Q&A: ‘Power Rangers’ star Jason David Frank remains fan-focused for Fandemic Tour’s upcoming Houston show
In 1993, the “Power Rangers” franchise launched through a television series that continues to be produced today. Over the last 25 years, the Power Rangers have starred in movies, comic books, video games, and more.
Jason David Frank originated the role of the Green Ranger, aka Tommy Oliver, on the original Power Rangers team. During the weekend of Sept. 14 – 16, Frank will be appearing at Fandemic Tour‘s first-ever Houston show at NRG Center.
On Aug. 29, Frank spoke to The Signal about his upcoming appearance at Fandemic Tour, the 25th anniversary of “Power Rangers,” Hurricane Harvey, the newly announced traveling version of Power Morphicon, and upcoming projects.
Q: Recently, you were a guest at Fandemic Tour’s Sacramento show. How was the experience different from other comic conventions you have been to? What made you want to take part in Fandemic Tour’s Houston show?
A: The biggest part for me is the CEO John Macaluso. He’s a good guy. He wants to make his shows the best. He hires the best people; the ones that have passion. He just wants to keep the fans happy. I’ve worked with a lot of good shows, but John’s just a personal friend of mine so that’s kind of why I agreed to work on his shows because I think he has passion to make fans happy and that’s what I like about him.
Q: For 25 years you have embraced the role of Tommy Oliver and continue to be actively part of the “Power Rangers” franchise. How has the series impacted or shaped your life?
A: It’s definitely changed me to be a better person. To be a consistent role model, stay in shape, motivate people and by doing that I think we kind of lean on each other; accountability partners. I can lean on my fans, my fans can lean on me. Karate’s changed my life, put it that way. “Power Rangers” hasn’t, but my martial arts training – and I just achieved my 8th-degree black belt – that’s changed my life. Remember, sometimes in Hollywood people get a show and they go off the deep end. It happened with big actors. Ben Affleck; big actors that just go off the deep end and it’s a harder avenue for someone to stay straight, narrow on the road and so, for me, I owe a lot of it to my martial arts. That’s why I think just influencing people to learn martial arts has made Tommy a very popular character in the last 25 years because I’m consistent. Consistency is what people need to have nowadays.
Q: On Aug. 28, the 25th anniversary episode of “Power Rangers” premiered. What was it like to step back into the role of Tommy Oliver?
A: (Laughs) Well, I’m glad they released the Tommy vs. Evil Tommy scene. That was uncut from the show. I was like, “aww man, I worked so hard on that fight scene. It’s everything people want to see. The evil laugh, the green, the broken helmet.” Those are things that people want to see. I still own the broken helmet, which is pretty cool. It was cool, you know, just going back. We just shot for Bat in the Sun [production company] the “[Power Ranger Legacy Wars:] Street Fighter Showdown” with Ryu. That’s coming out with Lionsgate in fall. I’ve been part of the brand, so…I mean it was great to go back and work with the new cast. Tommy’s been in a lot of different seasons and episodes. Looking forward to the “Soul of the Dragon” book in December to kind of tie-in the whole universe of where Tommy’s been and what he’s been up to. I’m looking forward to that book coming out in December and then of course “Shattered Grid” that we did with Kyle Higgins. That was a great promo and hopefully, that will turn into a digital series as well.
Q: It was recently announced that you would be leading a new traveling version of Power Morphicon called Power Morphicon Express. How did this venture come about and why was Pasadena, Texas selected as the first scheduled stop?
A: I talked to Scott [Zillner]. I mean Scott’s been at this for years. He started in a town called Pasadena, California. Very small show, 200 people. Now, he’s got 15,000 [to] 20,000 at Power Morphicon. I’m from Texas and I thought it was great. Pasadena[, Texas] does a lot of gun shows. Very small convention center. I thought it would be a good luck omen to go out there and open in Pasadena, Texas. Plus I’m from Houston and Texas is huge…and it’s right in the middle of the [country], so east coast, west coast, central; everyone can kind of fly and get the best of the best.
What we’re doing is smaller shows, so we can even out with about 15 actors. I’m going to do some Power Rangers acting stuff in there and fight scenes. Do certain of things like that, so we’re going to be more on-hands. It’s not going to be as huge as the big Power Morphicon, but it’s going to be more intimate, in an intimate setting. You’ll get a lot of questions answered, more workshops and just get a chance to hang with some of your favorite “Power Rangers” people.
