Kwak Yeon-soo is a digital editor at The Korea Times creating, editing and curating digital content for the newspaper’s website, mobile app and social media. She previously covered a diverse array of cultural, political and business topics.
INTERVIEW 'Drive My Car' actor tells of his rise to global fame, desire to star in Korean movie
Actor Hidetoshi Nishijima in a scene from the film “Drive My Car” / Courtesy of Triple Pictures, ZOA Films
By Kwak Yeon-soo
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Hidetoshi Nishijima, one of the biggest Japanese stars, received a staggering amount of attention for his performance in the three-hour drama “Drive My Car.” On being named one of “The Best Actors of 2021,” he thanked director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, the cast and crew for their support throughout.
The actor said there were lots of table readings and rehearsals, just like in the movie, and all the actors enjoyed the process of diving into the meaning of each line.
“It was an honor. Accepting the director's style of directing was a new experience for me. We rehearsed many times, and that helped me discover various qualities within the character,” Nishijima said in a recent interview with The Korea Times via Zoom.
“Drive My Car,” based on the 2014 Haruki Murakami's short story collection “Men Without Women,” tells the story of Kafuku (Nishijima), the widowed stage director who slowly lets go of his buried past and moves on by preparing a theatrical adaptation of Anton Chekhov's “Uncle Vanya” in Hiroshima.
As he interacts with the actors in the play and his driver Misaki (Toko Miura), Kafuku takes in the sudden passing of his screenwriter wife Oto (Reika Kirishima) and the affairs Oto had engaged in discreetly before her death.
Kafuku employs multilingual style in his play, featuring a diverse Asian cast speaking Japanese, English, Mandarin, Korean and Korean sign language.
The 50-year-old actor said the multilingual production helped the cast bring out a certain richness they wouldn't have achieved if they used the same language. “Because the actors spoke different languages, it took us awhile to adapt and react to each other's lines. We had to go over the lines over and over until we memorized each other's lines,” he said.
The Japanese actor added that they practiced reading the lines in flat mode, repressing emotions.
He also shared his fondness for Haruki. “I'm a big fan of his and I started reading him from an early age. So it was easier for me to understand my character Kafuku. It was challenging, but I'm glad I had the chance to express the grief and loss of the character from Haruki's story,” Hidetoshi said.
Picking Song Kang-ho as his favorite Korean actor, Hidetoshi expressed his wish to act in a Korean movie.
“It's hard to pick one because there are many great actors in Korea, but I've watched all of the movies featuring Song. I would love to act in a Korean movie one day, even as a violent Japanese guy,” he said with a laugh.
“Drive My Car,” now playing in theaters, has garnered over 25,000 moviegoers.