[translation] yamapi in august 2009 nikkei entertainment
For watchful21.
Yamashita Tomohisa
The impatience of the next "ratings man"
Even within the ailing sphere of television, serial dramas are particularly noted for their low viewership. In that climate, Yamashita Tomohisa will appear in July's gekku drama. He shoulders great expectations both as the leader of the popular group NEWS, and as an individual actor. What did he tell us in the interview where he claims to have "spoken enough to last [him] for 3 days"?
While most dramas currently suffer from low viewership, Yamashita Tomohisa is a lead actor capable of securing stable ratings. Surprisingly, it's not that well known that it has become a matter of course for him to star in about one drama a year -- a drama that will lead in viewership that season. His standing is completely different from other male actors his age, like Matsuyama Kenichi and Matsuda Shota, and even among the other popular groups in Johnny's Entertainment like Arashi and SMAP, there aren't many who can hold the numbers as individuals quite like he can. Currently, at 24 years old, the talent and natural appeal that he possesses give off the feeling of being in the presence of a star of a new era.
In Propose Daisakusen two years ago, and last year's Code Blue - Doctor Heli Emergency Rescue -, he achieved average ratings of over 15%. This summer, he'll be starring in Buzzer Beat ~ the hero at the cliff's edge~. At a glance, it looks as if everything is going his way, but rather than relax and become complacent at his current position, he tells us that he's feeling impatient. About six months ago, when dreaming up his ideal future, he says that he changed his way of thinking completely. He has just begun to escape from "the self that was satisfied with how things were" -- our interview begins from the core of the story.
About six months ago, my perspective changed greatly. While thinking about what I was going to do with my future, I thought, "I can't just stay this way... what have I been doing until now?" Part of it also comes from a time that some of my foreign friends came over -- while I was listening to them talk, I became really inspired. "These guys are really free... they're doing all the things they've always wanted to do." I was forced to realize that that's a real possibility.
I think that somewhere inside of me, there was a sense of satisfaction with the way things were. After all, I was given the opportunity to play the lead role in a drama. However, if I settle with what I have now, the future won't hold anything bigger... I thought, "If I don't set goals for myself further in the future, I'll never be able to get there." Without doing anything at all, I might last another 2 or 3 years. If that's the case, though, then I should start changing right now... I've decided to think about where I see myself when I'm 40 or 50 and do everything that I can do now. I wish I had realized this sooner. Right now, I regret that lost time, and honestly, I feel like I have a lot to make up for.
Although he's a member of NEWS, a popular group produced by a large-scale entertainment agency, that heightened level of consciousness and strong sense of self-preservation function as something like the "Yamashita Tomohisa Independent Firm."
Not just doing what you're told
After that realization, I've thought up of a lot of things, and so I write them down in order to remember them. I've realized that nothing will change unless I take the initiative and talk things over with the agency. It's not enough to just do whatever you're told. It's also important to speak out when you don't want to do something. On the other hand, if there's something I want to be a part of, I make a point of going to tell someone. "I want to do this. What should I do to get involved?" There are many things that have come into being because I made the first move that way.
He's a person who puts his thoughts into action. Four and a half years after enrolling, Yamashita graduated from Meiji Gakuin University's Business School last fall. Nowadays, there are more and more idols with high levels of education, but to have made that step during a busy time in his career... at the time, it must have been a decision made with resolve.
I decided to go on to University for pretty general reasons -- I just thought I should have that under my belt in case. What about once I actually started? ...to be honest, it wasn't very fun. I couldn't participate in the after-school get-togethers or drinking parties, and I couldn't do any of the things that everyone else does.
But I did gain things from it, like one of my friends. He got a job working with a large corporation, and now he's a full-fledged, working adult with an actual 24 year-old's worries and problems. Listening and talking with him about them make them part of my experiences, right? He sometimes tells me about things that aren't going so well at work, too.
In the new drama he will be starring in this summer, the character he plays is also a real 24 year-old. As a very talented basketball player during his school years, he becomes an industry-contracted pro athlete whose future financial and marital prospects all depend on the results he produces. Yamashita portrays the character of Naoki (Yamashita's role) naturally.
Naoki is an honest and kind man who is totally focused on basketball, his girlfriend, and his family. Both the character and the story are very natural. As for the characters that appear, people at home will think, "Oh, there's definitely someone out there just like this." And the story isn't like "this would NEVER happen in real life" but "this setting is possible." There isn't the "drama-like" unnatural-ness in any of it. That's why I haven't particularly been preparing the role in my head. It would make me happy if watching this drama makes you smile for even a moment, or if it makes you wonder if love like this does exist somewhere.
