[Pacific Rim] How AWESOME is Rinko Kikuchi
I was SHOCKED to find out Rinko's real personality is like the Real-Life NODAME!! @_@
I always had this image of her being mature, quiet, cool, composed due to her make-up, hairstyle, expressions and style in her photos. Apparently, "don't judge the book by it's cover" really applies for her. So you know those times you just don't understand her English in her interviews? Well, apparently, fellow Japanese natives sometimes doesn't understand her Japanese either, lol. Her Japanese is not any better than her English, haha. Juz kiddin'... but I guess, it's half true, cause she has attitude and way of speaking that people won't easily understand. The way she talked abt Brad Pitt cracked me up big time, lolol. And then she was talking something about she can eat everything as long as the food aren't something served by her parents...? What is she talking about? lol. And how she talked to Pepper, the doll, omg... if that isn't just the most adorable thing I've seen.
But as I said, she reminds me of Nodame, despite her out-of-this-world personality, Rinko works really hard to achieve her dream, she's persistent about her ideals despite knowing she's choosing the hard way. I really can't admire her enough.
This is an article on how she chose to find job in Hollywood rather than in Japan.
Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi struggles against stereotyping
When she went back to Tokyo, however, she found that Japanese directors kept offering her the same kinds of roles.
"They really typecast me. It was always the part of the sad, young girl, or the opposite - a really tough, mean girl."
Two years ago, the actress decided she would be better off moving to the US, and has lived in New York since.
Given the dearth of roles written for Asian actors in Hollywood, things have not exactly been easy in the US either.
For one thing, she was barely able to speak the language at first and even now often apologises for her halting English, although she expressed herself well as she chatted to Life! about Pacific Rim earlier this year.
"I've been studying English for 11/2 years and, you know, it's still not enough to talk with someone and sometimes I struggle with what I want to say."
I really don't get this choice of hers, there isn't many job for her in Hollywood, cause I think we can count with our fingers, how many times Hollywood producers would recruit/demand a Japanese actress, how many scripts available are there with East Asian woman role in it? She's amazing. She was willing to take that risk. But I think her hard work has paid off now by starring Pacific Rim (and perhaps, 47 Ronin). Not to mention, Pacific Rim is a promising franchise. If it goes well, she might have secured a regular job for herself, with a future 2nd and 3rd installment of the film.
An excerpt of Pacific Rim's press conference in San Diego Comic-Con 2012.
Rinko, do you fight in Pacific Rim and did you do any physical training?
Rinko Kikuchi: "It’s really hard for me to act with English lines, also I have a lot of action scenes with Charlie. Then also I’ve been training for many months, weight lifting, running, then stick fighting. It was really hard but I really think I’m so happy and I’m so lucky to get this role. And then also when I was on set, I just want to see Guillermo happy. When I was a little girl I used to watch monster movies or sci-fi films and also I’m a big fan of his work. It’s like a dream come true. I give him my best."
Guillermo del Toro: "And she kicked all the guys ass. One of the things I can say is we built the cockpit of the robots in the head. It’s almost three stories high and we mounted it on hydraulic shakers so that every time they get hit, you would really hit. I wanted to do it with the actors. I didn’t want to do it with the doubles."
Charlie Hunnam: [Laughing] "Why not? Why not? Let’s just do it with the actors because they’re better, right? And they deserve it."
Guillermo del Toro: "I had three cameras. But the first time they were in, Charlie came to visit the first group of actors, I won’t say who they were, he goes, 'Babies. Cry babies.' And then he went in. This machine, which is the interface between the robot and them, it flows with their bodies. It was a huge engineering feat. It was real. We could’ve done it CG but why? Why do that? We did it. Every guy broke. Every guy broke. The only one that never complained was Rinko."
Another excerpt of Charlie Hunnam's interviews.
HUNNAM: (talking abt the Conn-pod) It really was. Rinko was in there maybe 15 or 16 days or something. Don’t even let those guys fill you with sob stories. Idris was in there 2 ½ days, the rest of those guys… you know, I did 27 days in there. And it’s like being on an elliptical, like high-resistance on an elliptical machine for 14 hours a day wearing a suit of armor that is sweaty, and kind of pinches you, and weighs 30-40 pounds. And then with the water, once Guillermo decided that he was going to drop 250 gallons of water a minute on our heads during our takes. It was just a real ordeal, to the point where I four or five days in was starting to have a panic attack about the thing like, “How the fuck am I going to get through 27 days of this?” Then I look over to Rinko, and all the guys who all think we’re such tough guys were just complaining like little girls, and then Rinko was just like a warrior in there, just calm, and focused, and transported herself to a happier, better place. So I tried to just channel as much of Rinko as possible in the last couple weeks.
