Ashizawa Jin is an illustrator\/columnist who seems to have worked for GRAPH since the 1960s (yes, you read that right). His interview column generally gets a new title every year but has been fairly consistent format-wise in recent years. I\u2019m giving him his own tag in the Staff category since he is one of the few interview conductors to be credited by name in the publications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This interview with Nanami Hiroki was published in the April 2017 issue of GRAPH, but was recorded ahead of the opening of The Scarlet Pimpernel<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Time to soar! #3 – Ashizawa Jin interview with Nanami Hiroki<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps I\u2019m the only one who feels the stage light up when Nanami Hiroki enters. With Blazing Wind – Strategist Takenaka Hanbei<\/em>, she achieved her first solo lead, exhibiting both gallant brilliance and subtle sweetness in a total display of her appeal. She is now soaring to new heights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hanbei is a military commander, and in this production, you were the leader – did you make any new realizations through the combination of these two things? Did you feel pressured?<\/em> Did you feel nervous on opening day?<\/em> You looked so cool in the poster photoshoot. How did it feel to see yourself all over?<\/em> You said you were very nervous on opening day, but what was it like to play Scarlett?<\/em> What do you to do help when you\u2019re struggling with a role? Do you try things like moving away from the character?<\/em> I first noticed you in Valentino (Theatre Drama City, Nippon Seinenkan Hall), where you played Rudolf Valentino\u2019s wife, Natasha. I wonder why that could have been, even though you are an otokoyaku\u2026<\/em> A lot of your roles that left an impression on me are female roles. Even though I thought more otokoyaku roles should be coming to mind\u2026<\/em> You have a stubborn side, don\u2019t you.<\/em> You transferred from Cosmos Troupe to Star Troupe in April of 2015, and it seemed that the otokoyaku ‘Nanami Hiroki\u2019 became much more intense then.<\/em> What do you find most difficult about expressing a man\u2019s feelings?<\/em> It seems that you will be able to use your experiences playing Hanbei in your role of Robespierre in The Scarlet Pimpernel.<\/em> Ashizawa Jin is an illustrator\/columnist who seems to have worked for GRAPH since the 1960s (yes, you read that right). His interview column generally gets a new title every year but has been fairly consistent format-wise in recent years. I\u2019m … Continue reading
I didn\u2019t really feel \u2018scared\u2019 – I just had fun, mostly (laughs). If I was focusing and giving my best, everyone else would help and support me\u2026I really felt that kind of atmosphere. Hanbei isn\u2019t the type of protagonist to keep pushing ahead without relying on anyone. He had a deep sense of connection with everyone around him, and would always do his duty, and I was also able to feel safe and stand naturally in the middle of everyone. Whether in rehearsals or on stage, everyone looked out for me so much, and of course, Marin-san (Yuuma Rin), who played Hideyoshi, was a big support. Therefore I was able to perform without feeling too much of a burden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t, actually. The most nervous I\u2019ve ever felt up until now was my first day as Scarlett (Gone with the Wind<\/em>, switch role with Asaka Manato). I always use that as a point of comparison, so I\u2019ll think to myself ‘am I more nervous than back then?\u2019 and then I\u2019m like ‘I\u2019m doing better than I was then\u2019 (laughs). In Blazing Wind<\/em>, every one of us constructed things clearly, and a main theme of the story is the value of life. Ever since the rehearsals started I\u2019d felt certain that this would really resonate with the audience. Therefore, while I couldn\u2019t say I was perfectly comfortable, I certainly felt I was able to get through the opening performance without being too shaken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the poster, Director Suzuki was very particiular, so during the photoshoot it was all settled, ‘do this there, now do that\u2019 so I was just following directions. But he was really into it (laughs), so I understood the image he was going for more and more. The fans seemed to like it as well, which made me happy, and when I would see the posters up around town I\u2019d be like ‘Hey, that\u2019s me!\u2019 (laughs) Basically I was just like ‘I\u2019m so happy!\u2019 and was really glad about it (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, first off, it\u2019s a female role (laughs), and over the years, so many different people have played her. Also, since it was a switch role, rehearsal time was limited, so I was like ‘is this gonna be okay?