Caffeinated Clint
With “Unbroken” hitting Blu-ray and DVD this week, we’re revisiting the film via a catch-up with rock guitarist Miyavi, who plays sadistic prison commander The Bird in the movie.
This is your first movie. Being an accomplished Japanese musician, could you ever have imagined being offered such an important role in a Hollywood production?
I never expected to have an opportunity like this. I am a musician that started studying English around seven years ago. I never imagined I would be in a Hollywood film as an actor. I was quite surprised to receive this offer from Angelina Jolie.
How did you get involved in this project?
Yoko Narahashi, the Japanese casting director who cast Ken Watanabe for The Last Samurai and Rinko Kikuchi for Babel, came to my office and asked about me, the kind of movies I liked and who was my favorite actor or actress. I answered that it was Angelina Jolie without knowing anything about Unbroken as she didn’t tell me about the project.
Why do you believe Angelina Jolie chose you to play the role of Mutsuhiro Watanabe, also known as “The Bird,” who was the cruel Japanese officer in charge of the prisoners in the camp that Louis Zamperini ended up in during World War II?
I think Angelina wanted to have a person that was familiar with performing in front of a crowd.
What was your first reaction to this opportunity?
First of all, I wasn’t sure if I would be capable of doing it, as I don’t have the experience or education as an actor. However, at the same time, the role and the story were sensitive and controversial. It’s still hard to talk about the war in Japan, and my character was a war criminal that tortured the main hero of our story. Since I didn’t want to represent a negative side of Japanese culture, I kept thinking if I should accept the role or not, until I met Angelina Jolie in Tokyo.
What happened after that meeting with Angelina Jolie?
After meeting Angie everything was clear to me. I was totally confident to take this role as an actor because it was really meaningful. It’s something precious that people need to know.
“Unbroken” is not your typical war movie.
Exactly! This is not a typical war movie about winners and losers, as it’s really all about forgiveness. That is the underlying message of this story and what Angie told me as well. She wanted to make something that could be a bridge between both of our countries and cultures.
Can you elaborate on how this film can be meaningful to the Japanese public?
This film is important to the Japanese as well, because Louis came back to Japan after the war to share time with the Japanese people – smiling and running with the local kids as a torch runner. He did that even after having suffered so much at a prisoner-of-war camp. How can you go back and spend time with the people who live in the country in which you suffered so much? He came back to tell all of us that it was all over. That is the story about a strong, unbroken man’s life.
How did you view your character?
“The Bird” is unbalanced and confused. I had many conversations with Angie about the character because we didn’t want to make him into a typical caricature of a villain–being the main guard in the camp who was in charge of the prisoners.
Actors normally say that it is fun to play a villain. Do you agree?
It’s hard to express the humanity in the man, as I didn’t want to lose my respect toward the actual person. Everybody was a victim of the war, and I believe “The Bird” was also confused. That doesn’t mean he was right, but I also wanted to show the humanity in the character. The more brutal he could be, the more dramatic he was as well.
How does “The Bird” treat Louis Zamperini?
“The Bird” treats him very badly, torturing and tormenting him almost daily.
Why do you believe “The Bird” had such a grudge against Louis?
The grudge may have been because “The Bird” found a similarity in Louis and wanted to be more like Louis, although he couldn’t. In his eyes, he found some correlation: Louis Zamperini was a hero, and Watanabe was jealous of him and clearly had a complex.
What can you say of Angelina Jolie as a director?
Angelina is great! She is an artist who was on a creative mission with this project that was for the whole world including Japan. As an actress herself, she knows how actors feel on set.
Can you recall how Angelina helped you in a specific scene?
In my last scene, I remember I had to express my feelings without any dialogue and I just didn’t know how to do it. She came up to me and told me to take my time and taught me how to accept myself.
Did you enjoy your stay in Australia during the filming of “Unbroken”?
Yes, I enjoyed Australia very much! Most of the crew was from Australia, so it was good to see how the country was involved in the project.
How would you compare performing on a stage as a musician with acting on a movie set as an actor?
In terms of expression, I discovered that performing and acting is similar. The difference is that, as a musician, it’s all about showing your emotion on stage and being yourself. Acting is different because you are not yourself. At the same time, there has to be part of your reality in that performance, so it’s similar in that way.
Is acting something you would like to repeat in the future?
Yes, if there is an opportunity, I would like to act again because I really enjoyed the experience and learned a lot of things from acting as an artist.
What surprised you the most about the experience?
I think what surprised me the most was just how big the production is!
What was it like working with Jack O’Connell, who plays the main character of Louis Zamperini?
Jack is an amazing actor, and I was impressed by his performance and truly respect him. We have different lives but share a similar approach to life.
Now that your work on “Unbroken” is finished, how do you look back on your experience?
It was something that has been very meaningful in my life and unlike anything I’ve done before. It was such a precious experience to work with all of these talented people and learn how to let go and try something new.
