James Saito is an American actor. Saito is best known as the original Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dr. Chen in the ABC series Eli Stone, Harry Kim in the Netflix film Always Be My Maybe, and Kenji in Modern Love. Saito received an OBIE for his performance in DURANGO at the Public Theater in NY. He is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Early life

Saito's parents are of Japanese descent. He graduated from Hamilton High in LA and the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in theater. He later studied acting with actress Uta Hagen at HB Studio, located in New York City. He was in the last group of students who studied with Sanford Meisner on the island of Bequia in the Grenadines and then continued with Meisner in North Hollywood.

Career

Saito also appeared in the movies Life of Pi, Big Eyes, Wilson, While We're Young, I Think I Love My Wife, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Devil's Advocate, Henry Fool, Home Alone 3, Pearl Harbor, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and Hot Dog…The Movie. Saito's TV credits include The Company You Keep Grey's Anatomy, Altered Carbon, Prodigal Son, Broad City, At Home with Amy Sedaris, Elementary, Instinct, Iron Fist, The Deuce, Paterno, House of Cards, Madam Secretary, Hawaii Five-0, Person of Interest, 30 Rock, One Life to Live, Too Big to Fail, Blue Bloods, Rubicon, The Unit, Heroes and Villains as Tokugawa Ieyasu, As the World Turns, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Sex and the City, The Young and the Restless, Blood & Orchids, MacGyver, Hart to Hart, The Greatest American Hero, The Incredible Hulk, M, Law & Order, Miami Vice, and Farewell to Manzanar. Saito appeared as Bob Lin in the film Love Hard, released in November 2021 by Netflix.

Filmography

Film

Television