Monday, October 12, 2020

Matsuzaka Tori for Perfect World (Modelpress Interview after Ep 5)


Q: Recently, "Love story/ Romance" is on the decline in J-dramas, but what do you think about that?

Producer: Romance is a genre that difficult to aim for ratings.  But if you look at the recent buzz, many young people are looking for more love stories.

At the age of 30, there's some part that seems to have overcome the obstacle but there's some subtle nervousness that is dragging the miserable self. So, I thought they could do it. However, the offices of many 30-year-old actors are reluctant to love stories. I am very grateful to Matsuzaka for accepting the offer this time.


Matsuzaka (M): Love around the age of 30 or after becoming an adult is easy to directly connect like "dating = marriage". So, I think that there are various issues such as family, environment, etc. I just like this topic. Next, I thought that the message of this drama was how to overcome the obstacles with two people in a relationship that is difficult to establish, so I thought it would be good to tell the audience.


Yamamoto Mizuki : I used to do romantic comedies a lot, so when it comes to rom-com, I thought I had to just concentrate on my love line. But here, it is not a comedy, so we can't escape our feelings by laughing. I'm not used to it. 




Q: Matsuzaka-san, this is the first love story in a drama for you. At the time of the cast announcement, there are comments like "This is a little ticklish" (こそばゆい). But are you getting used to it now as you get closer?


M: At first, it was uncomfortable (T/N: he used the same word) (lol). However, recently, there are few scenes where such feelings such as "I like you" and "I love you" are expressed. Now, I start to feel the weight in those words.



Q: Matsuzaka-san's natural wheelchair operation is also attracting attention. It seems that you brought a wheelchair to your home and practiced before shooting.


M: Yes. By this way, I've come to understand how to do the scenes in the living room and office but when I'm shooting, there are some situations I've never experienced in a wheelchair during practice, so I asked the wheelchair coach at the scene, "For this movement, can I move like this?" Wheelchair practice is still ongoing.




Q: While watching the drama, I also realized many obstacles that I wouldn't notice when I am standing. I wonder how your view on things changed.


M: That's really true. It's gone now, but at first, I thought, "Oh, I want to stand up" while I was acting while looking up.



Q: That is a daily life for Itsuki, isn't it?


M: That's right. The fact that I thought that way made me realize that Itsuki himself might still have a desire to walk somewhere.



Dir. Yukiko Mishima for Red (2020)


Q: Satoshi Tsumabuki, who played Kurata was very good.

Mishima (M): Satoshi Tsumabuki was wonderful. There is a scene where he talks about what he wants to see from the window of his ideal house in the car. You could hear the sound of waves as if horizon came to his eyes (that's why recording director and sound effect director added the wave sound effects). What really conveyed was big, and I felt emotional. I also needed Tsumabuki to take Kaho's unprecedented facial expressions. It was very important for this movie to have Tsumabuki become a kind of accomplice. Eg, the expression of Toko when she saw Kurata who picked him up by car-at the final act. Kurata was in a state where we couldn't tell if he was alive or not, considering his condition. Perhaps he has already died and has come to see Toko as a ghost. I wanted to capture the surprised expression of Toko when she saw such Kurata, so I told Tsumabuki, "Why don't you just feel like you're alive or dead? Please ..."


Q: It's a great direction (laughs).


M: (lol). But then, with Tsumabuki, I really felt that only his soul was there. As a result, I think that Kaho created an act that was kind of like confirming, "Is this a reality?" That's why I thought that Tsumabuki was like a "comrade" who thought about the whole work together. It was him who understood what I wanted to do more than anyone else and Kaho's expression was brought out through Tsumabuki. Thanks to that, during the performance, I forgot even the existence of the body, and I was able to witness the moment when only emotions were flowing between the two. I was happy to be able to shoot it.



Q: Especially for those who read the original novel, the ending is different.


