When Mackenyu Arata received the offer to star in a Hollywood movie, he was told to leave Japan and expand his career overseas.
For actors, their film projects are considered as an “art”. But when it comes to genre, entertainment seems to be more fitting than art. Recently, Arata spent his day off by streaming some series.
“I have a lot of movies that I love. Recently I streamed several series of gunfight type of action, with drug syndicate themes. I wanted to watch Blacklist for a while now, but there’s too many episodes. I’m the type of person that likes to binge a series at once (laughs). For movies, recently I re-watched The Hangover series again, it’s still as interesting as ever. I’ve watched all The Maze Runner movies. I also love Interstellar. Those are the kind of movies that I want to act in, regardless whether it includes action or not.”
Last May, it was reported that he will star in a Hollywood movie, and the media said, “He will suspend all activities in Japan and advance to Hollywood.” He’s currently filming his work abroad, but unlike what was reported, he plans to return to Japan this fall to film a new work.
“I never said I was going to suspend my activities in Japan. But with this kind of profession [as an actor/public figure] sometimes people would assume and write whatever they want to. I will never stop working in Japan. This time, I happen to have a schedule decided, and I’m very happy that I can finally concentrate on one work. In the future, I’d like to do more projects in Japan and in the United States as well. I still don’t know how things will turn out, but for now, I can only work hard and give my all so that when people watch my work, they can say, “That was a great work!” or “It was an interesting movie!”
“It is a given for an actor to prepare for a role in order to live up to it. In Japan, we get high praise for doing that.”
When his Hollywood role was decided, he didn’t plan to expand to the US. However, what he continued to feel in Japan was that his truest nature as an actor can be a little out of place than what is perceived as normal in Japan. One of the examples is his extreme approach to prepare for his roles.
“I was never taught properly about the process of role-making. I started doing methods because I wanted to be more confident with myself. I can only be confident when I prepare myself thoroughly. I’ve taken that for granted, so I’m honestly confused when people praise it for being something extraordinary, or conversely, when people ask me, “Why would you go that far?!” There are many types of actors that can perform well without preparing their role to that extent, and I think that is also fine too. But for me, rather than always being viewed as “amazing” every time I went to a certain length to prepare for my role, I want to be in an environment where that would be seen as a natural thing to do as an actor.”
In Japan, sometimes he had to do 3 roles at once. However, to other actors, they consider it to be a natural thing. “If I could concentrate on one work, I would be able to give a higher quality performance,” he expressed his thoughts, but the conflict deepened when his performance was being evaluated.
“It was quiet sad. If I succumb to that situation, then my acting work will eventually become dull. The process of exploring and finding the core of our roles, which is essentially the core of human beings, is really fun. I think that good acting is created by following that process.”
From playing a young-lead in Japanese movies, to playing adult leads in Hollywood movies.
Just like the work he’s currently working on, he had auditioned for many Hollywood movies. I asked him, what was the success ratio? “1 in 2 bottles, around 50%” he answered. Naturally, I retorted with a surprised “Eh?!” I would think that it’s a waste of time to try, but that would be a selfish argument.
“When I work in Japan, I have to decided my schedule 2-3 years ahead. Of course, there are some interesting projects that I want to do in Japan. But for now, to stay connected with them, I can only face the casting personnel and say. “I’m sorry but I would have to refuse it for now.”
“There are many opportunities for young actors to star in Japanese movies, so I wanted to do as much as I can while in Japan,” said Arata. His reason for advancing to Hollywood was that Hollywood movies tend to appoint adult actors as lead.
“I will be in my 30s soon, and I think there’s a lot of opportunities for me in the States at this age. I want to star in movies where adults are the lead. Of course, I’d also like to explore more interesting works in Japan as well.”
Zdroj:https://www.tumblr.com/mackenyu-archives
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