A video of a conversation between Hiroshi Abe, star of the film "Showtime Seven" (directed by Watanabe Kazutaka, currently in theaters), and his co-star Ryo Nishikido, in which they talk about behind-the-scenes stories from the filming, has been released on YouTube.
This was the first time the two acted together. Abe expressed his gratitude, saying, "Even though I didn't have any scenes (because Nishikido only makes an appearance in the second half of the story), he came (to the set) for a month just to practice his lines. I heard from the director that Nishikido only filmed for two days. He stayed with me longer than the other cast members, so I was really touched."
Nishikido responded with humor, "I'm not that busy (laughs)," but expressed his joy at working with Abe, blushing and saying, "It's a rare opportunity, and if I'm going to be involved, I want to be fully involved."
When asked about the most memorable scene, Abe said, "It was when Nishikido appeared on screen. I thought, "He's finally here." Since I was hearing his voice in person, it sounded different to how we'd heard Nishikido up until then." He chose the tense scene where he comes face to face with the bomb terrorist played by Nishikido.
Nishikido also mentioned the scene, but prefaced it by saying, "It's completely unrelated," and then threw in the white flag, saying, "People say I have a strong complexion, but when I saw Abe, I thought, I'm going to be completely defeated!"
The film is based on the Korean hit "Terror Live" (directed by Kim Byung-woo). Director Watanabe, known for the "Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe" series, wrote the screenplay. A bomb is planted at a TV station, and the culprit, Shigefuji (played by Nishikido), appoints former popular newscaster Orimoto (played by Abe), who has been demoted to a radio station, as the negotiator. Orimoto sees the incident, which has attracted attention from all over Japan, as an opportunity to return to the news program "Showtime 7" from which he was forced to resign. He attempts an exclusive emergency live broadcast, but his ambition is thwarted by the various traps set by Shigefuji, including an explosion in the studio... and so the story unfolds.
