Actor Suzuki Ryohei will star in the TBS Sunday Theatre series "Reboot" (Sundays at 9pm) which will begin airing on January 18th. This will be Suzuki's third lead role in the Sunday Theatre series, following "TOKYO MER: Running Emergency Room" (2021) and "Gekokujo Baseball Player" (2023). He will play two main characters: a good-natured pastry chef who has lost his wife, and a corrupt detective. We spoke to Suzuki about his enthusiasm for the series and his impressions of his co-star Toda Erika.
◇The biggest deciding factor for appearing in a film was the script.
The drama tells the story of Hayase Riku (played by Suzuki), an ordinary pastry chef who is framed for the murder of his wife, who abandons his beloved family and past to become (reboot) the face of Gido, a corrupt detective at the Metropolitan Police Department, in order to prove his innocence and find the real culprit. The script is written by Tsutomu Kuroiwa, who has worked on many hit Sunday Theatre shows such as "Grand Maison Tokyo," "TOKYO MER: Running Emergency Room," and "My Family."
The main reason Suzuki wanted to appear in this work was the script. "The story is so interesting! Not just for TV dramas but for movies too, the script is important, so I fell in love with the script," he said, talking about the appeal of this work.
Excited, he continued reading the script. "What if one day you suddenly had to live with someone else's face? And what if you were faced with the extreme situation of 'being found out and being ruined?' When I first read this story, I was so intrigued that I couldn't stop turning the pages."
Filming is scheduled to finish before the summer of 2025. He said he was also attracted to the fact that there would be time before the broadcast and he would be able to carefully create the work.
"(Kuroiwa) said that he had been planning the project for three years, but I was amazed that he was able to come up with such a story in just three years. He had been a great help to me at TOKYO MER, and has worked on many other projects since then, so I was amazed that he had been nurturing such a wonderful story."
◇ "It's a rewarding role that connects with me as an actor." What is your impression of your co-star, Toda Erika?
The first main character, Hayase Riku, played by Suzuki, is a gentle and kind-hearted pastry chef who runs Hayase Pastry Shop with his wife, son, and mother. However, two and a half years ago, his wife, Natsumi, disappeared. The story begins when a detective appears before Hayase, announcing that his wife's body has been found. Before he has time to grieve, Hayase is framed for his wife's murder based on evidence he has no recollection of and is on the verge of being arrested.
Another main character, a detective from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigative Division, Gido Ayumu, appears at Hayase's store. He is a corrupt detective with ties to underworld organizations, and is not afraid to resort to illegal investigations in order to catch the culprit.
With the evidence of fabrication now solidified and his guilt all but certain, Hayase makes a big decision: to find his wife's murderer with his own hands and prove his innocence. To do so, he decides to abandon his beloved family and past and take on the guise of Gido.
Suzuki, who plays the protagonist who is pushed to an unprecedented extreme situation, feels that "changing my face and playing a different person is a very rewarding role that also links with me as an actor."
Erika Toda also stars in this film, playing the role of Ichika Kogo, a certified public accountant who appears before Hayase and helps him change his face, though her true intentions remain a mystery.
On set, Toda is always cheerful and easy to talk to. "(Toda) is a very intelligent person, and he reads (the script) carefully and thinks about it, and then shares it with the director and me on set. I think he's a bit like me in the way he values communication and creates a work with a thorough understanding. I don't think I could have played that role without Toda," he said, expressing his trust in her.
Finally, he appealed to viewers, saying, "I think this is a show that you will enjoy until the very end. I hope that you will watch on Sunday nights, feeling excited about the plot twists that come in each episode, and at the same time having your heart warmed by the family bonds."
