"I cried too" Kentaro Sakaguchi reveals! "10 years to live" first co-star, respect for Nana Komatsu, role creation with Director Fujii

The movie "10 Years to Expect" chronicles the irreplaceable days of Mari, who is afflicted by an incurable disease with an incidence rate of one in tens of thousands, and Kazuto, who reunites at a class reunion. The original author, Ruka Kosaka, wrote this work while fighting illness herself.

Director Fujii Michihito, who has been attracting attention with movies such as "Yakuza and Family The Family" (2021), worked on the movie adaptation of a novel full of very strong feelings. Kentaro Sakaguchi and Nana Komatsu, who have gained tremendous support mainly from the younger generation, starred in this work, which took about a year to shoot.

This time, MC Reina Kobayashi of the movie information program "Let's go to the cinema" currently being broadcast on the CS movie specialty channel Movie Plus interviewed Sakaguchi who plays the role of Kazuto Manabe. She talked a lot about her stance of co-starring with Komatsu, who challenged a difficult role, and her role-making that she naturally delved into with Director Fujii.

Interview with Nana Komatsu “10 years to live” Director Michihito Fujii talks about “10 years to live”! Nana Komatsu and Kentaro Sakaguchi's gratitude to the "Fujiigumi" that brought out "more"

"10 years to live" Kentaro Sakaguchi

"I cried too"

-"10 Years to Live" was a truly wonderful work. I cried so much that my mask was soaked.

Oh! Ahaha.

-I remembered it for a week in the afterglow, and it touched my heart so much that I could cry.

I'm happy. When I saw the completed work for the first time, I couldn't empathize 100% with the work I'm appearing in... I cried.

- Did Sakaguchi-san cry too!?

You cried.

-Is that the reason why Sakaguchi-san was so emotionally attached to this work?

Right. Of course, I read the script beforehand, and I knew the story after I acted, but when I saw Mari and Kazuto living properly in the picture, I thought, 'Ah, that's amazing. I felt like I was able to do it.

-How did you feel when you got the offer?

As you can see in the title, it's a story about life expectancy of 10 years. I was thinking. So, when I talked to the director, it was still in the stage before it was decided that I would be involved in this movie, but I don't know what to say. No, I thought it was a very difficult work.

If it looks like "I'm acting", it's like I'm going to take a step back. It's really difficult to "stand as a boy" there. But after filming started, the role was always alive in my head as Kazuto. During that time, I suddenly remembered Mari, and it was a work that I was able to shoot in a very comfortable time.

Morning drama "Welcome back Monet" Co-starring Kaya Kiyohara and Ren Nagase! Will the “Heisei born heroine” become a hit after “Amachan”?

-How did you feel after reading the script and actually playing Kazuto?

To be honest, it may not have been so difficult. It's the ultimate, but I wish I could have been there as a kind of "that person". That's why, rather than saying that this part of the play is difficult, then let's try this kind of expression or this kind of approach, it's better to just be Kazuto. So rather than trying to add new gimmicks or trying different techniques... But in that sense, "being a Wajin" itself was difficult.

-You've spent a year filming, and you've played Kazuto of various ages, haven't you? I thought the performance was really great.

Yeah, really.

-Is there anything you were conscious of yourself?

Even if you shoot for a year, the time axis doesn't always go according to the script, so it's not really "a single facial expression", but it's like the pitch of your voice, or something like that kind of fine-tuned adjustment. I was allowed to work very closely with the director.

-At first, Kazuto was shy and a little timid, but in the latter half he was already confident.

People who have already seen it said that they really lived through these 10 years properly.

Mitani Taiga's 3rd work "Kamakura-dono no Thirteen" is already crying! Looking back on "Seibu Police"-like "Hiroshi Tachi Nobunaga" and other past masterpieces Taiga

"I want to be the easiest partner to say lines to my co-stars"

-This is my first time with Nana Komatsu It was a co-star, right?

Well, nice to meet you.

-How was your first time together?

I don't know if this expression fits, but Nana-chan was really Mari herself. Of course, she has done a lot of very impressive plays, but even at the shooting site, she "just stayed with Mari"... So, there was a lot that I was able to be a Wajin because of that. When the camera isn't rolling, it's Nana-chan, but you can also see Mari, or when you're facing the role, you're Mari, but somehow you can see a little bit of Nana-chan. It's not a "resonance rate" with the role, but I was shooting while feeling that kind of thing.

-Mr. Komatsu also said that he had hardly talked about the izakaya scene, and that it was like meeting him for the first time. How did you close that distance?

When I was filming the scene of riding a sleigh in the snowy mountains, it may have been triggered by asking, "How does it feel?" while setting up the camera. This time, Nana was adjusting various things such as building her body, so she wanted to know how difficult it was for her.

When it comes to filming a romantic movie, I don't think it's necessary to be close. I'm trying to be a partner that is easy to express when we both express a part of our emotions. That's why I don't need technique or anything, I just want to be the person who is the easiest to say the lines that are written to the person in front of me.

Go Ayano and Hiroshi Tachi are the sake cups of parent and child! Michihito Fujii, the director of the Japan Academy triple crown "Newspaper Reporter", talks about "Yakuza and Family The Family", which depicts the way of life of "anti-social forces"

-I see. Mr. Komatsu seems to have lost weight over the course of a year, but if he hasn't eaten for a long time, it becomes difficult to get emotional...

