Thumbnail art: Nery and Yuri Chales (@aniyury_studios); Photography: Jalen Oneal (@jayberrytech)
Hello everyone, and welcome to our second interview with SciADV community member and actor, CINEPRESTO! If you’re not already familiar with the insane mad scientist, our first interview with him may be of interest to you.
Much has changed since we last spoke with Preston over two years ago, and we saw fit to catch up with him and talk his latest plans: in case you haven’t heard, he’s aiming to be casted as Rintaro Okabe in the upcoming Steins;Gate live action series!
Now then, without further ado, let’s get right into the discussion.
It’s been a while since we last spoke to you. For those who are new to the community, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Preston Yeung, a.k.a. CINEPRESTO, and I’ve had the honor of being a part of the community for the past number of years.
I participated pretty frequently in discussions on Reddit regarding the series back in 2016 but only really became a more prominent member the following year when I visited Akihabara and gave the community a tour of some of the locations featured in the original Steins;Gate.
In 2018, I had the opportunity to cosplay and perform the character of Hououin Kyouma at the Steins;Gate talent show for series producer Tatsuya Matsubara which led to a visit to Spike Chunsoft’s offices where I was able to reprise the role for the character’s birthday stream and for the release of Steins;Gate Elite. While there, I made an effort to help lobby for localization of Robotics;Notes Elite and DaSH which we finally got in 2020.
I was fortunate enough to cover the Steins;Gate premiere party where the localization was announced at Anime Expo in 2019 and am now actively campaigning for the role of Kyouma in the live action series coming soon to Skydance.
My greatest achievement in the series however was probably getting my dad to watch it with me and since it’s been a while since we last saw it, he’s begging me for a rewatch as of late.
As mentioned above, in 2018, you performed as Rintaro Okabe at an official Spike Chunsoft talent show at Anime Expo and won first prize with an outstanding performance. What was it that inspired you to perform there?
Believe it or not, this all started out as an inside joke among friends who I showed the series to back in 2016. After watching the show (which we played in a three-screen virtual reality room at our school, annoying the art staff in the process), it became a running gag that I looked uncannily like Kyouma as the tall and skinny decision maker in our group of friends. And so, when Halloween rolled around, I bought an overpriced lab coat at the nearby science store to continue the meme. That was probably the best $40 I spent. When I saw that Spike Chunsoft was hosting the opportunity to perform for a producer of the series, Tatsuya Matsubara, I knew I had to at least give it my best shot as thanks for the years of memories the series gave us.
I was nervous and somehow convinced two of my closest friends to come to LA and attend the expo with me. The three days prior to the contest, I locked myself in my room feeding off nothing but instant noodles and Dr Pepper and preparing the one man sketch that I wrote. I knew it’d be challenging to win the judges over because I didn’t have a crew of lab members with me, and I personally think those moments are Steins;Gate at its best—so instead, I hedged the entire performance on what I related to: Okabe’s inability to quit (mixed in with Lyra because Steins;Gate 0 episode 8, Dual of Antinomy: Antinomic Dual had just aired). If you watch it back, there’s a three-act structure to it where he tries, fails and does it over again and he does it with the exaggerated swagger of a mad scientist (I’m saying that knowing very well this will age poorly). Ultimately, I wanted to make sure the performance could be understood by both the American audience and the Japanese judges, and luckily, it paid off.
It made me really happy to hear from Matsubara-san directly that I had done the character in a way that resonated with him. I think I captured what made Okabe his favorite character too (although I still find it hilarious that he said that I did not suffer quite enough). Admittedly, I was having too much fun to suffer the whole time.
After I came down from the stage, I was congratulated by a pretty hyped up crowd who complimented me for my performance both for the costuming as well as keeping it true to who the character fundamentally was whether you watch sub or dub. Being a starving actor who had taken up odd jobs and was just starting professionally, this direct sort of feedback was extremely gratifying and I can honestly say I wouldn’t be as far along or push as hard as I have without that early step. I’m still grateful for that initial opportunity.
What do you think is next for the Science Adventure series? What are you most excited to see?
Two years later and I still can’t believe our efforts helped to get Robotics;Notes localized! Steins;(censored) is coming, and it seems like it’s going to be a passing off of the torch series which I’m excited to experience—although I know at this point, I’ll probably look like Old Man Okabe by the time that gets localized and the anime comes to the West. That said, I’m optimistic that since it seems that there will be time taken to release these that we’ll get something to remember. The team has never let us down before I don’t think.
What are your upcoming plans in terms of content creation, and particularly, in relation to the series?
Recently, you released a video regarding some difficulties that Trina Nishimura, Kurisu Makise's English voice actor, is going through. For those of us who are not aware of what's going on, would you mind explaining the situation to us? What can we do to help?
Recently, Trina’s partner Justin, who’s a beloved figure in the Dallas area, was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia. They had recently opened their dream restaurant together, but as a result of the sickness and the both of them being unable to leave the hospital due to COVID restrictions, they’ve had to shut that down. The story resonated with me due to a similar situation with one of my family members and personally because I’ve had a few too many friends who’ve lost loved ones this past year.