source: http://collider.com/charlie-hunnam-pacific-rim-crisom-peak-interview/
--++--
“I was in there for about 27 days, and after about four days, I was in full-blown panic attack,” said Hunnam. “We couldn’t move! We would do seven hours in the morning, and then we had a half-hour lunch, and then we’d do seven hours in the afternoon. We were, like, on an elliptical and fighting in this suit that weighed about 40 pounds (18 kg) and we wore helmets so we couldn’t really breathe. I thought I was gonna lose my mind.
“I’d be like so mad and, like, fantasising about punching Guillermo in the face or coming back at night and burning the whole place down. Just mad as hell!”
To get through the torture, Hunnam turned to an unlikely source for inspiration: Waif-like Rinko Kikuchi. The Japanese actress, best known for her Oscar-nominated turn as a tragic deaf-mute in Babel, plays aspiring Jaeger pilot Mako Mori.
“She’s a bada**. We’re all these guys thinking we’re so tough and all that, and then we get into the (cockpit) and we were crying like little babies. And she was the only one who never complained. She was just like a samurai. She just got super Zen … I’d say, ‘What do you think about in there? You’re so calm!’ And she’d be, like, ‘Chocolate. And teddy bears!’”
“So I channelled Rinko, silently thinking, ‘I f***ing hate this, I’m gonna f***ing kill someone, just think of chocolate, just f***ing think of chocolate, chocolate sucks!!!” laughed Hunnam. “At least I looked calm!”
source: http://www.todayonline.com/entertainment/movies/pacific-rim-its-heavy-metal-time
LOL, I love these stories how they brought up Rinko is so tough in the Conn-Pod, no matter how many times they tell this story.
Charlie's comment on Rinko.
My conclusion, Rinko really has the mind of a child, but a heart made of steel.
I'm also glad to know, from her stories, seem like she's very close with her family, like when she talked about her older brother taping the TV show for her, in the talk show I embedded above.
I really hope she gets more awesome jobs in Hollywood!!
..and find her true love very soon, she deserves to be happy^^
(I just read an article on how Spike Jonze dumped Rinko for his ex-gf, oh well, never mind XD)
I always had this image of her being mature, quiet, cool, composed due to her make-up, hairstyle, expressions and style in her photos. Apparently, "don't judge the book by it's cover" really applies for her. So you know those times you just don't understand her English in her interviews? Well, apparently, fellow Japanese natives sometimes doesn't understand her Japanese either, lol. Her Japanese is not any better than her English, haha. Juz kiddin'... but I guess, it's half true, cause she has attitude and way of speaking that people won't easily understand. The way she talked abt Brad Pitt cracked me up big time, lolol. And then she was talking something about she can eat everything as long as the food aren't something served by her parents...? What is she talking about? lol. And how she talked to Pepper, the doll, omg... if that isn't just the most adorable thing I've seen.
But as I said, she reminds me of Nodame, despite her out-of-this-world personality, Rinko works really hard to achieve her dream, she's persistent about her ideals despite knowing she's choosing the hard way. I really can't admire her enough.
This is an article on how she chose to find job in Hollywood rather than in Japan.
Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi struggles against stereotyping
When she went back to Tokyo, however, she found that Japanese directors kept offering her the same kinds of roles.
"They really typecast me. It was always the part of the sad, young girl, or the opposite - a really tough, mean girl."
Two years ago, the actress decided she would be better off moving to the US, and has lived in New York since.
Given the dearth of roles written for Asian actors in Hollywood, things have not exactly been easy in the US either.
For one thing, she was barely able to speak the language at first and even now often apologises for her halting English, although she expressed herself well as she chatted to Life! about Pacific Rim earlier this year.
"I've been studying English for 11/2 years and, you know, it's still not enough to talk with someone and sometimes I struggle with what I want to say."
I really don't get this choice of hers, there isn't many job for her in Hollywood, cause I think we can count with our fingers, how many times Hollywood producers would recruit/demand a Japanese actress, how many scripts available are there with East Asian woman role in it? She's amazing. She was willing to take that risk. But I think her hard work has paid off now by starring Pacific Rim (and perhaps, 47 Ronin). Not to mention, Pacific Rim is a promising franchise. If it goes well, she might have secured a regular job for herself, with a future 2nd and 3rd installment of the film.