M: I feel that the novel and the movie are different things. I think that adapting a novel into a movie is not tracing the novel as it is. "Red" is a complete art piece at the stage of the novel. I don't think it makes much sense to make it into a movie as it is. It should be how we read the novel and make a conversion of the essence we want to react to, where we want to reduce, where we want to throw away, where we want to see it from? I think that is important. I don't think it makes much sense to make it into a movie as it is. It should be how we read the novel and make a conversion of the essence we want to react to, where we want to reduce, where we want to throw away, where we want to see it from? I think that is important. Through the romance between man and woman, I want to ask what about you? What are you really looking for? It was a movie that I shot with the intention of telling the story of grasping something like a guideline for my own life.

Miura Haruma for Little Nights, Little Love/ Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (2019)

Q: How did you approach your character?

A: Sato, who I play, is a very ordinary person with no distinctⅳe personality. To be honest, it's difficult to play such a role. Every character I played has 1 or 2 distinctⅳe characteristics but he has none. So, I was careful to bring out the characteristics that only I could do. I referred to the method of Russian director Stanislavski (T/N: As far as I understood, it's Konstantin Stanislavski, Method Acting (animal exercise). For more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislavski%27s_system). I read his book and thought, this is it!. I tried to incorporate it in practice. It would be great if you could enjoy watching while imagining what kind of animal movements I have adopted when playing Sato. 


Q: Comment about the director? 


A: Also, it was a big opportunity for me to work with Dir. Imaizumi Rikiya. There was a scene where Sato chased Saki-chan on the bus and conveyed his thoughts. Dir. Imaizumi told me, "Look at the other person's facial expressions and make the most of his/her acting.”. The moment I was told that, I was shocked thinking.."Oh, that's right." Until now, I think I was a little too obsessed with how to express my feelings. When he told me, I remembered my original intention that I need to be sensitive to changes in the other person's facial expressions and move my eyes accordingly. I am very grateful to Dir. Imaizumi. I think that his teaching is also alive in the drama "TWO WEEKS". He has given me some advice that I want to cherish forever and never forget.

Suda Masaki - 2019/07 Interview for LOVE album


Q: This album contains not only the songs made by songwriters, but also Suda's own songs. To be honest, this self-made songs are really good. Especially the song "Dras".

A: Really? I am happy.


Q: Where did you get the motivation to write a song and make it with a band?


A: I met everyone in our band in "Nanimono (2016)". It's really fun to get along with them and go to studio together. They taught me a lot, and recently I've been learning drums. There is a moment when I can hit the eight beats once every two hours, and I think "OK!" (Laughs). I can still play music because I met them. The self-made songs were made when I was doing a drama called "3 Nen A Gumi (2019)". At first, the title was "Drama Blues". The song was also different, and at first, I checked the chord progression of the blues and made it with a single acoustic guitar while watching it. I didn't know if it was blues or not. So, when I sent it to the band members, I thought it was embarrassing to send it with the tentative title "Drama Blues", so I deleted the characters appropriately and it became "Dras". It sounds like the name of a monster. (lol)



Q: What did you get from collaborating with Kenshi Yonezu?


A: I always felt like I was alone when expressing on stage. There wasn't one who tried to fight me with a big deal. I haven't been able to do that myself too, I'm still trying to get the hang of it in my acting career. Meanwhile, Kenshi Yonezu suddenly appeared in front of me, and one word he said was, "I want you to be my rival.". It's an unexpected encounter. There aren't many people who think of me that way. I'm grateful that everyone started calling me "Suda-san" instead of "Suda-kun". I'm very happy to get respect for my work, but the people I really want to meet are the ones who are like comrades who will fight together in the future. That's Kenshi Yonezu. I also have Aimyon now. But it wasn't quite like the same generation in the actor world. So, when Kenshi Yonezu said that, I thought, "This is it." I am happy that he talked about his goals and dreams in front of me. Somehow, I felt that the way of fighting changed a little. The biggest thing I get from collaborations is that I met people who I could share.



Q: What is "I'm trying to fight" that you just said?


A: It's not the standard size of a work, but a way to raise the level of entertainment in this country, or to spread art. I think both the creator and the recipient have to study more and have more fun. At this rate, various things will be gone, and in fact they are already gone. Somehow, everyone knows that, but no one takes action or can't. We have to think about and present something like "Then, do you want to leave it as it is? What do you do?" Kenshi Yonezu said "I will become a standard", and that is now a word of practice. That is amazing.