Trina was cool enough to show support for my performance two years ago when I posted a picture, which, back then, provided a huge boost of confidence as I was just entering the film industry. Regardless of our relation in the Science Adventure community though, when there’s an opportunity to help fellow lab members, we absolutely should. We’ve been able to do some incredible work getting the games localized, and so I at least wanted to share the initiative and hopefully have the community pick up on it in the same way given that this person’s voice may have affected people’s lives the same way it has mine. This is the link to the GoFundMe. If monetary contributions aren’t an option now, hopefully my video can be shared to at least help to spread the message.
Myself, GoonerKid, and Fasty were able to assemble a few members of the community to do a charity stream on December 27th—together with six other content creators and voices from the community, we put on a Steins;Gate trivia show. We shone a spotlight on the situation reaching around 600 views which exceeded our expectations for a post Christmas stream and ultimately raised $192 for the cause. However, they’re still quite a ways away from hitting their goal. I encourage everyone to contribute what they can.
Since the launch of your campaign to play Okabe in the upcoming live action series, you've received a decent chunk of attention and support from the community. What has the process been like, and what are your goals?
I still remember hearing about the announcement that they’d be making a live action Steins;Gate and being unable to sleep after reading that off @DistantValhalla’s Twitter! I was just that excited! The possibility of it happening was something I discussed with friends throughout the years in the convention circuit.
And so, it wasn’t something I usually did, but I put out a video expressing my desire to play the role! In the industry, this isn’t something super common. Naturally, you have to go through casting agents, but as of recent times with the advent of Simu Liu and Rosario Dawson being able to successfully campaign for fan favorite roles, I wanted to put it out there into the universe.
I sent them a packet with my information and headshots several months back and early on in the process too. From here, it’s just expanding my body of work and making sure my materials are in shape in time for that casting process to happen. I really want to fight for this opportunity and the chance to make this community proud. Receiving such positive reception from everyone has made me feel the weight of their expectations, and I’m honored to even get any of that. The fight for the future continues from here!
What are some difficulties that you have faced and think you might face in the future in regards to your goal? How do you plan to address them?
Breaking into the industry is always a challenge. I’ve become known for my work in both the Steins;Gate community and the Young Justice community before that, so moving from those brandings to being taken seriously as an actor is something I know I will have to overcome (also considering my limited body of work). I am also partaking in action and acting training regularly and doing auditions weekly. I also have a great team of managers behind me, but I’m looking to take the next steps in finding a theatrical agent to compliment my commercial one.
Thankfully, before the pandemic began, I was really hitting a stride and was getting cast more frequently. I have confidence that I can grow my body of work this year in a way that will get me closer to the goal.
Aside from being casted to be in it, what are some of your hopes for the live action series?
On the livestream and our first interview, I talked a bit about how through all the crazy science concepts, delusional protagonists, and giant fighting robots, the series’ real strength comes back down to how well-characterized everyone is.
To make a continuation even better though given the original fanbase, it’s important to balance references and recontextualization of them. They can bring back a lot of the elements of the original but if there’s no new emotional impact associated, it can come across as flat and lacking that which made the original so beloved.
Compared to other anime adaptations, the science fiction and more fantastical elements of the series are far more grounded. There aren’t as many large beam struggles or dramatically massive teenagers yelling “hora hora hora” so I think there will be a lot of runtime which can be used to simply focus on characters audiences will enjoy.
Having seen how other fan bases can react to something that’s divisive within the series and cause a split, my greatest hope is that those involved with the live action series listen, carefully consider what makes Steins;Gate special, and really try to draw from the core of the characters. Priority for me is that they make the show of a high enough quality that people can universally agree is something good first and foremost.
Here's a hypothetical scenario: You've been put in charge of writing the script for the live action series. What direction would you take it in? How would you make it stand out?
Chiyomaru Shikura and Mamoru Miyano joked a bit on the livestream back in October about how weird it’d be for Faris to exist in an American context. As someone who writes and develops professionally, I think there has to be a level of reverence for the source material and a desire to do it justice while also realizing you can’t carbon copy everything and expect the same emotional results. I’d likely try to recontextualize surface level references and to add deeper meaning to them were I in that hypothetical situation, but I acknowledge that it’s not that simple—there’s a challenge to adapting Steins;Gate in general because many of its jokes and references have a lot to do with Japanese otaku culture.
Credit goes to those who dubbed the series in its initial run because they found a good middle ground of nerdy references to make it work the best they could. But, overall, simultaneously because Steins;Gate is so iconic and niche, I’d strive to try to take the core of the characters, work from there, and make the new ones earn those bonds which fans have loved for over a decade.
Did you drink Dr Pepper before Steins;Gate?
I did not, but I have been converted to the ways thanks to the show! Works incredibly well for those long con days. When the pandemic is over, I’m going to have to visit the Dr Pepper museum for the YouTube channel!
It's been great speaking with you today! What's the best way to stay up to date on what you have going on?
My virtual lab is on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch.
I’ll definitely be trying to stream through all the Science Adventure games this year so keep a look out and follow me on Twitter and Twitch especially for a schedule. YouTube will definitely be more active this year.
All members are welcome. FUAHAHAHAHAH!
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