ROLa January Issue 2014: Matsumoto Jun Interview
「失恋ショコラティエ」Un chocolatier de l'amour perdu
ROLa: Matsumoto Jun has been casted to play the lead role in the new drama “Shitsuren Chocolatier (Heartbroken Chocolatier),” which will start airing in January. It is a story of unrequited love based on the manga of the same name by Mizushiro Setona. Matsumoto plays the lead role of Sōta, who even becomes a chocolatier after the chocolate-loving girl he loves rejects him. There just so happens to be a feature on the manga, and we thought that he would be perfect for this issue that welcomes in the new year. This is the third consecutive time that Matsumoto Jun has been featured in ROLa, ever since the very first issue.
As he sat down he smiled about it being his third time in a row, even before we told him about it. Indeed, he remembers all of the interviews that he has taken. As ROLa’s catch phrase is “things that are more fun than falling in love” we asked Jun-kun about what he thinks is more fun than falling in love, but the conversation turned out to be so much more than that.
Jun: Personally, if I was asked that question I would answer ‘entertainment’ or ‘work’ but being in the mindset to play a character in a love story I would have to answer nothing. There is nothing more fun than being in love! (laughs)
I wonder how it is. Recently there has been a trend that love stories aren’t as liked as they used to be. But in all this, I was recently in a movie (Hidamari no Kanojo / The Girl in the Sunny Place) which is also a love story and I kept thinking to myself “why are we making a love story at this timing?” It was one of the concepts that I kept in mind throughout. Love stories are honest, and I feel that there are some points where you can predict the ending. But that’s just my personal opinion. For example, when the main characters are introduced in romance dramas you can kind of tell who is going to end up with who, even though you can never predict the future of a real life relationship.
But this new drama is more about ‘unrequited love’ and not romance. Sōta’s love isn’t working out from the beginning, and the manga hasn’t been completed yet, so no one can tell what the end will be like. But to still keep moving forward, I guess you could say that this is the meaning of doing this piece.
R: When we asked him about his thoughts after reading the original work, he replied with an unexpected answer that he has no empathy for Sōta. On top of getting into character, he says that having feelings of empathy towards the character is not necessary for his performance.
J: To play the role and to empathise are totally independent towards each other, aren’t they? But in saying that, I guess it’s different person to person; whether it adds to their portrayal of the character or not. To say it differently, the important thing is to now how you can successfully portray the character. There will be times when you have to portray horrible characters and ‘bad guys’ but that doesn’t mean you have to agree with the characters personality or what they do. But it’s to understand that ‘if I become this, this will happen,’ because if that isn’t comprehended I don’t think I’ll be able to portray the character in an enjoyable way for the audience or myself.
R: Reading the manga, there would only be a small number of people who would be empathetic towards Sōta from the beginning as he maintains his one sided love towards Saeko - who you wouldn’t really even call a nice girl. The actress who will play Saeko will be bound to receive strict feedback from the female audience of the same age range.
J: Yeah, that’s true. But to be honest, aren’t there women out there who are actually like this? (laughs) And even if she is like this Sōta keeps loving Saeko, and this is where I could’t find any common traits. However he is the kind of character that you could root for 100%, and I feel like even though he is not completely on the right track there is something true deep down inside of him. I think these kinds of notions are one of the most important in the whole drama. For this to be enjoyable for the viewers, and whether or not they want to root for him would come down to the way I portray him.
The reality of the manga: big lies are okay but little lies are…
R: And for the manga feature, if we could talk a bit about mangas. What’s Matsumoto Jun’s experience with mangas.
J: The most recent would have to be with “Dragon Ball.” And before that… Oh yes, “Sazae-san!” (laughs) I remember in the waiting room of the hospital that I used to go to when I was little had “Sazae-san” and I would often read it there. And then the first manga I bought was “Dragon Ball.” I was probably in second grade.
I also read “SLAM DUNK,” “YuYu Hakusho,” “Shoot!” and “Kindaichi Shounen Jikenbou.” Of course I read a lot of shounen manga, but I have an older sister so I would sometimes read “Hana Yori Dango,” “Gokinnjo Monogatari” and “Tennshi nanka janai.” I didn’t really have anything against shoujo manga. But I did feel that the world of shoujo manga was completely different to shounen. I thought that this is this, and that is that.
R: On his bookshelf right now, he does have a few manga series lined up. Without even stopping for breath, he started to name the titles of all the works.