After all, we must do something to turn the masses properly. You have to call people to the cinema and have them watch the drama. There are few places where young actors can play an active role. If we don't do our best now, there will be no place for people in the generation below us. Yonezu understood that as well. That was the beginning.


Q: When you're acting all the time, you became to feel that the body isn't your own, but that it's a role.


A: That's right. It's a difficult place to tell if this is transmitted. Isn't it normal to live your own life? But we are intentionally trying to act. No matter how much happy I am, I have to cry, and no matter how sad I am, I have to laugh. Repeating that kind of thing means that you're doing the work of deceiving your brain all the time. Then, sometimes I feel "I don't know" and after all the accumulation is big. That's why, when I'm playing music, the moment when my voice turns inside out, how I make a harmony beautifully is absolutely my own, so I feel relieved. To put it exaggeratedly, I might have quit acting. But I won't quit singing. It was that good.


Matsuzaka Tori for Hohoemu Hito/ The Smiling Person (2020)

"Each person has a different way of thinking and measuring things. A 'normal' me might not be 'normal' from the perspective of someone else."



Interviewer intro:


Nito (Tori character)'s emotions are always constant with no emotional outburst that leads to the motive for killing his family. He says his motive as "I wanted a place to put the books". People think "There must be other reasons," but that's "normal" for Nito.


Q: What did you pay attention to when you played Nito?


A: It's easy for me to label the psychopathic Nito as dangerous, or completely different from me. Since I am playing him, I think that what I thought was "normal" isn't "normal" from the perspective of someone else. In addition, the "ordinary" chores for me sometimes can become dangerous. It make me have such kind of thoughts again this time. So, in the end, I didn't think that Nito is so different from me.




Q: A lot of Nito's "smiles" appear in the film. 


A: Yes, a good impression smile, an eerie smile, etc..depends on Nito's impression. I remember smiling, hoping that the difference would come out properly. The appearances don't change much but I think the feelings will change a little depending on the timing of the smile in each scene.




Q: When you played Nito, you said that you played without any emotional ups and downs. Did you find it difficult?


A: It wasn't a role that resonated with me, but I didn't suppress my feelings while playing. Majority of people would think "Shouldn't it be like this?". But that's just the selfish first impression of that person. Looking at the story through the reporter Kamoi, I also think that a person can really complete the whole story with just his/her first impression.



Q: Speaking of first impression, aren't you popular person? I don't think anyone dislikes you.


A: Actually, hmm, it's difficult. If you think you're a popular person, I think it's usually not the case.


Q: There's many interesting answers at interviews and press conferences. 


A: I'm happy. In stage greetings, I'm not saying what I came up with on the spot. My manager told me, "If you don't say sth catchy, you won't be picked up by media." So I do my best to think about it.




Q: Your remarks are often taken up by the news.


A: It's difficult because I can't instantly make flashy statements (lol). It's easy to just say "Everyone Hello, I'm Tori Matsuzaka. Thank you for today" but the reporters who came to us deliver our work to various people. I think about what is the best every day so that I can say the words that are catchy in a good way.




Q: Matsuzaka-san had the image of an uncommon person. You played a dangerous roles or a little psychological roles but I think it's amazing that the good image of you does not collapse at all. Is there anything?


Thank you!!! (lol) I often talk to my manager about "balance." If you just do what you like, the balance will be biased. If I can do it, I would like to try a work with various colors, and I think that it will be fruitful when I am in my 40s and 50s later.



Q: Matsuzaka-san's comment about Hohoemu Hito.


A: When dealing with people and things, I think that what we believe in can ultimately be the driving force for moving forward. There is no doubt about it. But, I don't think it's good to believe in our own way of thinking just to be overly influenced by it. I think the most important thing is the feeling of belief and the ability to listen. If you believe only in your own feelings, you will sometimes go in the wrong direction, so I think we will need the ability to hear advice from someone out there.