In the films and dramas he appears in, he takes pride in creating something that's both natural and entertaining. It's because he strives to "produce something that will give the viewer strength, and put him or her in a positive frame of mind." Without being intimidated by the director or staff, he expresses his opinions.
Staff members are people who have a lot of varied experience, so I definitely trust in them, but I'll speak up if I notice something. I'm sure I make comments that sound like I don't know my place.
In the past, Director Nagayama Kouzou directed "Tokyo Love Story" with a 24 year old Oda Yuuji, and "Long Vacation" with a 24 year old Kimura Takuya; he's a man who has awakened social phenomena. Yamashita, who will be appearing in his newest work, is also 24 years old.
I'd like to create a miracle (laugh). Honestly, though, that's not really my ambition. I don't want to be a part of a boom. My experiences up until now are at point A, but if I suddenly become very popular, I'm thrown over to point B. That means what's in between is empty, right? I want to proceed on a slow and steady path because I think that getting the practice is a crucial part of the process. Practice is everything, and I want to master things step by step. It's better to do things that way, and, in the end, become a very grounded person with firm convictions.
A role that helps the hero shine
The expectations placed on him in the drama industry are big, and the list of creators who want to use him as the lead is probably close to never-ending. But Yamashita doesn't intend to secure himself firmly as an actor -- he takes singing and dancing seriously, too.
To tell the truth, I would almost rather not play the main character in a drama. I'd like to try to see how much I can achieve to make the lead character shine. Sometimes I'll be at the center, but it doesn't have to be every time (laugh).
The desire to encourage and enliven the people who watch stays the same, but if it's a matter of having people think I'm cool, I'd choose dancing over acting. In dancing, the fruits of your labor come through very clearly, and it's really rewarding to hear that you look good after having practiced very hard. I'd like to do more concerts. For starters, I'd like to tour all of Japan. Lately, I've realized anew that music really is amazing -- they say that the way your brain reacts when you listen to music you enjoy is similar to the way it reacts when you eat something that makes you happy. Unlike food, you won't die if you don't listen to music... so it's really powerful, after all! (laugh)
There are many, many people in the world who are better dancers than I am -- people that I can't even compare to -- but the simple idea that I can express something to someone else without words is really exciting. Having said that, dancing and dramas and music are all entertainment meant for an audience. But the feeling of wanting to make the person who's watching or listening to me happy, to help them change their frame of mind -- in that sense, all three hold the same meaning for me.
To the question, "What do you want to be?" He answers, "I've started to think that I want to be a super star."
I've started to think that way lately. I also want to go overseas. I want foreigners to tell me, "You're a superstar!" [By the way, the English was already there.] I want to know how far I can get in a place where no one knows who I am. To start off, I'd like people within Asia to think, "Hey, he's pretty cool, isn't he?"
There's a difference between having a dream and working toward making your dream a reality. From six months ago, he has been on the latter road. He shares this example, jokingly, "Mastering English by 30, and Spanish by 40." It's hard to tell whether or not he's serious. But, it was surprising to learn that he's such a hard worker, and that he considers all progress a result of steady practice. It may be that precisely because he has that foundation, that his momentum after meeting a catalyst is unexpectedly rapid; he is indeed a star.
YAMASHITA TOMOHISA'S PRIVATE TALK
Q. What are your recent hobbies?
A. Listening to music.
Q. What kind of music are you into lately?
A. One of my recent favorites is the collaboration between T.I. and Justin Timberlake, Dead and Gone.
Q. What kind of alcohol do you drink, when you drink?
A. Anything (laugh). Cocktails, not so much. Drinking beer when you're thirsty is the absolute best, isn't it? If I'm drinking to get drunk, it doesn't matter what kind. I can hold my liquor.