\u2019 and had a lot of concerns about it. While I\u2019d rehearsed alone, obviously it takes a whole cast to make a show, so I had a lot of strong worries – what if I cause trouble for everyone, or worse, what do I do if I cause a problem for Rika-san (Ouki Kaname), who played Rhett Butler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never leave the character. It takes me some time to solidify the image I have for a role. Therefore, for example, if there\u2019s someone with a similar feel to my character I\u2019ll research them and try to move how I think they would move. There\u2019s a limit to my own imagination, so I take things like that and mix them in with my own style. However, when all that\u2019s said and done, I think what\u2019s most important is to perform in a way that makes things easier for the rest of the cast. If I think about how to make the lead performer, or my partner, look better, that helps me bring my character to life. It\u2019s not about performing for ‘me, me, me\u2019 alone, buut if I think about how I can make my partner look better, it makes me look better as well. That\u2019s the fun of acting, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still don\u2019t really get why it was me, but I think since it was so abrupt, everyone must have been like ‘who the heck is that!?\u2019 At the time, it wasn\u2019t as if I had any objection to female roles, but since I was 173cm, I never dreamed of being cast as Oozora Yuuhi-san\u2019s wife, so I was really shocked. At first I didn\u2019t have any idea how to do a female role. I\u2019ve never been girly in the first place, and I wore jeans all through highschool, so it was a bit embarrassing to come into the rehearsal room wearing a leotard and skirt (laughs). Director Koike watched me act and gave me a variety of one-on-one advice, so I\u2019m really grateful for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, I think that doing female roles back then let me think a lot more about what it is to be an otokoyaku. Sometimes, after I\u2019d put together a really subtle dramatic performance, I would be told that if I didn\u2019t make it a little bigger, it wouldn\u2019t come across to the audience\u2026 I thought that even though this was what I liked, going along with just what I liked was no good – but I thought ‘since there are fans who like this way of doing things then that\u2019s alright\u2019. The power of the fans is really strong to me. Of course I\u2019ll follow the directors\u2019 instructions and desires, but that sometimes means performing while thinking that wasn\u2019t really what I wanted to do, so I\u2019d like to be able to combine these things more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m reeeally stubborn, I think (laughs). I feel like if I don\u2019t think ‘Gosh, I\u2019m so cool!\u2019 then the audience won\u2019t think that either. Therefore I\u2019m always trying to emphasize my coolness, and when I think ‘yeah, this is it!\u2019 and the audience also likes it that makes me really happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The atmosphere of Cosmos Troupe was really different to Star Troupe. When my transfer was decided, I was full of anxiety about it – will I be any benefit to Star Troupe? I\u2019m not the most clever type, so will this go okay? But once I came in, it was such a different world, and a lot of different people had an impact on me. When I aced with Kurenai-san for the first time in Catch Me If You Can<\/em> (Akasaka ACT Theatre, Theatre Drama City), I really realized how different the acting styles were between different troupes. I do feel that rather than being somewhere I feel totally comfortable, it\u2019s better to encounter challenges. I was also blessed by who I had around me: my classmate Ichijo, Kurenai-san from a year above, and also Toki (Irisu)-san and Hokushou (Kairi)-san, so it was an environment where I could feel safe and grow. Therefore, while it\u2019s been about 2 years now, I feel like it\u2019s really helped me come into my own. Everyone\u2019s been really good to me, and the junior actresses are looking up to me, so I\u2019m really grateful for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hmmm\u2026 Obviously, in Takarazuka, we\u2019re not men but otokoyaku, so that incorporates a lot of things that real men wouldn\u2019t do. For example, actual men would hardly ever bring you flowers on your birthday. Especially Japanese men. Maybe foreign men are different (laughs). So an otokoyaku creates the image of a woman\u2019s ideal. I think it\u2019s because we\u2019re not like real men, but the sort of characters from the world of shojo manga or TV dramas who\u2019d never exist in reality, that Takarazuka is so good. If you want to see actual men you can go to any other theatre, but you can\u2019t see otokoyaku anywhere but Takarazuka. I think Takarazuka is a theatre where you go to fall in love. It\u2019s a totally unique theatre where you can encounter a dream world and fall in love (laughs). Therefore, I think that being realistic is totally the wrong way to go. I feel like it\u2019s since they come to fall in love with men who would never exist in the real world that people will see the shows over and over. Since I want to make the audience happy, I\u2019m also always thinking about how I can be more wonderful as an otokoyaku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve also been thinking that. While I picture him as presiding over the Reign of Terror, and he\u2019s certainly a villain, he\u2019s also someone who was true to his own convictions. It\u2019s a question of how far to take it, as if I take that too far he won\u2019t seem like a villain any more\u2026 Since he was a real person, I think it\u2019s really vital that I use my limited appearances onstage to really get across to the audience what the situation was in France at that time, as well as Robespierre\u2019s emotions. I really want to keep growing as an otokoyaku, so I\u2019ve been getting a lot of instruction from Director Koike, and I want to enjoy myself while still working hard to become a more splendid stage performer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"