Though he only appeared in a single movie, Joshua Shintani left a big impression on many viewers. He is best known for a small role in the 2001 comedy Shallow Hal, a film in which actor Jack Black is hypnotized to only see a physical representation of someone's inner beauty.
Joshua plays the character Li'iBoy, a Hawaiian man who strummed his ukulele to the song “Never Forget Where I’m From” while sitting next to Jason Alexander’s character on a bench.
Unfortunately, Joshua tragically passed away on November 25 at the age of 32 after coming down with an advanced cause of pneumonia, TMZ reported.
Shintani was reportedly taken to the emergency room by his mother early last week in Kauai, Hawaii, but doctors were unable to save him.
Joshua had become something of a legend on his native island of Kauai when he landed the cameo in Shallow Hal.
The movie's director Peter Farrelly discovered the young actor while on vacation in Hawaii, when he noticed Shintani playing his ukulele outside of a public library.
"This red rental car comes by and the man driving passed me and stared at me and gave me this look, his mouth was open," Shintani told The Garden Island newspaper in 2002.
"All of a sudden he turns around and stops at the corner where I was at and he asked me to come over, and asked me if I want to be in a movie."
Just a high school senior at the time, he was flown to Los Angeles for a screen test and landed the part immediately after. It turned out to be the only role of his career.
The scene with Jack Black where Joshua sings “Never Forget Where I’m From” while playing his ukulele became one of the most memorable of the film. It was serendipity that Peter would see Joshua while on vacation, as Joshua never acted in anything else.
Watch the clip of Joshua Shintani in Shallow Hal below.