Q. Where do you like to drink, and with whom?
A. Regardless of the place, I want to go drinking with the girl I like, just the two of us.
Q. Any movies you've watched recently?
A. Dr. Doolittle 3. The English is pretty simple, so I watched it partly for language study purposes.
Q. What's something that has made you happy recently?
A. Yesterday, a foreigner told me, "You're a super star!"
Q. If you were to go on a trip, where would you go?
A. New York. A friend who went to study abroad there came back really cool.
Q. Where would you go on a drive?
A. Probably to the beach, right?
Q. What do you like to eat?
A. Ramen. I like Hakata ramen. The noodles should be skinny (laugh).
Q. What can't you eat?
A. Namako-su. I can't eat it at all. [Sea cucumber in vinegar.]
Q. What's the best dish you can cook?
A. I can't cook at all. I tried it before, but in the end I realized that I just don't like cooking.
BUZZER BEAT
A kind-hearted man who cracks under pressure matures through his tribulations with friendship and love
His newest drama series is a youthful love story centered around a pro basketball team. "I've had a lot of discussions with Producer Nakano. I told him at the very beginning, 'I don't want to do a sad or dark story.'" There are many people who excel in those genres, but I want to create something fun" (Yamashita). Naoki, the pro basketball player that Yamashita plays the part of, is a guy who can't pull through when push comes to shove. Although he has a girlfriend, cheerleader Natsuki (Aibu Saki), he is slowly drawn to Riko (Kitagawa Keiko), whose dream is to become a violinist. Mizobata Junpei, Nagai Masaru, and Kaneko Nobuaki play his teammates. The team's coach, who is also very friendly toward Riko, is played by Ito Hideaki.
The producer is Nakano Toshiyuki, whose other works include Last Friends and Innocent Love. The screenplay was written by Omori Mika of My Boss My Hero and others.
CLOSE UP
An uncommon star whose acting skills are true to life
Making his name in Dragonzakura and Nobuta. wo produce (both in 2005), he played his first leading role in a drama in Kurosagi when he was 21 years old. The average viewership ratings for both Propose Daisakusen in 2007, and Code Blue - Doctor Heli Emergency Rescue - topped each season. As specials, sequels, and movies were created for each of these, Yamashita is currently a leading man with an undefeated record.
The serial drama industry is suffering from low viewership. Even Tamaki Hiroshi, the "20-something King of CMs," and Matsuyama Kenichi, whose movies continually make a splash at the box office, are struggling in the field of dramas. In that environment, where does the strength of Yamashita -- who has grown into the 20-something ratings man -- come from?
A natural-born star who shines when it matters most
The first thing that's often mentioned is his natural-born star quality. Nakano Toshiyuki, the producer of Fuji TV's gekku drama Buzzer Beat ~the hero at the cliff's edge~ tells us, "We were filming a basketball game with some 2000 extras in the Yoyogi Gymnasium, but during that time he kept on improving. He was throwing 'buzzer beaters' (shots completed at the same time the ending buzzer rings) that are even difficult for pros! He's the type that shines the brightest during the real thing." [Apparently they're called 'buzzer beaters' in English.]
Furthermore, he has the ability to do "life-sized" acting. Although he has starred in mostly "character dramas" [as opposed to playing himself? I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean], he doesn't often play the hero type. The opening scene of Propose Daisakusen features Yamashita as the main character, a young man who faces his childhood friend's wedding day, never having been able to confess his feelings to her. In small and subtle ways, he gives us glimpses of the youth's deep sorrow. Nakano explains that "he's able to express what's between the lines."
Star quality and natural acting are both said to be requirements for the hero of a love story. Young male actors are enjoying a wave of popularity now, but there are surprisingly few that have both of these things. This can be seen in the chart below that shows popular male actors in their 20s and the genres of the dramas they have starred in. [Not translating the chart unless someone really wants it... basically, Yamapi is in a lot of love stories and that's important.]
At 24, he has fulfilled several of the requirements of being a lead actor. Johnny's Entertainment, the agency he works for, is responsible for producing the charismatic star of the love story genre -- the King of viewership ratings for over 10 years now -- Kimura Takuya. It's no question that the expectations for Yamashita are high.
However, those expectations are just one aspect -- the atmosphere that surrounds television dramas have changed greatly. One particular drama staff member revealed that, "There probably won't be any more dramas that surpass 30% viewership from now on." To flip that around, it also means that in this new era, it's difficult for new charisma to emerge.
Under these circumstances, Yamashita responds calmly, "I respect Kimura-san as a sempai who has had a lot more experience, but we're two different people." He has also said that "I'd like to try playing a role that supports the lead character." As statements like these show, he seems to be the type who blends into his surroundings and exhibits his strength from there. That he garnered acclaim as part of a structured group, like in Code Blue tells the same story. We can expect him to become a different kind of star than Kimura.
Buzzer Beat, his newest drama, will be broadcast during the Monday 9pm time slot, which in the spring ended after a difficult struggle. It's the first time Fuji will air a sports-related love story since 2004's January season drama Pride, with Kimura as the lead actor. It will be intriguing to see what kind of results Yamashita will be able to produce.
Whoever wrote this is way too preoccupied with the fact that Yamapi is 24. No, you really don't need to draw that many correlations.
Bottom line: Yamapi, you're a super star ♥