Nakamura made his acting debut in
Dave Boyle's film
Surrogate Valentine, where he played a fictionalized version of himself. The film screened at a number of festivals including the 2011
SXSW Film Festival. It won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Film from the 2011
San Diego Asian Film Festival and won an Audience Award for Best Narrative Film from the 2011
San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (now known as
CAAMFest. For his performance in
Surrogate Valentine, Nakamura won a Special Jury Prize for Acting from the
Dallas International Film Festival. He also starred in the film's sequel,
Daylight Savings which was named after his first album and which premiered at the 2012
SXSW Film Festival. For his work in both films, Nakamura was chosen as a New American Filmmaker by the Vilcek Foundation at the 2012
Hawaii International Film Festival. The National Film Society (comprising
Patrick Epino and
Stephen Dypiangco) also awarded him a Best Actor award for his role in
Daylight Savings. He played the same role in the third film in the trilogy,
I Will Make You Mine (2020), written and directed by
Lynn Chen and a selection of the 2020 South By Southwest Film Festival. Nakamura plays "Uncle" Sam, musician and host of an open mic night, in the award-winning independent film,
Life Inside Out (2014) directed by Jill D'Agnenica. He performs his song "Here's a Secret" on stage in the film. ==External links==