"If the world were a stage, where would the dressing room be?" Interview with Masaki Suda

Masaki Suda will be starring in the Fuji TV Wednesday 10pm drama "If This World Were a Stage, Where Would the Dressing Room Be?" (Wednesdays at 10pm, first episode extended by 30 minutes), which will start on October 1st. Masaki Suda, who says that the character he plays is "selfish and ends up being disliked by those around him," spoke about his thoughts on teaming up again with screenwriter Koki Mitani, how he prepared for the role, and an episode with the late Yukio Ninagawa.

◇Teaming up with Koki Mitani again after 3 years. What is the appeal of this character?

The drama is a youth ensemble drama set in Shibuya in 1984, and is an original story based on the memories of Koki Mitani's youth. In a corner of Shibuya, a bustling center of youth culture, the drama depicts the struggles, setbacks, and sometimes love affairs of young people who are still unknown, in the full "Mitani world."

This will be Suda's second collaboration with Mitani, three years after the 2022 NHK Taiga drama "The 13 Lords of the Shogun." When asked how he felt when it was decided that he would be working with Mitani again, he smiled and said, "I was just genuinely happy."

"I had the opportunity to play Minamoto no Yoshitsune in ' The 13 Lords of the Shogun', and although it was very tough and difficult, it was really fun. Mitani's stories involve many different aspects of human emotions, and this time too I touched on both comedy and seriousness, so I was really looking forward to being able to do it again. There were a series of scenes where you'd be laughing out loud on one side and crying on the other, so it was tough as an actor, but I was also really excited."

Suda, who is attracted to the characters Mitani draws, says, "Mitani has great intuition and I think he really observes people well."

"I've heard that it's quite common for a script to be written specifically for an actor, and then end up becoming that actor's very own. This time too, there are several actors for whom the script was written, including the character I play, Kube Mitsunari, and I was a little shocked to see them as such (laughs)."

◇ Not a comedy, but a truly unbearable tragedy

Mitsunari Kube, played by Suda, is a theater director who dreams of success. He admires Yukio Ninagawa and strives to create his ideal Shakespearean play. Regarding the character of Kube, Suda laughs and says, "He's really stupid..."

"His passion for theater and his love for Yukio Ninagawa and Shakespeare are genuine, but his feelings are so strong that he ends up spinning his wheels, and Mitani has told him to be more selfish, not to listen to what others say, and not to take on the lines too seriously. Hisabe is truly selfish, and he is becoming disliked by those around him (laughs). I am performing this not as a comedy, but as a truly unbearable tragedy (laughs)."

The drama is set in Shibuya, Tokyo 41 years ago. Born in 1993, 32-year-old Suda reveals, "I'm acting as if it's a kind of period drama."

"I was conscious of the way words were placed, the speed of the conversation, a slightly rough feel, and a slightly pressured tension that isn't present in modern dramas. There's also a 'toppy' feel to it. Nowadays, just smoking a cigarette can make a character, but in this day and age, everyone smokes, and they don't even think twice about littering. In terms of morals, it feels a bit rough. I was conscious of being a little rough with my emotional expression, voice volume, and closeness to people."

◇Who is Masaki Suda's "spiritual master"?

Suda incorporates the atmosphere of the late Showa era into his acting. In the film, there is a scene in which Kubo respects Ninagawa as his spiritual mentor, but who is Suda's spiritual mentor?

"Director Aoyama Shinji. I first encountered him when I was 19 (on the set of the film Cannibalism). His first experience was learning about what it was like to work on a film set while he yelled at me. After that, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do a play under Ninagawa's direction, and that is also a very memorable experience."

Suda played the role of Romeo in the stage production of "Romeo and Juliet" directed by Ninagawa in 2014. When he was performing the scene in which he expresses his feelings for Juliet, Ninagawa said to him, "I'm going to die."

"I was told, 'Just climb. Climb the stairs. When you feel excited, go to a higher place.' It's certainly easy to understand visually, and the energy to physically climb is very important."

It is said that Ninagawa's words are reflected in the character of Kube.

"This time, I was conscious of that phrase, and incorporated a slightly more theatrical element into my expressions of excitement than I usually do in my plays. I stood up unnecessarily, climbed to higher places, and made exaggerated gestures to the point that it seemed a little unnatural."