J: I also have Urasawa Naoki’s mangas.
R: As an actor, Matsumoto Jun has been a part of many works that have been based off of mangas. Starting with drama “Kindaichi Shounen Jikenbou” then onto “Gokusen,” “Kimi wa Petto,” “Hana Yori Dango,” and “Bambino!” And he has starred in movies such as “Boku ha Imouto ni Koi wo Suru.” People often say “its like he jumped out of a manga!” His handsome looks would definitely be one of the reasons for this.
J: Well there are a lot, but it doesn’t feel like I have done a particularly large number of works derived from mangas. I think that from around the time that I have been given the opportunity to be in theses dramas is around the time when manga cafes became popular. I feel like since they became popular a lot of movies and dramas have been made from mangas.
R: Even if the work is derived from the same kind of original work, the approach can be very different depending on whether it is from a novel or a manga. We asked Matsumoto’s thoughts, who has experienced many different works from both novels and mangas.
J: Novels explain everything in detail, and so much can happen over the course of a book, so it’s hard to make it all into a 2 hour movie. There’s a lot you have to cut out. On the other hand, mangas have so much impact because it’s visual so it can be hard to consider all of the aspects.
Also on the reality of the work – this can be said for novels too – it can be so different from when it’s on the paper to when it’s on the screen. And it’s not just a matter of converting what’s drawn straight onto the big screen. Recently, to be honest, the amount of times that I’ve thought that mangas have no realness to them has increased. What I used to just take in as a kid, now I sometimes question. This is probably because the experiences that I have been through have increased, and matured into an adult. Because there is that thought in the back of my mind, for all of the works that I’m a part of I think it’s one of challenges to try and successfully bring the manga to reality.
R: Matsumoto’s feeling of not being able to just take it all in could be one of the reasons why romance dramas have declined in popularity in this society.
J: Yeah, that’s true. This is what I think, for example “Hidamari no Kanojo” is a fantasy that could not be possible in real life, right? But I feel like the production can tell big lies. Although once it starts telling lies in the details it makes the audience feel uncomfortable. It’s like too good to be true. It can come off as if the people are feeling those emotions in such a convenient way. So I always feel the importance of details.
R: At the moment, he is practicing his chocolatier skills as he is preparing for his Arashi live tour. These skills will support the realness of the work, paying attention to the details.
J: There’s Valentine’s Day too, and I think the scenes with the chocolates are just going to be lovely to watch.
R: The way he smiled as he said that, it was as if he was the Chocolate Prince, just like in the original work.
The things of everyday life. The things of Arashi.
R: There seems to be an increase in women who enjoy their chocolates with wine. During this party season, we were hoping that Matsumoto Jun could recommend a wine to go with chocolates but…
J: Ahh, I don’t like to mix my chocolates and alcohol. (laughs) I’m usually a sweet tooth, but I don’t tend to eat them much when I get alcohol in me. If I was to eat something with my wine I would say olives, or maybe tofu and onion slices. (laughs) I usually drink my wine while eating some cheese. I don’t really drink much at home. I rarely ever drink by myself. At Japanese restaurants I’ll go for shochu or sake. Whiskey when I go to bars.
R: We’ll end it when we have just about seen a little bit of Matsumoto’s private life. Lastly we asked about Arashi’s activities in their 15th anniversary year. The day of the interview was exactly Arashi’s 14th anniversary.
J: We don’t have any plans to do anything big, shouting ‘it’s our 15th year!’ Of course we are very happy and grateful that many people, starting from our fans, congratulate us on this but I don’t think it’s necessary to celebrate every 5 years. I hope we can make an opportunity for us to spend fun times with our fans, but nothing more than that. I just hope that we can make this next year from today a good one.
R: We remember in 2004, when it was your 5th year anniversary, you said that the coins are ¥1, ¥5, ¥10 and ¥50 so we celebrate those years too. When we talked about this to Matsumoto he replied back that there is a ¥5 coin but not a ¥15 coin.
J: It’s true, right? If you go overseas you might a 25¢ coin though. (laughs) So if you go by the coins, a 15th year anniversary does’t have that much significance. (laughs) For us, so many people celebrate our 10th year anniversary. It was also our first year on Kouhaku, and a lot happened that year… We don’t have plans for a huge festival type celebration like our 10th year for our 15th. And in this situation where we don’t even know if we’ll pass the 20 year mark, I feel that each day we spend together is all as important.
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