film came up and I ended up getting the role.

Louis - Do you have any regrets in the decisions that you have made in your career?

Taimak - Umm…No regrets. I did have when I really was kinda thinking that I must be doing something wrong, because I had a tough time trying to get my career together. But looking back, I was only a teenager and I realised that ‘that’s how life goes’. Where I am at now, is the greatest time in my life, I’m in the greatest shape of my life, I’ve trained as an actor and I’m still truly prepared for what is coming my way right now.

Louis - Brilliant. You sound very appreciative of all the achievements you have made in your life so far, that’s a great thing.

Taimak - I think it is important to acknowledge oneself, you know?

Louis - Okay, next question. I have read that you have studied a number of martial arts, what are they and who or what has inspired you to study them?

Taimak - Well first….Bruce Lee. And last….Bruce Lee. He was my hero and still is and I have studied many martial arts over the years. It ranges from Ju Jitsu to Karate and now in the last six months, I have been training rigorously in Shaolin Kung-Fu under Shi Yun Mai, he opened a school about 8 years ago. Shoalin is a style that is layered into sequences and I’m loving it!

Louis - That’s amazing! Have you ever had the opportunity to study Jeet Kun-Do, which is the martial art that Bruce Lee innovated?

Taimak - No I didn’t. But I am very curious to learn. When I get a chance I will definitely try and learn.

Louis - Okay. What have you been doing since ‘The Last Dragon’, that is really how we know you over here?

Taimak - I have been just really…really learning about myself and I was dong a lot of theatre in New York and I did some modelling and commercials. Then I ended up doing choreography, martial arts choreography. And now I am about to open up a stage version of a classic movie called ‘Road House’, do you remember that movie with Patrick Swayze?

Louis - Yea! I remember that.

Taimak - Well I’m doing a comedy version of that. The director is called Tim Haskell and it’s gonna be running in New York City from October 30th to November 22nd. So now I’m trying to open my career up and bring it back to how I think it should be.

Louis - Is there any chance of you coming to the UK?

Taimak - You know when I was 12 years old, I lived in London and I used to have a cockney accent.

Louis - Hahaha. I can’t imagine that!

Taimak - Hahaha! I ran all over Chelsea, I just loved it there. I love British people.

Louis - We would be happy to have to back!

Taimak - Yeah well anytime. I’ll have to come out there again. I think there is somebody on the other line. Hold on one second.

Louis - Okay then.

[A random soulless voice then tells me that ‘the other person has cleared’, I then contemplate calling him back, worried that I will get on his nerves. I get over it, and five minutes later, I buzz him again.]

Taimak - Hey, we got disconnected, I’m sorry.

Louis - Hey it’s no problem, at all. Okay…next question. One of your theatrical experiences was ‘Nothin But The Blues’…

Taimak - Yeah, ‘Nothin But The Blues’ was actually a play.

Louis - Right, and you performed at the Cotton Club in New York, right?

Taimak - Yeah, that was crazy, I played a homosexual. It was fun and I had to sing and I’m not a singer and I just had fun with it, you know, I’m not an uptight kinda guy. Like in the Road House play, I am wearing a blonde mullet wig. Do you know what that is?

[Bad reception and poor transcontinental vocal comprehension prevents me from hearing the word, ‘mullet’ properly’ so I say….]

Louis - No?!

Taimak - It’s, umm, Caucasians in the 80’s used to wear this funny, funny hairstyle, so the director has me wearing this blonde mullet wig in the play.

Louis - Oh no!

Taimak - Hey, but you know, it’s a comedy and ‘Nothin But The Blues’ was a comedy. I really respect myself, but I’m trying to break that apart with my acting.

Louis - What was it like working in the Cotton Club, it has such a rich history of performers and artists….

Taimak - Yeah, yeah, it was like, you feel like you are in a nostalgic theatre and they have these white tables, it was interesting, really interesting.

Louis - Where is the strangest place you have seen a picture of yourself?

Taimak - Well, uh, that’s a tough one. I can’t say. It has to be this girls mantle that I didn’t expect to be there. I was like, ‘Hey what’s that doing there?’ She was all like, ‘Oh it’s nothing…’ Hahaha! Or some guy’s mantle. ‘What are you doing with with my poster there, boy?!’ Hahaha! ‘Oh no, no, no, that, errr, just, my art!’

Louis - My research shows me that you have been a celebrity personal trainer?

Taimak - Yeah, I trained Madonna and Melanie C, the sporty Spice Girl.

Louis - Is that something you are continuing now?

Taimak - No. I’m really looking at my career now; I’m really working on that more than anything else. I’m hoping to choreograph but not so much on the personal training.

Louis - You have a very interesting name, what does it mean and where is it from?

Taimak - ‘Taimak’ means ‘striking eagle’, it originated from an Aztec God who helped the people that were struggling in the forest. I think the original is spelt, ‘Taimoc’.

Louis - According to the IMDB, the last film you did was called, ‘The Book of Swords’, we didn’t get that over here, what was it about?

Taimak - That was an experimental film that Ho Sung Pak wanted to do but we didn’t finish it.

Louis - Ho Sung Pak is the guy from the Mortal Kombat games right?

Taimak - Right, right.

Louis - So who is the better martial artist?

Taimak - Ahh, next question!!

Louis - What was it like working with Janet Jackson on the video for ‘Let’s Wait Awhile’?

Taimak - What was it like working with Janet? Oh it was wonderful! She’s…you know…Janet Jackson. You know what I’m saying?!

Louis - It must have been exciting to get that call to say you will be working with her.

Taimak - Yea! Yes, boy, I was very excited. I told all my homeboys, ‘Yo! I’m working with Janet, I’m a lucky man!’

Louis - I’m sure a lot of people envy you VERY much!

Taimak - Hahaha!

Louis - Aside from Bruce Lee, who else would you consider to be your idols?

Taimak - Off the top of my head, I really loved Gordon Liu, Sonny Chiba, many of the Shaw Brothers kung-fu films. You know Lo Wei passed away recently? I really loved the Lone Wolf and Cub series. As a martial artist, I think that many martial arts, that aren’t in the movie theatre and also very beautiful martial arts. I’m gonna have to finish up in about a minute.

Louis - Okay then, I will just ask you one more question.

Taimak - Okay.

Louis - What is your favourite Kung-Fu movie?

Taimak - That would be Enter the Dragon? That was a hard choice.

Louis - Well thank you very much for speaking with me.

Taimak - Thank you very much for calling. If you need anything, give me a call.

Louis - Thank you, best of luck in the future and I hope you make it over to the UK sometime.

Taimak - Thanks. Bye bye.

Louis - Bye.