BIG IN JAPAN
Nagare Hagiwara
 What is
acting to Nagare Hagiwara? "Proof of my existence and the reason why I exist,"
he said. "Take it away and I' be no more."
Hagiwara, a rugged Japanese actor, is known for playing tough guy roles. He's made plenty
of notable TV guest appearances, as well as movie appearances: Sukeban Deka: Kazama
San Shimai no Gyakushu (aka Girl Gang Boss Detective: Revenge of the Three Kazama
Sisters, 1988), Onimaru (aka Arashigaoka, 1988), Asobi no Zikan
wa Owaranai (1991), Ai no Shinsekai (aka A New Love in Tokyo,
1994), Gunro no Keifu (aka Tale of a Scarface, 1997) and Shura ga Iku
#12 [a v-movie] to name a few. Not bad for a guy who became a famous actor without
intending to.
"When I was young, and while I was a ronin, I got to know this guy who asked
me to help out with a play he was in, and I agreed. The choreographer of that particular
play, Mr Takemura, was there and after the final scene, he asked me if I was interested in
watching another play. I had nothing better to do, so I went with him to watch this play.
Afterwards, he asked me if I was interested in acting... and would I like to join his
production. He said that he would train me for three months and I've been doing it ever
since.
"Gradually, I became addicted to acting, and the next thing I knew, I was 26 years
old, couldn't go back to college, couldn't really get a salaryman job, and so I officially
became an actor. It's not like I wanted to be an actor, so I'm surprised that I'm here
myself. I also had the opportunity to work with Mr Kohei Tsuka, and was under his wing for
three years. After that, Mr Tsuka set up his own production company. From there, he helped
me land a job on a NHK drama and the wheels just started rolling."
One of his favorite roles was playing a character in an unfinished play called Gankutsu
Ou, performed at Aoyama Gekijo. "Over 90 percent of the play is a musical, and
we were singing the whole time-it was almost like an operetta. That was really fun."
Hagiwara just wrapped up filming for an as yet untitled Japanese movie, and is very
excited about his upcoming projects.
"I'm working on something for next autumn, and right now we're in the midst of
getting the rights to this play that's never been shown in Japan before," he said.
"It's about a middle aged man and a young girl falling in love. We want to make it
for TV, movie and v-cinema [made-for-video movies]. This fall, I'm doing a play that's
been running for a while called Hi no Tori (The Phoenix, written by
Osamu Tezuka). But this play will only run in Osaka."
Although these enticing roles will be his in the near future, his dream role is playing
the lead role in Shakespeare's Richard III.
"It's a four or five hour play, so I think it'll be close to impossible to do - I
can't imagine any Japanese screenwriter trying to do this in Japanese. I don't think my
dream will come true. But I would really like to do a classic. Any roles that a producer
brings to me, I'd like to give it a chance. Being an actor, it's hard to go and ask for
roles, you kinda have to wait until someone brings you one."
With the great acting skills he's been showing lately, he won't have to wait for a classic
script - he's creating his own.
Maki Nibayashi and Melanie C. Redmond |
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