Meet Gavin Teragawa

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gavin Teragawa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gavin, how do you think about risk?
I think the biggest risk is to go through life not taking any. Of course you have to do things intelligently and with a plan, but my greatest fear has always been to grow old with regrets.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I grew up on a small farm in Western PA, and got into a lot of street fights. This environment, in combination with the explosion of Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC as a sport led to me becoming fascinated with fighting. I knew early that I wanted to compete and become the best martial artist I could. This became my foundation, and later on would be the basis for me getting into stunts as well. Of course training and fighting is very hard work, but I love learning and moving so much that it’s easy to get lost in it. The main struggle is avoiding burnout. It’s a little paradoxical when you turn your passion into your job, because sometimes you can lose focus on why you started in the first place. Especially in the age of social media and comparison. The way that I have found to work around this is to try not to be too perfectionistic and to build a strong community of people who I feel that I need to show up for. Also, being open to adapting and applying your art in different contexts. If you had asked me when I was 18 if I would ever be on camera as a performer, I would have thought you were crazy. Stunts wasn’t even on my radar. But life happens, and I was lucky enough to meet Steven Ho who showed me how fun and interesting the film world can be. If I could pick anything I’d want the world to know about me, it’s just that I’m exactly like them. There is nothing special about me, I’m just some small town kid who found something he loved and decided that he was going to chase it wherever it leads. I hope that more people can have the opportunity to find something they are passionate about as well, and to be able to see what adventure it takes them on.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
It would really depend on what they like. But, if it was based on what I think is interesting, it would look like some combination of driving around to see all of Californias natural beauty and going to visit all of the uniquely LA communities that we are fortunate to have. For me, growing up in a small town really made me appreciate the diversity that makes up the proverbial melting pot that is LA. So doing things like visiting the SGV for dimsum, and East LA for Mexican food, and then Ktown for karaoke and Korean food would be the general vibe.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have had so many cool people in my life. I’m very fortunate to have parents who came to understand who I am as a person. They recognized that I would never be happy with a traditional career and encouraged me to chase an alternative lifestyle. They also instilled a great work ethic within me, through their own hard work. The other main person would be Steven Ho. He introduced me to the film world and helped me get into the union. As well as being an amazing mentor and role model overall.

Website: teragawa@comcast.net

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