Joshua Shintani, ‘Shallow Hal’ Actor, Dies At 32

Joshua Shintani, the Hawaii-native who was a scene-stealer in Shallow Hal, died last month. He was 32.

Joshua Shintani Dies

Shintani died Nov. 25 due to complications from pneumonia, reported TMZ. He had been rushed to a hospital on Kauai the week prior, when it was discovered that Shintani had an advanced case of the lung infection.

Back in 2001, Shintani was playing a ukulele outside of a public library when filmmaker Peter Farrelly spotted him and decided that he needed to be in his upcoming movie.

“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.”

Shintani, then just a high school senior, eventually flew out to California and ultimately landed the part of Li’iBoy – his nickname in real life – in Shallow Hal. In his memorable scene from the movie, Shintani strums “Never Forget Where I’m From” on his ukulele alongside Jack Black. 

Incidentally, as Shallow Hal centered on Hal’s newfound ability to see people’s outward appearance as a reflection of their inner beauty, the slimmer version of Shintani’s character was played by former New York Mets pitcher Ron Darling.