The first step in his career as an entertainer.

That classic movie inspired me to become an actor

Good day, everyone. The season has come when gauze handkerchiefs can keep you dry. My name is Hidehiko Ishizuka.

The trigger for anything comes suddenly.

When I was a high school student, I used to go to a movie theater called Piccadilly in Isesagicho, Yokohama once a month. When I came home from the judo club I belonged to, I would put my judo uniform in the washing machine, put my bus fare and movie ticket in my pocket, and head for the movie theater.

At the time, a friend of my father’s sent me tickets to various movie theaters in the city every month, and I was supposed to get the Piccadilly tickets. I loved movies anyway. I mainly watched foreign films, but I loved movies because they showed me a world I had not yet seen, a grand dream.

One day in my second year of high school, I went to Piccadilly as usual, and they were showing the American boxing movie “Rocky”. At the time, I didn’t know anyone about Sylvester Stallone, the lead actor, or any of his co-stars. However, as I watched the movie, I could feel my heart rate clearly rising.

I won’t go into details for those who haven’t seen it yet, but the film is about an unknown boxer who gets a chance to fight a world boxing champion and tries his hardest to change his life and the life of his girlfriend. This was the first film in my life that moved me so much.

What moved me even more was after the screening. When the end roll on the screen was over and the lights in the auditorium brightened, to my surprise, all the audience in the theater burst into applause.

What the hell is this?

I don’t care if it was on a theater stage, but the applause was directed at the screen in an empty movie theater. At that moment, the sound of switching the rails of my life went “clang”. The rail that had been vaguely oriented toward “school teachers” was destroyed and completely changed direction. I was now working in a movie theater, where I could move people and get applause. I decided then and there that I was going to be an actor.

However, I had no plan. But if I don’t take action, nothing will start. What can I do now? Yes, let’s show the film at the high school festival. I will be Stallone.

I replaced boxing with judo, the match with the world champion with a high school judo inter-high school competition, and Adrian with his classmate Natsuko. The excitement of “Rocky” had not cooled off at all, so I was able to write the script with ease.

God was on my side, and everyone in the class readily cooperated with me. My homeroom teacher, Watabiki-sensei, took care of the filming and editing. Looking back, I realize that the teacher must have paid for the filming and editing out of her own pocket, given the limited budget available for such an event. I can only express my gratitude.

With the cooperation of the entire class and the Judo Club, the film was completed just in time. Students from other classes, senior members of the Judo Club, and teachers came to the classroom where we had put up blackout curtains, and the screening began. I looked at the film and the audience alternately. I couldn’t stop my excitement.

When the screening was over and the classroom was brightened, everyone applauded. The scale was small, but it ran one meter above the rails. Then I thought about it. What should I do to become an “actor” in the future? To be continued.

From the December 27, 2024 issue of FRIDAY