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Digging Deep with Matsujun
　　Date： 2008.05.02.
　　From： http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/
　　By： Bryan Hartzheim and Kanara Ty
　　URL： http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/080502/article.asp?parentID=91650
　　URL： http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/080502/article.asp?parentID=91679

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One of Johnny's Jimusho's top pop idols, Jun Matsumoto talks to Asia Pacific Arts in a rare English-language interview.


Of all of talent agency Johnny's Jimusho's everlasting army of boy bands, Arashi has the guys who seem set on doing the dirty work. Kazunari Ninomiya appeared in Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima as a convincing army grunt, was the voice of the packrat-like Kuro in 2006's Tekkon Kinkreet, and last year played the piss-poor Taro in the TV drama series Yamada Taro Monogatari. Masaki Aiba doesn't appear in nearly as much, but he handles wild animals and their precious bodily fluids every week on Shimura Doubutsuen (Shimura's Zoo). And now Jun Matsumoto -- aka Matsujun -- is joining the fracas, having been just cast as one of two filthy peasants in Shinji Higuchi's remake of the Akira Kurosawa classic, Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess. Is Arashi signaling the end of the squeaky-clean romantic roles Johnny's boys normally traffic in?

Matsumoto has had an extensive career in Johnny's, joining in 1996 without having to audition and debuting just three years later with the now hugely popular pop group Arashi. While the group began its climb as the forefront of a new Johnny's generation of pop idols, Matsumoto himself began honing his career as an actor, starring in the TV drama Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo as boy detective Hajime Kindaichi, which would lead to his award-winning co-starring roles in the hit TV series' Gokusen and Hana Yori Dango. His most recent television triumph was winning the award for Best Actor at the 53rd Japanese Television Drama Academy Awards for last year's cooking drama Bambino!, where Matsumoto played a confident young cook from Kyushu who learns the hard knocks of the professional culinary world after working as a training chef in Roppongi.

This is a full plate for any young actor, but just remember that in the Japanese entertainment industry, you sleep two hours a day, at most, and it's usually in a chair. In addition to his film and TV acting duties, Matsumoto handles weekly commercial and music video shoots, modeling gigs, daily variety show appearances, preparations for concerts, and the occasional theatrical stage role such as 2006's Yukio Ninagawa's adaptation of Byakuya no Valkyrie. Such is the ceaseless life of a top Johnny's talent.

When he's not doing one of these things, he's flying out to Los Angeles to promote films like the remake of Hidden Fortress. APA caught up with Matsujun for his first ever interview for an English-language publication to ask him about his role in the film, what powers him on as an entertainer, and what his fans and the entertainment world at large can expect from him in the future as both an actor and as a member of Arashi. --Bryan Hartzheim

Interview with Jun Matsumoto
Interviewed by Bryan Hartzheim and Kanara Ty
April 27, 2008
Beverly Hills, CA
Transcription and Japanese translation by Bryan Hartzheim

APA: Usually you have a very popular image as a Japanese idol. What made you decide to take a role that, to use director Shinji Higuchi's words, "Would take your former image and dirty it to the furthest point possible?"

APA: 松本さんは普段洗練されたイメージが強い方なのですが、今回樋口監督の作品で非常に汚い格好をされるわけですが、今までと全く違う役柄に挑戦されようと思われたのは、どのような理由からですか？

JM: The first reason is, simply put, the original book is very interesting. But when we were discussing early on if I should play this role or not, I had no idea that I would be wearing such dirty attire. But once I knew later, I thought that would be an interesting challenge as well, not just regarding the script but also for the opportunity to play my first jidaigeki ("period piece") role.

JM: この作品を受けた理由は，単純なことでいえば，本が面白かったことが第一の理由です。実際やるという段階では、ここまで汚い格好をするとは思ってもいなかった。それはもっと後の衣装合わせとかした段階で、始めて分かったことです。受けたことだけで言えば本がおもしろくて、自分が時代劇というフィールドに初めていくことが、今このタイミングでこの役でいったらおもしろいかと思ったからです。

APA: Are you nervous about the reception of this film? Since it is a remake of an Akira Kurosawa film, there will be probably high expectations.

