Actor Tori Matsuzaka is the voice of Paddington in the Japanese dubbed version of the film "Paddington 3" (directed by Dougal Wilson). This is the third film in the series starring Paddington the Bear, a "British gentleman" whose trademark is his red hat and duffle coat, and Matsuzaka has voiced Paddington in the Japanese dubbed version, following the first film released in 2016 and the second in 2018. We asked Matsuzaka about the points he would like the younger generation to see in the film, as well as his own childhood. (Part 2 of a two-part series)
◇Even now that he's a father, "I still love the romantic adventures"
"Paddington" is a long-selling children's novel that has been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 35 million copies worldwide. In this third film, Paddington the Bear goes on a family trip to Peru to visit his Aunt Lucy who lives in "Old Bear Home," and has an adventure deep in the jungle.
This film is touted as "the biggest adventure in bear history," and Matsuzaka himself cited "the scene at the beginning where Paddington drowns as a baby bear" as the scene that made his heart race. He added, "The Brown family's episode zero, or rather the early part, gradually becomes clear, and in the third film, the whole picture finally becomes clear, so I was a little excited when I found out. I had always wondered where Paddington came from. The journey to find his roots was interesting."
What about Matsuzaka's own roots? "If I had to say where my heart is, it would probably be my parents' house. My parents' house is in Chigasaki, Kanagawa, and when I go back there I want to go to the sea. I don't surf or anything, but when I simply look at the sea I feel like, 'Ah, I'm back,'" he reminisces.
When he was a boy living in his parents' home in Chigasaki, the place where his roots lie, he would build secret bases by himself and play there.
"When I was in the early grades of elementary school, I built a secret base by myself behind the place where I was living at the time. I put together a base out of cardboard boxes I found at the garbage dump and put my toys there. I also kept a stray cat, without telling my family. It was like a kind of private space, and a place where I really found peace of mind. Before I knew it, the base had been destroyed and removed."
Matsuzaka-san has had an adventurous spirit since he was a boy. Even now that he is a father, he says with a smile, "I'm still interested in things like the Tokugawa buried treasure (laughs). I like adventures that give you that sense of romance. I think a lot of people, especially boys, like treasures no matter how old they are. When I see a treasure map with a cross on it, my heart leaps."
He said he used to get excited watching adventure movies as a boy. "The movies I watched at the time were the 'Indiana Jones' and 'The Mummy' series. The scene in 'The Mummy' where bugs pop out and instantly reduce people to bones was shocking even to me as a child," he recalled.
It's a film that can be enjoyed by parents and children together, so we asked them how they would like children to enjoy it.
"Of course, your eye is drawn to the big action adventure scenes. Even small children can enjoy scenes like the opening scene where Paddington drowns in the river, or the scene where he runs around the top of a mountain in Peru. Paddington is a hero to our family. We have a stuffed Paddington at home, and it's in our favorite doll lineup."
◇ 2025 will be a major turning point for him as he appears in "Mikami Sensei"
The drama "Mikami Sensei" (TBS), which aired in January this year, received a huge response and he says it influenced his own way of thinking.
"After the first episode aired, I received messages from people I don't usually keep in touch with. They said things like, 'It's interesting,' 'It's exciting,' and 'It's been a while since I've come across a good drama,' and I realized that it may be reaching a lot more people. Maybe it's because I've become a parent myself, but through ' Mikami Sensei,' I learned the importance of 'thinking,' how much thinking for yourself can help you grow, and how much it can help you develop the ability to broaden your options, and I wanted to reflect that in my own life."
Ironically, in this film Paddington is also actively "thinking" for himself and acting on his own. "That's right. Paddington also thinks about what he does. It feels like they're all connected in some way," he says with a laugh.
He said that appearing in "Mikami Sensei" was "a major turning point for him."
"It was a really wonderful set. The director and cameraman were about the same age as me, only a year or two apart. The producer, Iida Kazutaka, was in his early 40s. I think being able to make this with people who are really close to my age (36), and being able to leave a tangible legacy of that passion, was a big turning point for me."
Finally, we asked them to predict what "Paddington" will be like seven years from now, as the new film is the first to be released in seven years.
"He'll be around 43 years old. The taiga drama ("Gyakuzoku no Bakushin", scheduled to air in 2027) has finished, so I wonder what he'll be doing... I don't think his way of thinking will be that different from now, so while in his teens and twenties it was work-centered, I think his own life will probably be the center of his life now," he imagined.
