I shall ask to see whether they want me in dress clothes or in Japanese.
Meaning of the quote
This quote is about the Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa. He is saying that he will ask the people he is working with whether they want him to wear formal clothes or traditional Japanese clothes. This shows that he is flexible and willing to adapt to what the situation requires, whether that means wearing Western-style dress clothes or his own Japanese cultural attire.
About Sessue Hayakawa
Sessue Hayakawa was a pioneering Japanese actor who achieved stardom as a leading man in Hollywood during the silent film era. Despite facing racial discrimination, his “broodingly handsome” looks and roles as a sexually dominant villain made him a heartthrob among American women and one of the first male sex symbols of Hollywood.
More quotes from Sessue Hayakawa
I have come East to find what the public likes.
Japanese actor(1889 - 1973)
I like America anyway. In Japan we are much more formal. If two friends are separated for a long time and they meet they bow and bow and bow. They keep bowing without exchanging a word. Here they slap each other on the back and say: Hello, old man, how goes everything.
Japanese actor(1889 - 1973)
My one ambition is to play a hero.
Japanese actor(1889 - 1973)
I shall ask to see whether they want me in dress clothes or in Japanese.
Japanese actor(1889 - 1973)
That is one reason so many of the Japanese pictures are not good, they cannot spare all the footage necessary for that bow, which is repeated over and over again.
Japanese actor(1889 - 1973)