After all, my head is also blurry.

I cried too

-Mr. Komatsu said that the scene in the kitchen was difficult because he couldn't express his emotions.

Hmm... I thought it must be hard. But when I asked if I could do something about it, I felt that there was a limit to what I could do, and that it would be fine just to sit close to them without doing anything. I can't express my emotions, so why not try it like this? I thought it would be fine just to be by your side, not something like that.

- Snuggle up close.

Honestly, I don't think I took many approaches to her acting. In the sense of a method of approach that does not actively intervene, I wonder if I was doing it. I really don't want to force myself to talk, or rather, I only talk when I feel like I should talk. That's why it may have felt like it was unreasonable.

-That may have led to a natural relationship. This time there was a scene where Mr. Sakaguchi cried, but when I saw the past works, I felt that it was rare for Mr. Sakaguchi to cry so much. How was it?

It was cold.

- It was cold, no doubt.

It's really cold. Nothing comes out when it's too cold, anymore. So it was hard.

- You're going to take me there, emotions.

But I took a few patterns, but suddenly my emotions came out, and there were times when I felt dizzy because I was overwhelmed. From Kazuto's point of view, Mari was someone who saved him, or something like that. That's why I can't help but be overwhelmed in various scenes.

-Even if it's not a crying scene, does it make you well up?

In the scene where he leaves the station and runs to meet her again, the book doesn't say ``Kazuto is overwhelmed with emotion here.'' Mari-chan, who made me want to live even though I thought I wanted to," just saying that line makes me want to cry... As I read the script thinking that Kazuto was really saved by Mari, there was something about it that just overflowed little by little.

But I think it was more difficult for Nana-chan. Kazuto was a boy who became "Mari-chan, Mari-chan" until he found out the truth, but she has a lot of things going on, and she's with him. I'm not lying to myself, but there must have been days when I asked myself from the bottom of my heart, "Is it okay for me to be with him?" That's why I think it must have been very difficult for her, who had to act while holding on to the emotions behind her role.

"10 years to live" Kentaro Sakaguchi

Interview with Ryoko Yonekura & Go Ayano! Netflix series "Newspaper Reporter" Ayano's facial expression is "painful" and tearful scene

"Director Fujii properly weaves human emotions"

-This time the director is Michihito Fujii Did you get any advice during the shoot?

For a slightly long scene, the director had a very detailed production plan. But rather than receiving directing, I kept talking about the role of Kazuto, saying things like, “He has this kind of personality,” and “Kazuto thinks like this at this kind of time.” It's been a year since I've been in the middle of a long time. In this kind of scene, there's no directing to show such emotions, and it's just the feeling that the two of them have for a boy named Kazuto. It felt like we were talking. Like when the cameras weren't rolling, we talked a lot about Kazuto's memories.

Since we are drawing 10 years in 2 hours, the director filled in the gaps by talking about everyday Kazuto that might have been missing, such as the parts that were not written in the script.

When I do dramas and movies, I sometimes get worried about the parts that aren't written, but why does he say this? Or, even though it wasn't expressed as a video, there were many things that happened that made me feel overwhelmed by emotions.

-It was really natural.

Director Fujii said, ``I don't know much about romance movies,'' but he's a director who can properly weave human emotions, not just romance movies, so it's not just romance, it's work. I think we all have something in common.

- That's right.

Yeah, so there were times when I felt like Kazuto was the director's friend and I was Kazuto.

-I would also like to hear from the co-stars, how was co-starring with Lily Franky and Yutaka Matsushige?

I used to work with Mr. Matsushige in a drama a long time ago, and at that time he played the role of a very hot-blooded man, but this time the role (Mari's father, Akihisa Takabayashi) is taciturn... Sometimes I was really impressed by Mr. Matsushige's scene. Even though there were no lines, I could see the love in the eyes that just looked at Mari, and the way she cared for her, that alone made me cry.

Gen-san (Lily Franky) was a person who helped Kazuto grow little by little and became a place for her heart. It's like saying 'buzz' resonates a lot. That scene where he said, "It's okay to go up today," was a very happy time because I could feel a lot of things with just my voice. I didn't have many co-starring scenes with Matsushige-san, but I was able to play with Lily-san, and I felt that I was able to cut out a very rich time.

-The scene with the two of you was lovely. I was a little disappointed there as well.

What did you like best? . When I talk to people who have watched it, each person is completely different (the scene that was good).

-In my case, I'm already crying from the beginning.

Ahaha.

-But really, I was deeply touched by all the processes of life of various people, and because the viewers can understand the feelings behind the characters, I was already in tears from beginning to end. rice field. That's why I can't talk about what was good about it until I have another 20 minutes, but I cried even in the scene where I was dashing.

That was really close, thighs.

―Finally, please give a message to everyone.

When director Fujii started filming, he said, ``I'm fine just watching Mari and Kazuto live for 10 years.'' It may be a bit exaggerated to say that they are beautiful, or their way of life, but I would be happy if you could feel those 10 years.

"10 years to live" Kentaro Sakaguchi

Interviewed by Reina Kobayashi

Photographed by Yuka Ochiai

Stylist: Taichi Koumura

Hair and Makeup: Rumi Hirose

“10 years to live” will be released nationwide from Friday, March 4, 2022

Tags Are there cameras in movie theaters?