Special Interview with Takao Osawa: “I don’t like acting that much, as long as I can convey the true meaning of the work, that’s all that matters.
Starring in and producing his latest movie "Armada of Silence" What is the state of the art he has reached after 30 years of acting?
He said, “The stakes are always high, but if you are convinced that the whole thing is going in the right direction, then you should move on. But if you are sure that the whole project is moving in the right direction, you should make your own move. Even if you lose money.
Actor Osawa Takao (55) speaks in a soft and polite tone, but his gaze is piercingly strong. Osawa starred in and produced the movie “The Armada of Silence,” which will be released on September 29. Although he has directed and written screenplays for films in which he has appeared, this is the first time he is listed in the credits as a producer.
He said, “It’s interesting to have an actor like me on the producing side. I think there has to be a surprise. I want to entertain and surprise the audience. This time, I have the title of producer, but to be honest, I am not particular about the title. When I participate in a film, I think of it as a concerted effort by everyone involved.
Osawa asserts, “A movie has to be exciting. Naturally, the films he is involved in are big productions that require a lot of work in terms of filming and preparation.
For the movie “Lion Standing in the Wind,” which was released eight years ago, I spent five years working with Masashi Sada-san, starting from the point where I asked him to adapt Sada-san’s song of the same title into a novel. At that time, I asked him not to mention my name with the title of producer. It must have been difficult for my co-stars to see an actor as a producer (laughs). For “Silence of the Fleet,” I did everything from planning and finding investors to meeting with the original author, Kaiji Kawaguchi, and obtaining cooperation from the Ministry of Defense, leaving the script and casting to the professionals.
He has been fighting alone to create something interesting, but as the scale of his work grew, he began to feel a limit to what he could do.
I am not a producer by nature. Everyone has talents that I don’t have, and it’s better to make the best use of each person’s strengths. I couldn’t think like this in the past, but I have become more flexible. I have experienced hurdles that can only be overcome if we all work together in a scrum. Our approach may have changed, but our desire to create something good has not changed a millimeter in 30 years.
