Keiko Agena is an American actress who has been active since the 1990s. For a lot of people, she will be most familiar to them as Lane Kim on Gilmore Girls. However, it is important to note that she is still very much active as an actress in the present time. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Keiko Agena:
1. Born in Honolulu, HI
Agena was born in Honolulu, HI. The location has been inhabited since the 11th century. However, it wasn’t until the late 18th century that Honolulu started becoming the center of Hawaii. In part, this was because Honolulu Harbor had become an important point on the trade routes between Asia and North America. However, it should also be noted that Kamehameha III moved the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii to Honolulu in 1845, with the result that he and his successors poured considerable resources into enabling it to live up to its status.
2. Has Japanese Heritage
Based on her name, it should come as no surprise to learn that Agena has Japanese heritage. There is a sizable Japanese-American community in Hawaii, so much so that it is bigger than any of its counterparts found in the rest of the United States with the sole exception of the one in California. This makes sense because Hawaii would’ve been a very convenient choice for Japanese immigrants in the 20th century, which in turn, would have made it an attractive choice for Japanese immigrants even once transportation technologies had advanced to the point of airplanes replacing seaborne vessels.
3. Studied At Whitman College
Agena spent some time studying at Whitman College, which is a school that can be found in the city of Walla Walla over in the state of Washington. Said school was founded by a man named Cushing Eells who wanted to found a monument of sorts to the missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa plus eleven others who were killed by a group of Cayuse Indians in the Whitman massacre. Said incident remains controversial to the present day, with the result that the victims are remembered in very different ways by different parties.
4. Her Full Name Is Christine Keiko Agena
It is interesting to note that Agena’s full name is Christine Keiko Agena. For what it is worth, it isn’t uncommon for the members of immigrant communities to have two names. One name helps them fit in with the dominant culture of the country in which they live, while the other name helps them retain a connection to the culture of their heritage. Of course, different people can have very different opinions about this particular practice, meaning that it isn’t a good idea to draw too many conclusions based on someone having two names without having further insight into the matter.
5. Is Married
In December of 2005, Agena got married to Shin Kawasaki. The two did so while riding in a helicopter, which perhaps unsurprisingly, was flying over the city of Las Vegas at the time. Since there has been no news otherwise, it seems safe to say that they are still married in the present time.
6. She Played Lane Kim in Gilmore Girls
Even now, one of Agena’s best-known roles is Lane Kim on Gilmore Girls, which makes sense because she played the character for more than a hundred episodes. For those who are unfamiliar, Lane was a Korean-American girl from a very conservative household, with the result that she had to conceal much about herself to prevent her mother’s ire. Role-wise, she was Rory Gilmore’s best friend, which was a position that she started out with and maintained throughout the series.
7. She Was Much Older Than Her Role
Amusingly, Agena was much older than her role. For those who are curious, she was in her late 20s when she started playing Lane on Gilmore Girls, with the result that she was in her 30s by the end. Having said that, there are some very understandable reasons for why teenage characters are so often played by much older actors and actresses. For example, teenagers can undergo huge changes in appearance, which can be problematic when the passage of time in the real world doesn’t line up with the passage of time in the show. As such, it can be much more convenient to just go with an adult. Likewise, having actual teenagers means dealing with child labor laws, which is an additional hassle that a lot of shows will pass up on in preference for just using adult actors and actresses.
8. She Learned Something Valuable From the Role
Supposedly, Agena learned something valuable from the role of Lane on Gilmore Girls. In short, she has said that she was something of a tomboy, with the result that most of her friendships were with men rather than with women. However, thanks to Lane’s very strong friendship with Rory, Agena has found it easier to form similar bonds with women while still remaining more or less the same person as before.
9. Has Compared Shows to Sea Turtle Eggs
On one occasion, Agena compared shows to sea turtle eggs. Basically, a single sea turtle can lay hundreds of eggs in a single season. However, just a single percent of those eggs will lead to sea turtles of breeding age, which speaks volumes about the toll that potential threats will take on the eggs as well as the hatchlings that come out of those eggs. Agena’s comparison was meant to point out that a lot of great ideas for TV shows are put out on an annual basis. However, no more than a very small number of those ideas will ever make it into the stage of actually becoming a full-fledged show.
10. Has Been in a Couple of Video Games
Curiously, Agena has been in a couple of video games. First, she was in one of the video games based on the long-running Law & Order series. Second, she was in the much more recent Prey, which was a 2017 first-person shooter in which players took on the role of the researcher Morgan Yu on a space station that has been overrun by an alien species called the Typhon. It is interesting to note that there are some serious twists regarding identity in the game, which contributed to some extent to its respectable results from both a critical and a commercial perspective.
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