Satoshi Tokushige as Yujiro Ishihara in the 21st century: “Why I stopped ordinary acting″

I’m very grateful that people are talking about it, but to be honest, I don’t intend to play a monster.

Actor Satoshi Tokushige (43) laughed bitterly as he said this. In this winter’s drama “Lovely Lie: Gentle Darkness” (TV Asahi), he played a creepy DV husband who is an elite chief of detectives but relentlessly stalks his wife’s unfaithful partner.’ His impact was as strong as that of Fuyuhiko, the intense mother-consuming man played by Shiro Sano (67) in the 1992 hit drama “Zutto Anata ga Sukidatta” (TBS), earning him the reputation as “Fuyuhiko-san of 2021” on the Internet.

In the NHK television series “Come Come Everybody,” in which he appeared at the same time, he played the role of a “maverick general” and performed a brilliant sword fight and memorable lines. His “monstrous” performance has been attracting attention.

When my daughter was still young enough to remember me, I played only bad politicians and other strong, obnoxious roles. So I didn’t tell her I was an actor. But with “Come Come,” I was finally able to show my daughter that I was an actor. She was surprised and said, “You’re an actor? She was so surprised (laughs).

In 2000, Tokushige won the grand prix at the “Search for Yujiro Ishihara in the 21st Century” audition and entered the entertainment industry. In 2004, he played the role of Yujiro Ishihara in the TV drama “Brother” (TV Asahi), and he started out well, but gradually began to have doubts.

He said, “I think I had a lot of pride in my 20s, including how I was selected for the Grand Prix. Many of the roles I played were ‘good guys,’ and I didn’t feel comfortable playing them. I didn’t feel I was getting the job done.”

A turning point came in 2006, when he played a dark and sarcastic engineer in “Shitamachi Rocket” (TBS).

I was so happy to get a role that I had no experience in. I was so happy. Until then, I had just done what I was told to do in the roles I was given. This role was a brilliant but eccentric and troublesome character. I thought I had to make it up as I went along, so I went through a lot of trial and error. When the director saw me for the first time, he asked me, “Did you have someone else put on this performance?” When I answered, “I made it up myself,” he said, “That’s good.” He also said, “I don’t think you should do normal acting for a while. I had mixed feelings about it, but now I think he was right.”

Another person who showed Tokushige the way was Tetsuya Watari (78 years old), president (retired in 2011) of Ishihara Promotion (dissolved in 2009), to which he had belonged since his debut.

Tetsuya Watari (who retired in 2011), 78, was the president of Ishihara Productions (dissolved in 2009), the company he belonged to when he made his debut. The president said, “Acting is not something you can learn by being taught.” When I was young, whenever I met the president, he would always say to me, “You’re a very top-heavy brother.” That was the only image he had of me. That changed after I appeared in Shitamachi Rocket. After the drama aired, he would call me and say, “It was good.”

In 1919, I participated in the special drama “The Three Men Who Created MGC” (TBS). in which I played Toshihiko Seko, 65, and the president said, “You don’t play small tricks. That’s all right. It’s good that you expand your acting range by yourself. Take the high road.”

I have been thinking about those words recently, and I continue to ponder what they mean. He told me, “Don’t just do small tricks. I think it means, Think for yourself and make it up as you go along.

On July 17, 2008, the anniversary of Yujiro’s death, the dissolution of Ishihara Promotion was announced. Wataru passed away about a month later, on August 10.

I still don’t really feel that he passed away. It was a farewell party with only my relatives, so I haven’t been able to say goodbye for the last time. When I think I’m still sobbing after finishing one film, I think, ‘It’s because the president hasn’t called me yet. I am still waiting for the president’s call. I wonder what he would have said if he had seen this drama. I wanted to hear what the president had to say.

Having broken new ground, Tokushige’s goal for the future is to “try out for roles I have no experience in.”

I have never played a character who speaks in dialect. I would like to try a role that is purely for my daughter to watch (laughs).

Tokushige will continue to show his “new face” in the future.

From the April 29, 2022 issue of FRIDAY