okiraku2 - '08 winter
A Sudden Shift to Full Throttle
Filming at the Start of the New Year
It's now 2008. Like every year, I welcomed the new year at NHK after "Kouhaku," and then went out to eat with Goro-san and Shingo. We SMAP pulled through looking our best on "Kouhaku," so I was feeling pretty good. For some reason, they made me stand up and talk about our goals and such. Shingo told me, "List all the good points and bad points that everyone here (about 20 people) had last year." So, for Goro-san, I said something like "I hear good things about your plays and your acting. I'm going to do a play this year, too" and for Shingo, "Let's be best friends this year, too. Shingo is my greatest inspiration." To which Goro-san retorted, "What do you mean, greatest. You put a lot more feeling in your comment to him." We had a good time drinking. After that, I went to the shrine with Shingo, although I don't recall how I got home (laugh). Drinking and sleeping, that's what my New Year is like.
Work started again on the 5th. It's a drama. I've been working hard first thing in the morning, filming for "Ryokiteki na kanojo" ('08, TBS) in April. I play the role of Saburo, who gives lectures on oceanology. He's a great guy, Sabu-chan~. Always trying his hardest, he's the kind of guy you don't see much these days but wish there were more of. I knew I'd be playing Saburo soon, so at "Kouhaku," I greeted Kitajima Saburo-san by saying "I'm going to be called Sabu-chan soon, too" (laugh).
The story is about that same Saburo meeting Rinko, played by Tanaka Rena, and how he gets dragged into things by her. It's really quite something. One thing after another. If I was Teru from "Boku no aruku michi" ('06), a scene might simply have me reading a letter for Miyako-chan in my room, but this drama is something else. For just two lines of stage directions, I might go from riding a ferris wheel to pedaling a bike with scuba gear on my back to diving underwater. This drama wouldn't go anywhere if I stayed alone in my room. Filming all day like that, I'm moving about so much I'm not sure whether I can seriously keep it up until evening, and I've got so many lines, thinking about pauses and tempo has my brain in full gear! You could say it's a bit like I've gone back to the basics of acting.
This time, since I'm playing an oceanology lecturer, I got a license for diving. It feels good to be in the ocean. We filmed a scene swimming with dolphins, and at the end of last year, we went diving on a completely dark night as well. That was a frightening experience. I was just starting out, so I had no idea what they were directing me to do underwater. I tried to move how they told me to, but we ended up retaking over and over. Meanwhile, I started to lose sense of up and down underwater, and my body started to get cold from water seeping into the wetsuit. What was supposed to take 20 minutes for 3 scenes ended up taking an hour... anyone else would have been dead, for sure! But when I told Shingo this story, he said "Only an hour? I've had to stay soaking wet all day long for a rain scene," so I guess maybe I'm just not experienced yet (laugh).
At any rate, I'm having great fun experiencing all sorts of new things. And morever, Rena-chan is fantastic. She's so into her acting it takes me by surprise. Punching and kicking me... she kicks me in the crotch without the slightest hesitation, it's super painful (laugh). But that's Rinko for you. The scenes we have together are pretty interesting, and though it starts off like a roller coaster at the beginning, there are parts where it gets serious, too. It might sound simple, but with my acting I hope to convey the feeling of having consideration for others. So, filming is sailing smooth! Please look forward to it this spring.
Filming at the Start of the New Year
It's now 2008. Like every year, I welcomed the new year at NHK after "Kouhaku," and then went out to eat with Goro-san and Shingo. We SMAP pulled through looking our best on "Kouhaku," so I was feeling pretty good. For some reason, they made me stand up and talk about our goals and such. Shingo told me, "List all the good points and bad points that everyone here (about 20 people) had last year." So, for Goro-san, I said something like "I hear good things about your plays and your acting. I'm going to do a play this year, too" and for Shingo, "Let's be best friends this year, too. Shingo is my greatest inspiration." To which Goro-san retorted, "What do you mean, greatest. You put a lot more feeling in your comment to him." We had a good time drinking. After that, I went to the shrine with Shingo, although I don't recall how I got home (laugh). Drinking and sleeping, that's what my New Year is like.
Work started again on the 5th. It's a drama. I've been working hard first thing in the morning, filming for "Ryokiteki na kanojo" ('08, TBS) in April. I play the role of Saburo, who gives lectures on oceanology. He's a great guy, Sabu-chan~. Always trying his hardest, he's the kind of guy you don't see much these days but wish there were more of. I knew I'd be playing Saburo soon, so at "Kouhaku," I greeted Kitajima Saburo-san by saying "I'm going to be called Sabu-chan soon, too" (laugh).
The story is about that same Saburo meeting Rinko, played by Tanaka Rena, and how he gets dragged into things by her. It's really quite something. One thing after another. If I was Teru from "Boku no aruku michi" ('06), a scene might simply have me reading a letter for Miyako-chan in my room, but this drama is something else. For just two lines of stage directions, I might go from riding a ferris wheel to pedaling a bike with scuba gear on my back to diving underwater. This drama wouldn't go anywhere if I stayed alone in my room. Filming all day like that, I'm moving about so much I'm not sure whether I can seriously keep it up until evening, and I've got so many lines, thinking about pauses and tempo has my brain in full gear! You could say it's a bit like I've gone back to the basics of acting.
This time, since I'm playing an oceanology lecturer, I got a license for diving. It feels good to be in the ocean. We filmed a scene swimming with dolphins, and at the end of last year, we went diving on a completely dark night as well. That was a frightening experience. I was just starting out, so I had no idea what they were directing me to do underwater. I tried to move how they told me to, but we ended up retaking over and over. Meanwhile, I started to lose sense of up and down underwater, and my body started to get cold from water seeping into the wetsuit. What was supposed to take 20 minutes for 3 scenes ended up taking an hour... anyone else would have been dead, for sure! But when I told Shingo this story, he said "Only an hour? I've had to stay soaking wet all day long for a rain scene," so I guess maybe I'm just not experienced yet (laugh).
At any rate, I'm having great fun experiencing all sorts of new things. And morever, Rena-chan is fantastic. She's so into her acting it takes me by surprise. Punching and kicking me... she kicks me in the crotch without the slightest hesitation, it's super painful (laugh). But that's Rinko for you. The scenes we have together are pretty interesting, and though it starts off like a roller coaster at the beginning, there are parts where it gets serious, too. It might sound simple, but with my acting I hope to convey the feeling of having consideration for others. So, filming is sailing smooth! Please look forward to it this spring.