Career Beginnings
At the end of his second year of studies at the University of Chicago, Hayakawa decided to quit and return to Japan. He went to Los Angeles and waited for a transpacific steamship to arrive. During the interim, he wandered into the Japanese Theatre in Little Tokyo. He soon was fascinated with acting and performing plays. It was around this time he first assumed the name Sessue Hayakawa.
One of the productions Hayakawa performed in was called The Typhoon. Film producer Thomas Ince saw the production and offered to turn it into a silent movie using the original cast. Anxious to return to his studies at the University of Chicago, Hayakawa decided to try to dissuade Ince by requesting the absurdly high fee of $500 a week. Ince agreed to pay it.
The Typhoon was filmed in 1914, and was an instant hit. Hayakawa made two more films with Ince, The Wrath of the Gods co-starring his new wife, Issei actress Tsuru Aoki, and The Sacrifice. With his rising stardom Hayakawa soon was offered a contract by Jesse L. Lasky. He signed on making him part of Famous Players-Lasky (now Paramount Pictures).
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