An excerpt of Pacific Rim's press conference in San Diego Comic-Con 2012.
Rinko, do you fight in Pacific Rim and did you do any physical training?
Rinko Kikuchi: "It’s really hard for me to act with English lines, also I have a lot of action scenes with Charlie. Then also I’ve been training for many months, weight lifting, running, then stick fighting. It was really hard but I really think I’m so happy and I’m so lucky to get this role. And then also when I was on set, I just want to see Guillermo happy. When I was a little girl I used to watch monster movies or sci-fi films and also I’m a big fan of his work. It’s like a dream come true. I give him my best."
Guillermo del Toro: "And she kicked all the guys ass. One of the things I can say is we built the cockpit of the robots in the head. It’s almost three stories high and we mounted it on hydraulic shakers so that every time they get hit, you would really hit. I wanted to do it with the actors. I didn’t want to do it with the doubles."
Charlie Hunnam: [Laughing] "Why not? Why not? Let’s just do it with the actors because they’re better, right? And they deserve it."
Guillermo del Toro: "I had three cameras. But the first time they were in, Charlie came to visit the first group of actors, I won’t say who they were, he goes, 'Babies. Cry babies.' And then he went in. This machine, which is the interface between the robot and them, it flows with their bodies. It was a huge engineering feat. It was real. We could’ve done it CG but why? Why do that? We did it. Every guy broke. Every guy broke. The only one that never complained was Rinko."
Another excerpt of Charlie Hunnam's interviews.
HUNNAM: (talking abt the Conn-pod) It really was. Rinko was in there maybe 15 or 16 days or something. Don’t even let those guys fill you with sob stories. Idris was in there 2 ½ days, the rest of those guys… you know, I did 27 days in there. And it’s like being on an elliptical, like high-resistance on an elliptical machine for 14 hours a day wearing a suit of armor that is sweaty, and kind of pinches you, and weighs 30-40 pounds. And then with the water, once Guillermo decided that he was going to drop 250 gallons of water a minute on our heads during our takes. It was just a real ordeal, to the point where I four or five days in was starting to have a panic attack about the thing like, “How the fuck am I going to get through 27 days of this?” Then I look over to Rinko, and all the guys who all think we’re such tough guys were just complaining like little girls, and then Rinko was just like a warrior in there, just calm, and focused, and transported herself to a happier, better place. So I tried to just channel as much of Rinko as possible in the last couple weeks.
source: http://collider.com/charlie-hunnam-pacific-rim-crisom-peak-interview/
--++--
“I was in there for about 27 days, and after about four days, I was in full-blown panic attack,” said Hunnam. “We couldn’t move! We would do seven hours in the morning, and then we had a half-hour lunch, and then we’d do seven hours in the afternoon. We were, like, on an elliptical and fighting in this suit that weighed about 40 pounds (18 kg) and we wore helmets so we couldn’t really breathe. I thought I was gonna lose my mind.
“I’d be like so mad and, like, fantasising about punching Guillermo in the face or coming back at night and burning the whole place down. Just mad as hell!”
To get through the torture, Hunnam turned to an unlikely source for inspiration: Waif-like Rinko Kikuchi. The Japanese actress, best known for her Oscar-nominated turn as a tragic deaf-mute in Babel, plays aspiring Jaeger pilot Mako Mori.
“She’s a bada**. We’re all these guys thinking we’re so tough and all that, and then we get into the (cockpit) and we were crying like little babies. And she was the only one who never complained. She was just like a samurai. She just got super Zen … I’d say, ‘What do you think about in there? You’re so calm!’ And she’d be, like, ‘Chocolate. And teddy bears!’”
“So I channelled Rinko, silently thinking, ‘I f***ing hate this, I’m gonna f***ing kill someone, just think of chocolate, just f***ing think of chocolate, chocolate sucks!!!” laughed Hunnam. “At least I looked calm!”
source: http://www.todayonline.com/entertainment/movies/pacific-rim-its-heavy-metal-time
LOL, I love these stories how they brought up Rinko is so tough in the Conn-Pod, no matter how many times they tell this story.
Charlie's comment on Rinko.
Click to viewMy conclusion, Rinko really has the mind of a child, but a heart made of steel.
I'm also glad to know, from her stories, seem like she's very close with her family, like when she talked about her older brother taping the TV show for her, in the talk show I embedded above.
I really hope she gets more awesome jobs in Hollywood!!
..and find her true love very soon, she deserves to be happy^^
(I just read an article on how Spike Jonze dumped Rinko for his ex-gf, oh well, never mind XD)