If I wanted to say 'You are a Samurai', I´d say あなたはサムライだ
This movie is based on a legend that is very famous in Japan.
but here, not a lot of people know it. Would you share that legend with us?
Okay, the quick version of the 47 Ronin.
I haven't done this in a while.
Basically it's a story about sacrifice.
It's a story about sacrifice
to reclaim honor, to correct wrong.
And it starts between two Lords
and basically in the short form one lord insults another, strikes another
insult striking
in-midst of the Shogun. You can't do that. Lord has to die.
Commits seppuku which is honorable, but the man with the lord
who would commit seppuku
feels that there's an injustice done, that there wasn't the right
retribution and
the Shogun says you can't take revenge but then a year later they all go away
and then 47 come back
and take the head of Lord Asano.
I'm sorry, of Lord Kira,
and by that they reclaim their place, their home, their name.
Whatever happens in there,
whatever you see, don't draw your weapon.
Wait here.
You are playing Kai. What is his story?
My character Kai is not in the historical record.
This is part of the adaptation.
I play an orphan in a way, a half breed of
english father, japanese mother;
mother abandons the child out of shame and disgrace,
probably being forced to you. I'm raised by these mysterious monks and I escape
as a young man and I go to a place called Ako, which is Lord Asaon.
He accepts me to a certain extent, I fall in love with the princess,
princess falls in love with me as children, we grow up but apart, we can't
be together it's kind of like
Romeo and Juliet. But then the evil Lord Kira takes her away,
takes the lands of Ako. The 47 Ronin
and Kai seek revenge to reclaim Ako
and the princess, and the name
of Lord Asano.
I was amazed by how forgiving Kai is. Would you consider yourself
as a forgiving person? Do you forgive easily?
Thank you very much for feeling that and seeing that.
It was my hope and ambition that there would be something about the compassion
of the character that
even as he's ostracized he has a respect.
I liked that part of the character, so thank you for that.
What was the other part of the question? If you consider yourself -
If I'm forgiving? No, I'm not as good as Kai.
But it was nice to play him. It was nice to be that good a guy.
I will search for you through a thousand worlds.
And 10-thousand life times until I find you.
In the movie there is this line that 'this life
is just a preparation for what comes next'. How do you feel about that?
I feel like it- because I can't know- but I feel like that
is probably true. You know I feel like that there's something about-
That sentiment has such wonderful
impact if we think about it and act upon it. You know that if we wanted to have a
good experience in our -
after we close our eyes you know that how we would
behave in the present you know.
And yes, I feel like you know those things like they die a happy death,
a hard death or how people pass
or the formations of culture that you live with going into the other world
or passing you know. I think that it speaks to our present,
speaks to those around us, and I think it can speak to
what is inherited and transmitted. Did you learn Japanese for this movie?
That was a beautiful answer, by the way. Oh no, it was too long.
I don't learn any Japanese, I learned a little Japanese.
The director Carl Rinsch would ask the Japanese cast
while we were doing the film in English
but to do it in Japanese in
to get a different connection to the lines
in spirit of that I tried to do the japanese lines
which was really fun. There's a Japanese version of this movie if you want to make
which is really cool. Can you teach us something in Japanese?
Oh gosh you know, I learned the lines, I know some typical greetings -
始めまして which means nice to meet you.
It's afternoon, so こんにちは
Thank you for this interview- このインタビューをありがとうございました
and if I wanted to say you are Samurai I'd say - あなたはサムライだ
Thank you so much for this interview.