Rena Tanaka, who starred in the film "The Golden Thief" (directed by Takayuki Kayano), which was released on April 3rd, plays Mikako, an ordinary housewife who is fascinated by "gold," in this exhilarating crime comedy inspired by a true story. Tanaka revealed that she "felt a lot of empathy" for the protagonist. What was the thought behind those words...? We spoke to her to find out.
The film begins when Mikako (Tanaka), a housewife who feels stuck in her mundane and uninteresting daily life, impulsively steals a golden bell from a department store she happens to visit. Having been raised to believe that being ordinary is happiness, Mikako had been putting up with the boring days and her indifferent family, but her world changes completely when she becomes fascinated by "gold." Her childhood dream of "doing something only I can do" is rekindled, and she devises a plan to steal "Hideyoshi's golden tea bowl worth 10 billion yen"...
When Tanaka first read the script, she said she thought, "It's really entertaining and fun, and I wonder if I'm really worthy of starring in such an interesting work."
"I wasn't aware of the actual incident, so I was surprised when I learned about it. I was also intrigued by the psychology of the people involved, wondering what they must have been feeling. However, the script itself is an original work created by the director based on the actual incident, and there are some funny parts. Rather than focusing on the actual incident, I tried to capture the image of Mikako that the director had portrayed."
Regarding the character Mikako, whom she played, Tanaka shared her impression, saying, "I think she had ambition even when she was little."
"She worked hard, became a career woman, was praised by many people, contributed to society through research, and I think she had the ambition, the strength to forge her own path in life, and the potential to live powerfully. However, she took her parents' words, 'Being normal is best,' and her husband's desire for her to quit her job and follow him to heart, and she was swept along by them. As a result of accepting these things, her current life may look very happy from the outside and she is not struggling financially, but I think there was something unsettling about it, a feeling that she wasn't living her own life."
After becoming fascinated by "gold," Mikako comes up with a daring plan to steal "Hideyoshi's gold tea bowl worth 10 billion yen," and becomes incredibly active, almost like a changed person. However, what Tanaka empathized with more was the Mikako before that, who was "living her daily life with a haze in her vision."
Unlike Mikako, Tanaka fulfilled her dream of becoming an actress, a dream she had since she was five years old. However, she sometimes compared herself to Mikako and wondered, "What would have become of me if I hadn't become an actress?"
"I've wanted to be an actor ever since I was five years old. I was terrified of what would happen if I didn't become one. There were times when I was so obsessed with it, so I'm glad I did, because if I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have been able to cope mentally. It would have been like having no way to survive, and I sometimes wonder, 'Am I even alive right now?'"
In addition, Tanaka recalls the COVID-19 pandemic about six years ago, and how it coincided with her postpartum period. "I couldn't get back to work, and the fear and sense of confinement I felt because my life suddenly changed resonated with Mikako's situation at the beginning, so I was able to play Mikako with a lot of empathy," Tanaka said.
What we can truly understand from those words is just how important and indispensable acting has been to Mr. Tanaka's life, both now and in the past.
"It was like it was etched into my DNA. I think you can always come up with reasons later on for wanting to become an actor, but I just felt, without any particular reason, 'I want to go there,' 'I can't live otherwise.' It was like my reason for existence, the meaning of my life."
