Since last year, Sakurai Sho-san has been caught up with the filming of Hachikuro, Kisarazu Cats Eye, followed by the butai, Beautiful Life.  Following that, he continued with the shooting of Kiroii Namida. The role, he plays, 向 井 竜 三 - Mukai Ryouzo ( I guess is the pronunciation), is a writer who just like to conceptualize his stories,  but not do anything about writing it and he’s pretty indifferent to his aspirations as a writer.

During Hachikuro, he was childish, in Cat’s Eye, he was cute, and the atmosphere around him also changes with the movie he acts in .  As Mukai Ryouzo, he is a little boring but oozes a manly sex appeal. This has been different from all his previous, and so, we wonder what new part of Sakurai can we see in the piece of work.

Interviewer:  When you first heard that all five arashi members would be in a movie, what did you think?

Sho:  Well, everyone thought that we would be doing Pikaanchi 3. (laughs). I want to do that after 10, 20 years so when I heard it, “Eh!” I thought. But then it was totally different – it was a movie set in Showa 30^th year, and I thought it was pretty interesting. And also, since last year, the different members of the group had been involved in many different individual projects and so I have the feeling that its like the members have gone out, achieved what they needed to achieve and are now getting back together again. And furthermore, the timing of this movie was just at the time when Nino had come back from Hollywood, and I think it is great that he is playing the lead role in this movie.

Interviewer: It’s been quite some time since all 5 of you acted together. What feelings do you have?

Sho:  Since it’s a totally different piece of work from before, I totally don’t know what our acting/performance will be. But because we have a lot of trust in each other basically, we don’t lie to each other. When we are doing a scene, we can have a proper exchange of opinions like “I think it would be better if you do it this way..”  

Interviewer:  Because in this movie, you are supposed to act as if you have known each other for some time right.

Sho:  Yes, that is right. And this time, I thought “ Only members of a group can do it like this..”  In this movie, it’s a movie about 5 people, but well, actually, its more like four of us, and its story is like Kisarazu and Pikaanchi.- we have to become good friends just like that. And we have to be totally open and frank with each other – there is little distance between us. Because we are members, we can do it this way.

Interviewer:  Why do you say that?

Sho; Well, with people who have just met and have to act as if they knew each other for a long time, if they might tend to overdo it, and it might not come out that convincingly. The subtleties of the relationships, if I don’t have the trust from the other Arashi members, we will not be able to play it convincingly.

Interviewer: So therein lies the meaning behind Arashi acting together.

Sho:  Somehow, I get that kind of feeling.

Interviewer:  So, the atmosphere at the location shoot is also great, ne.

Sho:  It is really enjoyable. This past year, we have not been together very much, but since out single (kitto) was released, we suddenly have been with each other every day.  When we started shooting the movie, we thought that we would get sick of each other, but then that totally didn’t happen. (laughs)  Everyday, I joke around with Nino and Ohno-kun.

Interviewer: So you have this renewed feeling that “its great that we are Arashi…”

Sho:  Well… (laughs) that is what people might probably think when they observe us, but well, for me, “what do I think?” Every day, I think “well, these guys are interesting”… Also, we don’t really hang around the monitor (to check their scenes) and we only heard this from third parties, but we heard that the director really enjoyed working on this film. We hear things like “ this is the first time, I see such a lively director in such good mood”  and the camera man, when looking at his film, he says, “this is one of my best works.”   And when we hear this, it really spurs us on. Through this medium, we build our trust and it really spurs us on to do creative work.

Interviewer:  Because you are playing a character that is indifferent, you have grown a beard and your hair long. This is normally something that you cannot tolerate right?

Sho: Um.

Interviewer:  But isn’t it enjoyable?

Sho: Oh, its really enjoyable. My hair is real mess. I wake up with my hair messy and like that, I go straight into the shoot. (laughs). I dunno if I should be happy or sad. I have not played such a character before, so it’s really interesting.

Interviewer:  So, have you discovered anything new about your acting skills when playing this role?

Sho:  Since it is rare for me to get to play such a role, when I see it on the silver screen, I feel that it is totally different from the usual roles that I play. But when I looked at the test performance, a little bit of the real me is still in the character. So, before the actual filming, I have to think about how I can erase the “actual me” from the character.  So, I don’t know if I can truly say that I have gained new performance skills in this role, but I have discovered what I have been doing all these while. It’s good to tear away for the roles that I am used to playing.

Interviewer: Because it is a piece of work you can do, cos you are Ryouzo.

Sho:  Um. Well, this time, these isn’t anything good about me. (laughs) On top of that, the director, he said to me at the beginning of the filming, “sakurai-kun, for people who generally act a role where they play a love interest, this is an accomplishment right?”  He was saying that his time, you are taking a totally different approach from normal, and I am very happy that he said that.

Intervierwer: What kind of movie do you want it to become?

Sho:  More than just saying it is a movie in which Arashi is starring in, I want it to be one where it we are recognized individually, like “Kiiroii Namida, starring Ninomiya Kazunari, Aiba Masaki, Ohno Satoshi, Sakurai Sho and Matsumoto Jun. Its rare to have a drama-type production in which all arashi members are acting in, and it is interesting. And I want all the movie buffs to come and watch it.

Interviewer:  It is not a lively movie and it’s a bit plain, but it’s a good movie ne.

Sho:  Its pretty plain ne.. (laughs) When I read the script, I thought so myself, but in the picture it is very beautiful.  When we were on location in Nagoya, what I saw with my eyes was the present day, but in the monitor, it appeared to be Showa 30^th year.

Interviewer: So the Showa boom, will be revived by Arashi