Special Interview with Kento Hayashi – His True Feelings Revealed at FRIDAY Editorial Office: “I want to play a more egregious reporter!

Actress plays a reporter for a weekly magazine in the film “Neighbor X: The Suspicious Girl
From “the person being filmed” to “the person filming
A new world he has reached by taking on the challenge of changing from “the person being filmed” to “the person being filmed.

The real thrill of being an actor is to be able to play a role that is completely out of the ordinary.

……I feel a sense of romance when I think that information that no one had ever heard of before is being transmitted to the world from here. Selling and buying information is an interesting idea. I am curious about the origin of this business and who thought of it first.”

Actor Kento Hayashi, 32, was deeply moved as he sat at the desk where the FRIDAY editorial staff had been up all night just two hours earlier writing a manuscript.

Hayashi plays Kentaro Sasa, a reporter for a weekly magazine who falls in love with Yoshiko Kashiwagi (Juri Ueno), a person of suspicion in the movie “Neighbor X – Suspicious Girlfriend,” which opens on December 1. Usually I’m the one being photographed. ……,” Hayashi began slowly, as if searching for words one by one.

I was very interested in playing the role of a “reporter who sends out information,” because nowadays, with the development of social networking services, everyone is hungry for information.

The character I played, Sasa, of course does not want to hurt people, but he stands in a situation where he has no choice but to do so. However, he was put in a situation where he had no choice but to do so, and he ended up hunting down and hurting his beloved Yoshiko. It is cruel, but I thought as I played the role that hurting people against their will is a common occurrence in any profession.

Hayashi says that the filming of “Neighbor X” was difficult for him because he was so deeply involved in the role.

I sometimes hit people as an act,” he said. But I draw a line somewhere in the sand while acting, because I don’t actually hit people and hurt them.
But playing a role in which you mentally push or trap people puts a strain on yourself. It was a double punch: hurting people and hurting myself. …… During filming, it was difficult to detach myself from the role and look at myself objectively.”

The difficult role of Sasa is one in which the actor is caught between his duties and his love, and he is tormented by his feelings from beginning to end. However, he says that playing the role of Sasa made him realize the mindset he must have as an actor.

He said, “Nowadays, we are overloaded with information, and I think everyone tends to compare themselves with others. It is a time when it is easy to think about oneself. Sasa also lacks self-confidence and wants to be recognized. I am not confident about myself either, so I always want to be recognized by the people around me. But if I didn’t have that kind of feeling, I felt it would be difficult to do a job as an actor, where you have to keep being needed by someone.

It has been 16 years since he made his acting debut in 2007 with the lead role in the movie “Battery. In this film, he plays a reporter for a weekly magazine, while in real life, on the contrary, he is sometimes chased by the magazine. However, according to Hayashi, this is “something that can’t be helped.

There were times when I felt bad because I saw pictures of myself taken in places I didn’t know, such as after the launch of a drama or movie. But then again, I guess that is part of entertainment.

As a person in the entertainment industry, there are sacrifices that have to be made, and that also leads to expression. If you live your life with integrity, it doesn’t matter what is photographed. That’s why I have no hostility toward the weeklies.”

Although he has built up a career as an actor for more than 15 years and has appeared in many high-profile films, there have been times when he has lost his confidence and been hurt. But why has he been able to continue acting?

I often receive comments such as, “I was saved by watching your work,” or “I feel like I will do my best to live my life from tomorrow,” without exaggeration. As long as there is even one person who says that, I will continue to do my best.

Hayashi has been entrusted with high-impact roles in high-profile films such as “VIVANT” (Sunday Gekijo), in which he plays a public safety detective who is abandoned by his colleagues during an undercover operation, and the drama/movie “Osan Zurubu Love” in which he plays a homosexual young man who falls in love with the main character. When asked if there is a role he would like to play in the future, he grinned.

I want to play a reporter who is not pure like Sasa,” he said with a grin. There were many times when Sasa was at a loss to look into other people’s lives and step into theirs. That is why I feel that I would like to play a more swinging role next time. That is one of the best parts of being an actor.

To always be in demand. Despite the pain, Hayashi continues to move forward.

From the December 8-15, 2023 issue of “FRIDAY