L/R15 “Nano Ai” “The cat ran away” Hideo Josada × Rikiya Imaizumi The fun of changing the script I wrote [Director's Interview Vol.195]

A crappy second role

Q: The men were also great. Nakajima Ayumu was especially amazing.

Joji: Nakajima was a bit surprised.

Imaizumi: It was amazing. I couldn't stop laughing. Nakajima-san, did you guys work together before?

Joji: No, this is my first time, but I'm also starring in the film " Nighthawk's Unrequited Love " (due for release on September 16th), which I wrote the script for, so there was a lot of scheduling conflict (laughs).

Imaizumi: Why are we fighting over Jyosada's work? (laughs)

Johjo: Yeah, that's true (laughs). I knew Nakajima from " Good Stripes " (2015) and " Love is Hard for an Otaku " (2019), but I was surprised to find out he was such an interesting guy.

Imaizumi: It was the same with Hamaguchi-san's " Chance and Imagination " (21), but everyone started playing similar roles, and it made me wonder if it was okay. They all seemed a bit the same.

Joji: Yes. I guess it was a coincidence.

Imaizumi: We probably wrote without knowing each other's work.

Joji: I suddenly started getting more roles as trashy handsome guys. I think at some point, everyone started noticing that.

Imaizumi: Usually, if a similar role comes along, I'd say "I did it a while ago" and turn it down, but he just takes it all. I think that's really wonderful.

Joji: That's true (laughs). I thought the role of this guy was very difficult, he's a total loser, and there are hardly any people who sympathize with him.

Imaizumi: If you do it normally, you'll just end up being a heel.

Joji: That's true. It really hits home for me, but when I'm trying really hard to come up with an excuse for cheating, I can't help but think, "Just do your best!" (laughs)

Imaizumi: It was interesting to see the small details that weren't in the script. Just the scene where he hurriedly cleans up the food he was eating before his wife comes home makes him more lovable and more human. Some people might find him even more annoying (laughs). Those kinds of details weren't in my script. So when I watched it, I really enjoyed those little additions.

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Q: Was Dustin Hoffman in " The Graduate " originally in the script?

Imaizumi: I'm sure that was added by Jyojo-san. That was not my opinion (laughs).

Joji: That's not my opinion, it's the character Ichika's opinion of that movie.

Imaizumi: When my name appears in the script, people assume I wrote it (laughs). That happened to both of us this time.

Joji: For the scene near the end of "The Cat Has Run Away," I thought that Imaizumi-san would do this sort of thing all the time, so I worked hard on writing it over about five pages, but when I watched it, the scene turned out to be about ten pages long (laughs).

Imaizumi: Jyosada-san wrote the climax scene so that it would be shot in a long take, which is common in Imaizumi's films.

Joji: Yes. After I wrote the climax, it turned out that it wasn't quite enough (laughs).

Imaizumi: In the end, it was about double (laughs).

Joji: I thought that this would be enough, but it wasn't.

Cat performance was difficult