On February 14th, actress Gouriki Ayame attended a press event for the Oscar candidate film, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" at a hotel in Tokyo. The young 14-year-old American actor Thomas Horn was also in Japan to promote the film.

Since it was Valentine's Day, Gouriki explained that she tried to look mature and sweet at the same time for the event. She also gave Thomas Horn a handmade chocolate cake in the shape of a heart and said, "There was a lot of love that went into making this."

He accepted the gift with an embarrassed smile and said, "I previously made a chocolate cake myself, so I know how difficult it is. Thank you very much."

The starring actors in the film are Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, which probably makes it difficult for new young talents such as Thomas Horn to gain attention. However, he plays a very important role and impresses with a great performance. Gouriki commented, "I was totally fixed on Thomas' acting and was able to really empathy with his character. It was as if I was experiencing the same things myself."

Thomas Horn explained how grateful he feels towards his co-actors and the team for supporting him so much through the filming and how fortunate it was for him to get selected for this role.

Gouriki attentively listened to his story and commented, "He sounds like he's a very reliable person. I still remember how nervous I was when I played my first role, so I hope I can follow his example."

She asked him to give her advice on how to get rid of the tension and he said, "I was just as anxious as well and questioned myself whether I'm really read for this, but the director always told me that I can do it. That's when I started to think to myself, 'Even if you make a mistake, you can always perform better in the next take.'"

"From now on I'm always going to tell myself that I can do it!" Gouriki replied with a smile.

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" opens in Japan on February 18th.

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Sources: Oricon, eiga.com