"Oliver's Dog (Gosh!!) This Yarrow" Season 2 Director Joe Odagiri What kind of direction is possible only because he is an actor? [Director's Interview Vol.246]

An all-star cast that was inevitable

Q: The all-star cast is one of the features of this drama, but was this intentional?

Odagiri: This is what happened when I cast an actor I trust and like. It's a work that's important to me, so I don't want to call him someone who isn't capable as an actor or someone I can trust as an actor. I can't ask someone to be popular or have a large number of followers.

Also, if this was the movie's limited production budget, it would be impossible to assemble that cast. That is definitely NHK's strength. At NHK, the fees are fixed, so everyone participates with their own boxed lunches. I feel sorry for that, but I'm also happy about that, and I think it can be said that it was a miraculous casting that could only be achieved by NHK.

Drama 10 “Oliver Inu, (Gosh!!) This Yarrow” Season 2 Copyright NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.

Q: My personal impression is that when I was watching Wes Anderson's ` `The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun '', I was reminded of ``Oliver the Dog''. The same goes for the all-star cast, but I feel the same way about how they use these people to expand the story. I thought that one thing in common is that the actors agree with and participate in the planning and director.

Odagiri: No, no, I'm so sorry. I wonder what it is. As an actor and a staff member, I think I feel every day how cramped manufacturing is in this day and age. In a world where the range of expression is becoming narrower and narrower, when a script like ``Oliver's Dog'' arrives, it makes people feel happy and think, ``There's someone who's trying to do something like this right now.'' I'm happy. That's why I think it's a great workplace where people who want to make things can show their true potential.

This work may not be suitable for actors who want to become famous or earn money, but I think it will be very appealing to people who are interested in things like manufacturing and the spirit of challenge. I think that's why they came together.

Directions that are only possible as actors