APA: 黒沢監督のリメイクということで、緊張しませんでしたか？

JM: I'm not nervous about it at all now. Before the shoot, I was actually very nervous because we were remaking a Kurosawa movie, and I felt a lot of pressure to live up to expectations. But when shooting started, I also realized that Kurosawa himself wasn't going to be directing this movie, and we were borrowing his movie to make a new piece of entertainment using better filmmaking techniques that weren't available in Japan 50 years ago. I thought we would make something that would showcase Japan's evolved filmmaking style that is reflected with the influx of Hollywood material, our traditional style of filmmaking, and many other different kinds of movies. I hoped we could draw upon this mix of moviemaking styles and make something that Kurosawa couldn't make 50 years ago, rather than try to recreate what Kurosawa did 50 years ago.

JM: 今は、全然ないです。実は、始め撮影する前に、黒沢監督の映画のリメイクと聞いたときは、ものすごく緊張しましたが、実際作る段階では、黒沢監督が取るわけではなく、黒沢監督の映画を借りて新しい映画を作るものだと思いました。それこそ５０年経った間に、日本の技術も変わっただろうし、日本の古きよきスタイルもそうだし、ハリウッド映画からも影響を受けただろう。色々な映画のエッセンスをミックスして出来た映画だと思います。５０年前に黒沢監督がこの映画を作ったかといえば、そうは思いません。

APA: How much did you look at Star Wars for this film?

APA: 「スターウオーズ」もこの映画を作る前に見たんですか？

JM: I didn't watch much of Star Wars again for the creation of Takezo, but, and I was told this by the director too, Takezo has a little bit of Luke Skywalker in him, and a little bit of Spiderman, and a little bit of Jack Sparrow. I tried to draw the essence from all of these Hollywood entertainment heroes to create a new hero in Takezo.

JM: 今回この武蔵の役にあたって「スターウオーズ」を見返してはいない。けど、これも監督からも言われましたんですけど、武蔵はルークスカイウオーカーの部分もあるし、スパイダーマンの部分もあるし、ジャックスパローの部分もあります。いろんなハリウッドで作られた映画、いろんなエンターテイメントのヒーローのエッセンスを少しずつをもらって、自分なりに咀嚼して作ったキャラクターになったつもりです。

APA: Which scenes in the film would you like the audience to pay special attention to?

APA: 観客の方に１番見ていただきたいシーンはありますか？

JM: There's a scene in the film with a himatsuri (“fire festival”) which I think conveys very well the nature of a Japanese festival, and what the spirit of a jidaigeki is. It's also gorgeous to look at.

JM: 火祭りのシーンです。すごく祭りというものは日本ぽいし、かつ時代劇の要素も火祭りのシーンには入っている。かつ絵としてもゴージャスです。

APA: Were there any scenes in the film that you had particular trouble with?

APA: 特に大変だったシーンはありますか？

JM: That himatsuri scene and the scenes of the latter half of the movie with the studio-set fortress were also the most difficult. I've never seen or been on as large or beautiful a set like that before, but those scenes were especially difficult to do.

JM: 火祭りのシーンと、後半の最後の砦は実際セットでスタジオで作ったセットだったのですが、大変は大変でした。

APA: You had to master horsemanship and swordfighting for the role. How hard was it to learn both of these skills?

APA: 今回この映画の中で、馬に乗っているシーンとか、剣術のシーンとかありますが、かっこよく、自然にみえますが、どういったトレーニングをされましたか？トレーニングは大変でしたか？

JM: It was my first time on a horse, so I started doing it for about three months before the shoot, but even if I say three months, it was really only about thirty 90-minute sessions, so I don't think it really involved lot of training.

JM: 馬は初めてでした。３ヶ月ぐらいかけてやりました。しかし、実際には１回９０分のレッスンを３０回やったのみです。