Takuya Kimura Overcomes Criticism with Grand Maison Paris Paving New Ground

Takuya Kimura, who faced criticism after the disbandment of SMAP

Takuya Kimura (52) stars in the film Grand Maison Paris, which was released on December 30 last year. It has surpassed 2.7 billion yen in box office earnings after its third week, with the possibility of exceeding 3 billion yen. Amidst this, Kimura’s transformation has also been attracting attention.

The starting point of this work goes back to the fall of 2019, when the Sunday drama Grand Maison Tokyo (TBS) was broadcast.

In the film, Kimura plays Natsuki Ohana, a maverick genius chef who earned two Michelin stars for his French restaurant in Paris. However, after a nut contamination incident three years ago, he loses both his restaurant and his friends, falling to rock bottom. He later meets a female chef with a brilliant palate, Rinko Hayami (Kyoka Suzuki), and they open Grand Maison Tokyo, striving to achieve the world’s top three Michelin stars. The story is a human drama about adult youth and resilience.

“At this time, the character of Ohana played by Kimura seemed to mirror Kimura’s own experience three years ago when he was thrust into the spotlight after SMAP’s disbandment and faced harsh criticism. The drama Grand Maison Tokyo could be seen as a recovery story for Takuya Kimura starting from failure. The average viewership rating for the series was 12.9%, and the final episode garnered 16.4%, marking high ratings. Kimura, who had been reluctant to pursue a sequel, expressed strong anticipation for the next project. However, the sequel was temporarily halted due to the pandemic. In hindsight, this pause may have worked in their favor,” said a screenwriter.

On December 29 last year, just before the film’s release, a special drama titled Grand Maison Tokyo SP aired, depicting the efforts to survive amidst the challenges of the pandemic.

“Looking back at the sequel, Kimura himself was satisfied that the staff and cast worked together without missing a single person, and the passion remained intact throughout the production. He mentioned, ‘Although it’s fiction, the air and time of non-fiction built this work, and when I entered that world, I didn’t need to consciously shift into high gear, as I naturally existed as the character,'” shared a producer from the production company.

Fiction yet non-fiction.

In other words, by living as Natsuki Ohana for a long time, Kimura has acquired the ability to naturally embody the character without consciously shifting gears. Looking back now, it seems that the actor Takuya Kimura may have begun to change gradually even during the special drama’s production.

The presence of Chef Kei Kobayashi, the first Asian to earn three Michelin stars

When watching the movie “Gran Maison Paris” with that perspective, there are various realizations.

In this movie, the members of the restaurant Gran Maison Tokyo aim for the world’s highest “three Michelin stars” while taking on the world in the foreign land of Paris, France. A large number of French staff members were employed, and a grand-scale filming was conducted in Paris.

Moreover, the movie is also set to be released in Paris. From the scriptwriting stage, French and British staff participated as key collaborators, and the project was created with the intent of being viewed internationally.

Among the highlights is Chef Kei Kobayashi, who earned the first three Michelin stars in France by an Asian in 2020 and has since achieved five consecutive victories with his restaurant Restaurant KEI.

In the January following the TV drama’s conclusion, Chef Kobayashi earned three Michelin stars in the French edition of the Michelin Guide. With his participation as a culinary supervisor for the theatrical film, the anticipation for the film with the mission of achieving three stars in Paris! became even greater.

In the beginning of last year, the four characters from Gran Maison Tokyo, including Ohana  (Takuya Kimura), Hayami (Kyoka Suzuki), Aizawa (Mitsuhiro Oikawa), and Kyo-no (Kazuki Sawamura), gathered at KEI Collection PARIS in Toranomon for a study session on cooking and service.

“Based on this experience, Kimura-san said, ‘What we are trying to create might be fiction, but we were able to circulate nonfictional body fluids. On the shooting set, by just removing the non from nonfiction, we could create as much fiction as we wanted,'” (Producer).

The pursuit of answers with no correct solutions resonates between acting and cooking. During a conversation, the two with mutual respect expressed their true feelings:

Kobayashi: “Facing cooking is 98% suffering and 2% joy. After winning three stars, it’s even harder.”

Kimura: “Although I’m in a special field of expression, I believe the experience is fundamentally different between myself in Japan and Kei, who has fought in Paris for 27 years.”

With the unimaginable struggles of Chef Kobayashi in mind, Takuya Kimura took on the challenge in “Gran Maison Paris”. Living as the chief Ohana Natsuki for five years and portraying a transcendent marriage of cultures in Paris, this work became a unique piece that goes beyond the typical chef success story, allowing audiences to savor the essence of French cuisine.

And above all, it seems that Takuya Kimura, often mocked with the phrase “No matter what he does,” has once again broken through the limits of his acting career.