Two weeks ago, a new comedy called "Korede Iinoda!", starring Asano Tadanobu and Horikita Maki, opened in Japanese cinemas.

The film is based on the life of late mangaka Akatsuka Fujio, who enjoyed great popularity especially thanks to his ingenious manga "Tensai Bakabon", and his interaction with his editor and good friend, Takei Toshiki.

Asano, who is currently involved in various international projects, plays the role of Akatsuka, while Horikita challenged the role of Takei, who was transformed into a woman in order to emphasize the fact that their relationship even went beyond that of a man and a woman.

The comedic and eccentric life of Akatsuka, as well as the tough demands from director Sato Hideaki, turned the filming into quite a challenge for the two actors.

Cinema Today interviewed them in order to find out more about their mental state after this film.

Check out the interview below!

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- Asano, you just portrayed a character with alcoholism in "Yoi ga Sametara, Uchi ni Kaerou." This time you are playing Akatsuka and, although on a different level, he also was a person who couldn't live without alcohol. How do you like playing such a role?

Asano: I really played a lot of roles that loved to drink a lot of alcohol. It started with "Kaza Hana" and then continued in other films such as "Villon's Wife" or "Donju."

Personally, I can't hold a lot of alcohol and thus started to wonder, "Why am I only getting such roles?" However, this role is challenging in many different ways and a lot of fun to play.

- Editor Takei is actually a man, but in the movie he became a woman by the name of Hatsumi. Horikita, you are obviously a woman, so how was it like to play this role?

Horikita: Since Hatsumi is a woman, I first thought that I would become the third woman in Akatsuka's life. He has his mother, his wife, and now me. However, their relationship turned out to be much deeper, probably even deeper than a love relationship between a man and a woman.

I played this role, trying my best to show the incredible bond between a mangaka and his editor. The director told me that I should actually develop maternal feelings for Akatsuka.

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- In this film Asano's image is completely different to what we are used to. It must have been fun for you to fool around and do as you please.

Asano: The first day was really difficult for me. I had to dance along to Nyarome's song right away! The song was already recorded the previous day, but for the dance the director suddenly told me to ad-lib. He requested various versions, from "Give me a punk version!" to "Now show me a normal version!" to "Now dance like there is no tomorrow!" I danced like crazy and the whole staff couldn't stop laughing. It was really painful.

Horikita: I was filming something else until the very day I had to start filming for "Korede Iinoda!" The sudden change in tension compared to the previous filming was so immense, that it felt like I wouldn't be able catch up with everyone else. The day before the filming everyone was already into the "shee" pose, and it felt like I was the only one who didn't do it that time.

Asano: What? You didn't do it? I didn't notice at all.

Horikita: I was right next to you.

Asano: I really didn't see you. Everyone was so excited doing the "shee" thing that day, but already on the next day nobody laughed about it anymore. It was quite shock for me.

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- Did your impression of Horikita also change, Asano?

Asano: I have always had a calm and collected image of her. However, since the start of the filming I have often seen her shaking off this cool image. It made me think, "Huh? That person isn't that calm and collected at all!"

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- Some time ago we heard that director Sato Hideaki demanded a lot of things from you. What kind of director was he really?

Horikita: He was a straightforward director who often said confusing things. His requests often made me want to say "EH?", but since he said them in such straightforward ways, I always felt like I had to agree to his demands in the same fashion.

Asano: That's right. He really said some unreasonable things! However, he always was so direct, that you didn't even get the chance to think about refusing his demands.

Horikita: We often had to repeat those parts where the script only offered some vague stage directions. There was a scene where we were supposed to laugh and run at the same time and the director told us, "I want you to run with MAX tension." When I asked him what kind of feeling I should put into the running, he basically didn't care and only answered, "MAX!" We had to do this scene like forever.

Asano: Really! I was so relieved when he finally gave his OK. However, some days later, he suddenly said, "I want to film a couple more takes. Please do that scene again, this time in the studio." I was surprised and shocked, "What? Didn't we finish that scene already!?"

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- It definitely was a challenging film where it was necessary to know when to let go of your sanity. Did the film affect you in a personal way as well?

Asano: I completely realized what it means to be an actor. As an actor you have no choice but to do what is being demanded from you, even if that means that you have to dance naked and make a fool of yourself. Rather than trying to save face as an actor all the time, you should be sorry for even trying to do that in first place.

Horikita: I have never lost my temper or have been hyper because of alcohol, so when I saw myself in the final version of the film, it felt like there was a completely different person on the screen. However, I really liked seeing myself doing all this stuff and I'm glad that I was able to play such a role.

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Here is the trailer for "Korede Iinoda!"



Source: Cinema Today