Duet February 2011
Ikuta, who is taking a breather after filming for his movie, "Tale of Genji". However, this isn't the time for him to relax. He is readjusting to his next work, stageplay "Madame de Sade" and "My Friend Hitler". We met him while he was immersed in Mishima Yukio's play, focusing on reading his script.
Filming for "Tale of Genji" ended safely. Looking back, the filming period felt really long to me. It was more than 2 months but before that I was learning how to ride a horse, dance etc. The movie's in the production period now and it'll probably be a while before it's completed. But personally, I'm really looking to the finished product because I barely saw how I was filmed on the site. My mind's already in "Madame de Sade" and "My Friend Hitler" mode even though I'm supposed to be taking a short rest now.
This time, the two stage plays will be performed at the same period. For now, I'm engrossed in reading the script for "My Friend Hitler". The rehearsal for this play is scheduled first. There are also more lines in this play. My role is Hilter who betrayed his friends and stand on top of the world but there's also a few scenes of him in fear.
The same goes with "Madame de Sade" where I take on a female role. These two deep pieces of work wrote about the two sides that humans have, their internal and external self. Rehearsals have not started yet (Interview was done in Dec) so in any case, I'm concentrating on memorising my lines.
I spent most of the time in my room memorising the lines. At first, I was frantically memorising the lines but little by little I'm beginning to feel that the words have been part of me. But there's still one more cycle that I need to go through for this assignment. I spent most of my days like that so, there isn't a single topic that I can talk about of my private life. I haven't been doing anything else. (laughs)
I haven't been to see a stageplay or movie. Even at home, I don't switch on the TV. That's why when I meet up with my friends occasionally, I don't quite follow what is the latest gags/jokes that's going around. I'll end up thinking, "I wanna hurry up and get home to read my script."
Oh, I went to Takeuchi Mariya-san's concert. And I met Higashiyama-san in the audience. He asked, "Toma, are you progressing (with your lines)?" When I said, "little by little..." he replied "Since we met, why not try to go through our lines together?" I knew it was a joke but all the same, I was really shocked. (laugh)
In the January issue, it seems that B.I.Shadow's Yugo (Kochi) Kun said that meeting me in person during the 09-10 Countdown was a big news. Have I become such a rare person? I'm not a Tsuchinoko! (a snake-like mythical creature) (laugh)
Well, well, it's a happy thing isn't it? That's right, eh? I guess if I didn't appear at the countdown, I wouldn't have any chance to meet the juniors. There are probably more juniors that I've never met before than the ones I did. If I think of it that way, it's kind of sad. (laugh)
Scans credit: toma_gallery