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BLOG POST BY: SAIKO
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If you’ve been coming to the Japanese Film Festival for a few years now or have constantly been watching Japanese movies for a while now, you’ll notice a number of actors appearing in multiple films every year. One year it’s Shota Sometani in every film, another year it seems to be Sakura Ando in every other film. Not to mention the number of cross overs…! I wouldn’t be surprised if half of the Japanese film industry have worked with each other at least once.
This year we compiled a list of some actors and the different characters they’ve played in various films in JFF 2015!
Perpetual Teacher
It’s hard to forget Haru Kuroki, especially after you’ve seen her performance as the talented thespian-turned-high school art teacher in When the Curtain Rises. She actually appears in four films this year, playing the role of a teacher in all of them! You may remember her from JFF 2013’s The Great Passage where she played the office newbie demoted from a fashion magazine department to the dictionary department.
Japanese stars on the rise
These three actors have been on the rise recently and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of their faces in the coming years. But none of us are complaining because they’re all brilliant character actors, giving off a completely different vibe in every film.
Masaki Suda
From being a juvenile youth in last year’s The Light Shines Only There Masaki comes back to JFF 2015 as a politician’s extroverted cross-dressing son in Princess Jellyfish, a rebellious Robin Hood of bullied high school students in Assassination Classroom, and a sleazy video rental shop part-timer in Piece of Cake.
Ryunosuke Kamiki
We’ve all seen him hopping on one foot and swishing a samurai about in last year’s Rurouni Kenshin The Legend Ends and Kyoto Inferno, as well as in The Kirishima Thing. This year, he plays a literary gifted aspiring manga writer in BAKUMAN。, an overly optimistic guy living inside a 30-year old woman’s head in Poison Berry in My Brain, and as a mysterious high schooler with a devious streak in As the Gods Will.
Tori Matsuzaka
You may have seen Tori Matsuzaka here and there. He time hops from one era to another and plays some of the most varied characters at this year’s JFF. From scheming evil brother-slash-politico in Library Wars: The Last Mission to amateur thespian-slash-gay bff to Shino-chan in Piece of Cake to a young idealist sparking a coup d’état in The Emperor in August. You may remember him from GATCHAMAN.
The omnipresent Lily Franky
Lily Franky is everywhere. The novelist who wrote Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad is also a prolific actor, playing supporting roles and cameos in a total of five films this year. BAKUMAN。, Fires on the Plain, Pieta in the Toilet, Three Stories of Love, As the Gods Will…
Lily Franky is everywhere.
Can you spot him in this Fires on the Plain trailer?
