[Translation] SMAP Magazine: "To me, SMAP is..." series (Rrosemary and Katsuo Fukuzawa)
Rrosemary (photographer): Amongst SMAP members, I have the most history with Kimura-san. The first time I worked with him was around 1996. We went to Hong Kong together to do photo shoots for his photo book. We decided to have a meeting beforehand; Kimura-san came to pick me up in his car with his stylist Noguchi-san. Even though it was the first time we have ever met, he told me to get in the car in a very natural way. The car smelled like it belonged to a young normal surfer guy who waxes his surf board regularly. Because of all of that, I was saved from having to do my stiff and serious greeting, I just met him naturally. This comfortable atmosphere that he created stayed the same over the years. It is so Kimura-like to do things this way.
SMAP, including Kimura-san, doesn’t give off the feeling that they are idols manufactured by people who surround them. They really stray from the route of the traditional idols and are a bunch of normal, mischievous guys. They are not constantly calculating, “if I do this, I will be popular,” nor do they act like celebrities. But when I went to Hong Kong with Kimura-san, I was shocked during our photo shoot on the streets. People who don’t even know who he is, like old shopkeeper ladies, all ran out to look at Kimura, “Who’s that guy?” Seeing that I feel like, “Wow, even when he is just walking down the road he still attracts people.” Even though you don’t see him calculating or targeting anyone in particular, he still gives off the power that tells people he’s someone special. I can only explain this by calling it his natural ability.
Although I work closely with them, I don’t have any shocking episodes to share regarding their magazine photo shoots. This is because they don’t “change faces” depending on the setting they are in. Though, I think they are giving their all in places where we cannot see. For example, in TV shows, when they played the guitar so effortlessly or did incredible basketball shots in crunch time, they must have put in a lot of effort to succeed in their tasks. But they don’t show this side of them working hard to anyone, not even to people who work closely with them. They probably do not wish to have their efforts and hard work “measured.”
I love SMAP’s concert. They have this charm that attracts people from all generations, the way the Rolling Stones does. Perhaps it is because people don’t expect desire and seduction from them when they are singing. This way we are able to make up our own stories freely to associate with their songs. As a result, the 5 of them are able to translate the memories and feelings of thousands and thousands of people during a concert. The power that SMAP exerts during a concert is something that one cannot get from just watching them on TV. Everyone, please go see their concerts. You will get the happiest feelings from it.
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Katsuo Fukuzawa (drama and movie director; he directed works like “Karei Naru Ichizoku,” “Watashi wa Kai ni Naritai,” and “Japanese Americans.”): The opportunity to work with SMAP came when I, as a director, still didn’t have much experience or results under my belt. On top of that, Nakai was the lead actor. This is someone whose name everyone knows, from children to the elders. The question was, how do I portray him? I had a really hard time deciding. And then upon meeting Nakai-san in person, I feel, “This is a person who has a gloomy side to him.” Even though he must be someone who understood human pain, sadness, and loneliness, when he was on TV he always appeared so cheerful. For me, I wanted to protray his hidden self. The dramas that were born from that goal were “Shiroi Kage” and “Suna no Utsuwa.”
SMAP contributed a lot to my growth as a director--SMAP raised me. Working with them always means huge budget and huge scale; it was always a big challenge for me to make this production happen. Of course there were a lot of “you are not allowed to fail” pressure, but the pressure also turned into motivation. I always got this feeling that I was helping make the unbelievable turn into reality. I think all the staff who worked on those projects felt the same way. Of course it is very rare that we get to have the pleasure of working with such stars, at the same time SMAP have this unbelievable ability to make people willing to make miracles for them.
Kimura-san is one example. When we were filming outside, when the young up-coming actors walked out from their vans into the filming site, no one noticed them. When Kimura-kun appeared at the site, every single person in the vicinity went “Wah!” excitedly. What is that? This is the true power of a STAR, something that you see only once every 50 years. So when I portrayed him in dramas and films, I always kept in mind that he is someone “the whole nation wants to see.” I always portrayed him as the cool and handsome hero who stands right in the middle.
But, it was also Kimura-san who taught me that. On our side of the production, we sometimes like to employ some tricks to aid the portrayal of a character. However when we see Kimura-san act in a way that screams “THIS is Kimura Takuya,” it made us think that no tricks would be necessary. We create a piece of work that the audience wants to see. This is our job. This is also something that SMAP understands more than anyone else. That is why when we work with SMAP, we are able to just simply be “creators.”
