``AWAKE'' If we were to make movies only for movie lovers, Japanese movies would end. Tatsuya Wakaba's thoughts on entertainment during the coronavirus pandemic [Actor's Interview Vol.10]

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2020.12.24SYO

I asked my friend, a shogi player, for help.

Q: Watching AWAKE, I was amazed at how good a shogi player you are, but in comments related to the work you said that you "don't understand shogi," which was quite a shock.

Wakaba: That's true (laughs). I still don't know anything about the rules (laughs).

Q: So how did you achieve such a high level of perfection? Was it under the direction of Director Atsuhiro Yamada?

Wakaba: No, I don't remember ever talking to the director about that (character preparation). We didn't have much time to prepare, so when I read the script, I had to judge the priorities of "what to leave out in my preparation."

Shogi is a very harsh world where victory or defeat is not decided by luck or chance, but by skill alone.

As actors, we don't win or lose, and our job is very ambiguous, so it's almost impossible for an ordinary actor to understand the thoughts of people who live in a competitive world... I originally had a friend who was a shogi player, so I asked him to join me, and we studied moves together and then went to the set.

Q: I didn't know you had a friend who was a shogi player!

Wakaba: He was a classmate in middle school and we used to hang out about once a week. So I asked the producer if I could hire him as my exclusive agent.

Q: By the way, did you ever play shogi with that friend during your junior high school days?

Wakaba: They're a very strict Shogi association... I think they played it for fun, but they've never said to me, "Let's play shogi." Because they know I'm a small fry (laughs).

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