It’s just something that we did. Scott did it as an April Fool’s joke. People believed it and I thought, “Wow that would be great.” Then [Scott] said, “No, it’s an April Fool’s joke” and I said, “Dude, let’s make that real because I think it could be really great.” Twenty-five years later the brand has such a strong market and is one of the official cons we can go around and travel and do it.
We want to make sure that when we do Power Morphicon [Express] that we give back to the community. I’m thinking of something like special photo ops for some of the fans, maybe even in costume, but 100 percent of the money would be donated to charity. I got my eyes on what I want Power Morphicon [Express] to be. I want it to be a comic convention that goes into their town and actually helps their town.
I want our Power Rangers show to reach the community and offer something. Fandemic’s the same way. We are doing a lot of things with Fandemic Tour to help the community out and stuff like that. John Macaluso is a great promoter and it’s going to be one heck of a show at Fandemic, so if you’re around September 14, 15 and 16, you definitely have to come and see what a comic con is all about. This is a huge show with a lot of passion from a lot of people.
Q: Currently, you are the only celebrity guest at Fandemic Tour’s Houston show that is offering autograph ticket purchases at the show as opposed to strictly online. What made you make that decision?
A: When I do these shows I don’t get paid like a lot of the other guys. Some other guys will come in with certain fees. They got to make a certain amount of money. I just feel when people are buying stuff, which is fine, it just tells them, “Hey, maybe I can’t see them if I don’t have money.” That’s not true. Come see me, I take care of all my fans. I’m not under the rules of anyone. If someone comes up buying stuff I take care of stuff, I take pictures, I entertain. I want to make sure the people that feel like they have no money [and] can’t come say “hi,” [can come] because they’re going to come and say “hi” and leave with something really cool. So, that’s why I just don’t do that kind of stuff.
I’m not worried about money, I’m mostly counting my blessings and I don’t want that to distract people. Like, “Oh, I can’t meet Jason because I can’t buy a ticket.” No, you can. Come to the table…I want to make everyone’s experience at Fandemic great, but also make my fans’ experience great with me as well.
Q: This week marked the one year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey. How did the storm impact you and the two Rising Sun Karate locations you have in the Houston area?
A: Our house is in the middle of all of that, so all of the restaurants around, everything was underwater. Our next door neighbors’ houses were halfway underwater, so we were lucky. We just raised money. I did a, “Hey, if you donate $50 you get a signed 8×10.” We donated thousands of dollars. The karate schools were fine. It impacted Houston big time. I was in Hawaii comic con and I couldn’t fly back to Houston, so I had to fly to Atlanta. I didn’t get a chance to come in to check up on my family, so it was pretty stressful. But we raised money. The community helped things out and it was great. It was a good feeling to help out people that needed it. My little girl went across the street and helped people unpack their homes. I think the whole community got together and made something that was a tragedy [into something] that made the community tighter. Sometimes a devastation like that can bring a community closer together.
Q: Lastly, what would you like our readers to know about your upcoming appearance at Fandemic Tour’s Houston show?
A: I would like them to just experience the comic con in general. Even if they’re not into certain actors or books or comics or toys, come to the show and observe. People watch. You’ll see some of your favorite superheroes. You’ll see some awesome costumes you might not know what it is, but you’ll be like, “Wow that guy built this really cool costume.” Come to the panel. Enjoy it. Ask any of your questions that you want. It’s one of those weekends where you can come to Fandemic Tour, relax, take your guard down and just have fun for three days. It’s great for the kids too. Kids love it, so it’s a whole family event.
For more information on Fandemic Tour and to purchase tickets, head to www.fandemictour.com. Be sure to use promo code UHCL20 on general admission ticket purchases to receive a discount. Promo code is valid through Aug. 31, 2018.
Also published on Medium.
Great interview, I have been fortunate to meet Jason David Frank a few times over the past 4 years and he definitely is a great man, he makes you feel special every time you meet him. He is a man of his word. He did a video for my son first time ge met him, my son has a chronic illness called POTS which is not well known and he helped us spread awarenesd.