In my mind, I think of Nakai-san as the “moon,” and Kimura-san as the “sun.” As for Kusanagi-san, who I am working with right now on “Japanese Americans,” he possesses a kind of charm different from those two. If I have to label it, maybe he is like the “earth”-giving off the warm feeling of earth. If I ever have the chance to face Inagaki-san and Katori-san directly, I will enjoy every moment of it.
SMAP, including Kimura-san, doesn’t give off the feeling that they are idols manufactured by people who surround them. They really stray from the route of the traditional idols and are a bunch of normal, mischievous guys. They are not constantly calculating, “if I do this, I will be popular,” nor do they act like celebrities. But when I went to Hong Kong with Kimura-san, I was shocked during our photo shoot on the streets. People who don’t even know who he is, like old shopkeeper ladies, all ran out to look at Kimura, “Who’s that guy?” Seeing that I feel like, “Wow, even when he is just walking down the road he still attracts people.” Even though you don’t see him calculating or targeting anyone in particular, he still gives off the power that tells people he’s someone special. I can only explain this by calling it his natural ability.
Although I work closely with them, I don’t have any shocking episodes to share regarding their magazine photo shoots. This is because they don’t “change faces” depending on the setting they are in. Though, I think they are giving their all in places where we cannot see. For example, in TV shows, when they played the guitar so effortlessly or did incredible basketball shots in crunch time, they must have put in a lot of effort to succeed in their tasks. But they don’t show this side of them working hard to anyone, not even to people who work closely with them. They probably do not wish to have their efforts and hard work “measured.”
I love SMAP’s concert. They have this charm that attracts people from all generations, the way the Rolling Stones does. Perhaps it is because people don’t expect desire and seduction from them when they are singing. This way we are able to make up our own stories freely to associate with their songs. As a result, the 5 of them are able to translate the memories and feelings of thousands and thousands of people during a concert. The power that SMAP exerts during a concert is something that one cannot get from just watching them on TV. Everyone, please go see their concerts. You will get the happiest feelings from it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Katsuo Fukuzawa (drama and movie director; he directed works like “Karei Naru Ichizoku,” “Watashi wa Kai ni Naritai,” and “Japanese Americans.”): The opportunity to work with SMAP came when I, as a director, still didn’t have much experience or results under my belt. On top of that, Nakai was the lead actor. This is someone whose name everyone knows, from children to the elders. The question was, how do I portray him? I had a really hard time deciding. And then upon meeting Nakai-san in person, I feel, “This is a person who has a gloomy side to him.” Even though he must be someone who understood human pain, sadness, and loneliness, when he was on TV he always appeared so cheerful. For me, I wanted to protray his hidden self. The dramas that were born from that goal were “Shiroi Kage” and “Suna no Utsuwa.”
SMAP contributed a lot to my growth as a director--SMAP raised me. Working with them always means huge budget and huge scale; it was always a big challenge for me to make this production happen. Of course there were a lot of “you are not allowed to fail” pressure, but the pressure also turned into motivation. I always got this feeling that I was helping make the unbelievable turn into reality. I think all the staff who worked on those projects felt the same way. Of course it is very rare that we get to have the pleasure of working with such stars, at the same time SMAP have this unbelievable ability to make people willing to make miracles for them.
Kimura-san is one example. When we were filming outside, when the young up-coming actors walked out from their vans into the filming site, no one noticed them. When Kimura-kun appeared at the site, every single person in the vicinity went “Wah!” excitedly. What is that? This is the true power of a STAR, something that you see only once every 50 years. So when I portrayed him in dramas and films, I always kept in mind that he is someone “the whole nation wants to see.” I always portrayed him as the cool and handsome hero who stands right in the middle.
But, it was also Kimura-san who taught me that. On our side of the production, we sometimes like to employ some tricks to aid the portrayal of a character. However when we see Kimura-san act in a way that screams “THIS is Kimura Takuya,” it made us think that no tricks would be necessary. We create a piece of work that the audience wants to see. This is our job. This is also something that SMAP understands more than anyone else. That is why when we work with SMAP, we are able to just simply be “creators.”
In my mind, I think of Nakai-san as the “moon,” and Kimura-san as the “sun.” As for Kusanagi-san, who I am working with right now on “Japanese Americans,” he possesses a kind of charm different from those two. If I have to label it, maybe he is like the “earth”-giving off the warm feeling of earth. If I ever have the chance to face Inagaki-san and Katori-san directly, I will enjoy every moment of it.