Kotaro Yoshida talks about his “swashbuckling” play “I have always been conscious of leaving my mark.

Someday it will sell” without any basis.

This suit was custom-made on the recommendation of someone I respect. When I asked him about it, he said, ‘There is a tailor I know, so let’s make clothes together.

When this magazine’s reporter said, “That’s a nice suit,” actor Kotaro Yoshida (67), dressed in a fine dark brown slim suit, laughed innocently.

Who exactly is Yoshida’s “admirer” ……? It is the silver screen star Hiroshi Tachi (76), who stars in the movie “免許返納⁉,” which opens in theaters on June 19.

The film depicts about 30 years after the release of “免許がない！” in 1994. (1994), in which Tachi’s character, Hiroshi Nanjo, a big-name actor, once again engages in slapstick over his “driver’s license. Yoshida plays the president of the entertainment production company to which Nanjo belongs, and his presence is profoundly felt at key points in the story. Yoshida said with a wry smile that he was too nervous to play the role with Tate, with whom he was working together for the first time.

I was so nervous that I couldn’t concentrate on the role,” he said with a wry smile. That was all I could think about.

Yoshida made his first stage appearance while a student at Sophia University in a Shakespeare Study Group performance, and since then his career has long been centered on the stage. He has continued his studies as a regular in productions directed by Yukio Ninagawa, and although he is a late bloomer, he first came to prominence in his 50s with high-profile productions such as “Hanzawa Naoki” (’13, TBS) and “Ossan Zurabu” (’16, TV Asahi).

As a theater actor myself, working with Mr. Tachi was a “different kind of martial arts” for me. Even though we were in the same play, we were in different genres. This was the first time for me to work with a genuine movie star, so it was very fresh and intimidating (laughs).

Yoshida was prepared to work with a “different kind” of actor, but her nervousness soon dissipated.

I thought the first shot was crucial, so I took it to heart. The scene in which I had to drag Mr. Tachi back from the location bus as he was about to go outside. To be honest, I was a bit confused and wondered if I could really do it, so I saved my energy a little. Then he said, “You can do it more seriously. We both agreed to do it without hesitation. From that point on, it was easy.

The shock of seeing Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” when he was a high school student pushed Yoshida toward the path of becoming an actor. After his experience on stage, Yoshida’s breakthrough came in his fifties, when he began working in films. It may seem like too long of an “underclass.

I don’t know if that’s true in the eyes of the public, but I’ve never thought of myself as a “bottom-feeder. People who work in the theater don’t think they can make a living only from theater, so they work part-time. But in my case, it was different. I thought, “I will sell someday,” even though I had no evidence to back it up (laughs). (Laughs.) Basically, you have to be positive in order to do theater.

Yoshida’s single-minded wish that he would someday sell has become a reality, and he is now an indispensable figure in the world of film.

In the May 29 issue of “FRIDAY” (May 14) and the paid version of “FRIDAY GOLD,” Yoshida talks candidly about the origins of his acting and behind-the-scenes of his blockbuster productions.