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[size=+1]Interview: Toda Erika about “Liar Game 2″
What did you think when you got the offer for another "Liar Game", two years after the original one?
Iwas surprised that it turned into such a big project involving a newseason and even a movie. It has been two years since the first seasonand I was anxious whether I really would be able to perform as KanzakiNao again. However, when the producers told me more about the new storyand showed me pictures of the new set designs, I had no choice but toaccept the offer. Suddenly I was completely eager to tackle thisproject. (laughs)
Do you think that Kanzaki Nao changed?
Yes,she did. I myself did a lot of different things during those two yearsand occasionally looked back at this ‘precious time’. When I receivedthe first parts of the story, I immediately said to myself, "This isn’tthe Kanzaki Nao from 2 years ago." I was relieved, because the sameamount of time passed for her and she grew up just like myself.Therefore it was a good sign for me to react that way. The story isalso different and so are the performers who make it through the 4rounds of games. You could say that the ‘Liar Game’ itself changed abit compared to two years ago in general, I guess.
Upon filming a few scenes already, is there anything you’d like to point out?
Both,Akiyama Shinichi and Fukunaga Yuji who won the original game, didn’tgrow up a lot during that long interval. However, Nao who nothing butcried in the beginning and wasn’t able to do anything surely shows thatthe participation in the game definitely helped her to grow up a bit.She has become strong and serious, I have to keep that in mind duringthe acting. Her personal growth will continue until the movie, but Ileave it to the director to decide how far he is going to go with therole of Nao.
While acting, where and how did you notice the personal growth of Nao?
Ican’t tell you too much details, but there definitely have been a fewparticular moments. For example a very strong scene where she says toAkiyama, "You can’t believe in other people, right!?" She was cryingwhen saying this, but it sure was surprising for her to say somethinglike this to Akiyama. Nao always put in her utmost effort, but hernewfound strength was a real shock to me.
What are your impressions on the script of ‘Season 2′ ?
It’s"Liar Game", no doubt. The beginning is similar to ‘Season 1′. Findinga black box, being startled like "No way", being tricked by Tanimuraand gathering in the hall of the game… that’s how it begins, kinda…(laughs). It was a relief to know that it’s still Liar Game and thatthere is a Kanzaki Nao.
When did you start to feel like "Yes, I’m back at doing Liar Game" ?
Theabsurd amount of cuts immediately made me feel like I’m back (laughs).By the way, the movie has 3000 cuts. An ordinary movie has around 1000cuts, but ‘Liar Game’ isn’t just an ordinary movie after all (laughs).Other things that make me feel that I’m back is the natural toughschedule, the athmosphere at the set, the tense acting of everyoneinvolved and the talks with Matsuda-san and Suzuki-san between thefilming.
It’s been two years for Matsuda Shota too. How was it to perform together after such a long time?
Atthe set he is Akiyama Shinichi. Just now I spoke about the growth ofNao, but of course she alone isn’t the base of the Liar Game. Nao andAkiyama together create the foundation of the story and that won’tchange in the sequel. Matsuda-san did a wonderful job and nailed hisrole again, I was really impressed and relieved to see the same AkiyamaShinichi from two years ago. Nao wouldn’t be able to rely on Akiyamalike that, if he changed. Thanks to Matsuda-san, she’s able tocompletely rely on Akiyama again, will often get scolded and ends upcrying because of that (laughs). I’m glad that like the relationshipbetween those two, the relationship between Matsuda-san and me didn’tchange over the two years either.
How about Suzuki Kosuke who plays Fukunaga Yuji?
He’sthe same as ever. She’ll get tricked by Fukunaga and will be laughed atagain (laughs). Suzuki-san put on an enthusiastic performance as usual,I really enjoyed watching him act again. By the way, his line in‘Season 1′ , "Naochan-tte baka dayone. Ukeru~" had such a great impacton me, that I started saying "Ukeru~" in the same exaggerated way ashim. In the movie there is also a scene of the two I really love toad-lib.
This means that ‘Season 2′ might hold some potential ad-lib scenes as well, right?
Ithink so, too. We often have conversations like "Erika-chan, who areyou going to impersonate next?", but I don’t know it yet. I’ll observethem and find some more scenes (laughs).
Why do you think is "Liar Game" that popular? What is so fascinating about it in your opinion?
‘Season1′ was the first Saturday dorama. The staff and I were really tense anddid a lot of mistakes. I still remember how nervous I was. Even nowthere are a lot of firsts, from the lightning to the cuts. Many thingshave never been done in a dorama before. That kind of originalityreally was a lot of fun. I guess that everyone really enjoyed watchingsomething more original. Such individual characters and such a complexyet interesting psychological warfare was something new for a dorama.This time we moved to the 9pm timeslot on Tuesdays and I was anxiousabout how this is going to affect the style and story of what used tobe a Saturday dorama. However, it was unnecessary to be that anxious.They didn’t try to fit into the usual color and style of a Tuesday-9pmdorama and I have a feeling that there is going to be a positiveresponse towards this decision. I’m confident that it neither willbetray the fans of the previous season nor the fans of the originalmanga. Please look forward to the new yet unchanged ‘Liar Game’experience!
~crdt aramatheydidnt@LJ~ |
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Post time 21-10-2009 11:28 PM
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