Jason David Frank is best known as Tommy, the original Green Ranger, in the epic TV show Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Frank hits Melbourne and the Gold Coast for Supanova in April, and as Angela Allan finds out, he loves reminiscing about his days as Tommy with his loyal fans.
What’s your favourite episode of Power Rangers that you starred in?
Two things that stand out – when Kimberley broke up with me – that stood out as one of my favourites as I was free from women! Nah, I’m just kidding. But in Dino Thunder there was an episode I got to fight all of my inner selves as the Green Ranger. I thought that was interesting the way the shot it. I have a lot of memories from Power Rangers, but being the evil Green Ranger in that series and those parts were really fun to do.
When Power Rangers ended, did you take anything from the set as a keepsake?
Yeah, I have my original Green Ranger spandex and the original Black Ranger spandex from Dino Thunder. I got the original dragon dagger. I just think it’s so cheesy.
Well, you could always do what Johnny Depp did. He dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow at Comic Con in San Diego and no one knew it was him…
That sounds perfect. I might have do that as episode for my reality show. I think that would be a great episode.
So, I know fans are very passionate at Con events; have you had any crazy fan encounters?
No, I just think it’s interesting now at these Con events they serve beer and stuff, and it’s just amazing how time goes by and they’re [the fans] standing around talking to you drinking a beer. I have a lot supportive fans that have tattoos of me all over their body and I’m not weirded out by that any more. The girls tell me, ‘oh, you were my first boyfriend,’ I’m not weirded out by that any more. I sign pregnant stomachs. So I don’t think there’s anything that can surprise me now that’s like a crazy fan because I’ve lived this Con world so long. The fans always say, ‘I love you, Jason,’ and I’m like, ‘Love you too!’ I’m one of those ‘love you guys’ is a standard thing – it’s weird for some people – but it’s standard thing that I respond with.
How did you land the role of Tommy to begin with?
Originally, I had an audition, so I went to the audition but before, I had an agent that made my cut my ponytail off, so I cut it off, because I was told I probably wouldn’t get a role if I had long hair, so then I got Power Rangers, so I grew my ponytail back. It was one of those auditions where I treated it like a competition and I was the best martial artist in there because if you listen, you’re dealing with actors and they’re like, ‘oh yeah, I do this, I do that,’ and they don’t.
And you got a call back…
Yeah, I got a call back the next day and I was the only guy who got a call back and there were 10 girls. So I was thinking, ‘Is this a role for a guy or for a girl?’ But it was for a guy. But I ended up helping Thuy [Trini, the Yellow Power Ranger] with her routine so she could get her role as the Yellow Ranger. I was hired for 10 episodes in the beginning, and it ended up being hundreds and hundreds of episodes, so I was very excited about that.
Are you telling me you do all your own stunts as Tommy?
Well, we had a lot of Japanese footage that was intercut into the show. See, the Green Ranger ran out of Japanese footage, so we had to film a lot. So I was the only guy in there training to fight with the helmet on, so I was pretty happy about that.
Did your interest in martial arts start as a child?
I started martial arts at 4 years old. And I never stopped…
Do you still hold the Guinness World Record Holder for most 1‐inch pine boards broken during freefall?
Yeah. I love skydiving and I love karate, so I mixed the two together. I love breaking stuff, so I decided to jump out of an aeroplane and break boards and hold the Guinness World Record for that. I don’t know if you’re familiar with wind tunnels but I also coach in wind tunnels and I just got my instructor rating tonight for the wind tunnels, so I’m also able to coach people in that. Skydiving, wind tunnels and karate are the three best sports I love. I base jump too, so for a new episode of my reality show, My Morphing Life, which comes out next month, I ended up breaking my foot on one of base jumps so I’m still recovering from that. It was good drama for the show. I sacrificed it!
Do you have a message for your Australian fans?
I love each and every one of you because without you I wouldn’t be here. I’m passionate about my fans.
Catch Jason David Frank at Supanova Pop Culture Expo in Melbourne on April 10-12, and Gold Coast, April 17-19.
For the full Supa-Star line-up and tickets, drop by the Supanova website.
Angela Allan
Angela Allan is founder and editor of Soot Magazine. She is an award-winning journalist, conversion copywriter and digital marketer . Angela loves her three dogs, blues music, and she believes Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac is her spirit sister. Follow her on Instagram here.
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