GACKT talks about Ogata Ken on “Tetsuko no Heya”

As we reported earlier, GACKT made an appearance on the afternoon talk show, “Tetsuko no Heya(Tetsuko’s Room)” which was broadcasted on December 13th. GACKT talked about an actor, Ogata Ken, who co-starred with him on NHK’s historical drama, “Fuurinkazan“. Ogata passed away in 2008.

We’ve got the video below, as well as some translations, during the segment where GACKT discusses his relationship and reverence for the actor (starts at 13:35).

Tetsuko (T): “So this is the 11th year since you debuted as a pro, and you’ve been active in music, TV, movies, radio, and so on.  I believe many people are still impressed with your role as ‘Uesugi Kenshin‘ (aka: Nagao Kagetora). When you played the role, did you do a lot of research for ‘Kenshin’?”

GACKT (G) : “I thought a lot about how I could express Uesugi Kenshin’s thoughts, and the things that he wanted to tell the future generations; I wondered if I could do so by learning from a textbook. So, I focused on the fact that Uesugi Kenshin was said to be so beautiful that people questioned if he was really a man. I also wanted to express his charismatic madness.”

(T): “Yes, it was a lot different from how the other actors played the role.  The role tends to be played as a ’strong man’.”

(G) : “Yet because of the way I played the role, there was a lot of negative criticism in the beginning.”

(T) : “There were?”

(G) : “Yes, saying ‘That’s not Uesugi Kenshin‘, or ‘There was no Uesugi Kenshin like that‘.

While I was playing the role, I met Ogata Ken-san.  He made an appearance as one of Uesugi Kenshin’s chief retainers, ‘Usami Sadamitsu‘, but he was actually a retainer, father, and teacher of GACKT. Before I met him, I have never worked for anybody specific; just for fans.  However, Ken-san made me feel for the first time that I want to accomplish this role just to make him happy.

One day, I asked Ken-san, ‘If you thought the way I played the role was wrong, please tell me so.’, and he stared scolding me, saying, ‘I’ve already told you what I needed to tell you, and you have been doing what you needed to do. Just believe what I, Ogata Ken, say. No matter what people say, just keep on your own way. Papa (Ogata) would always be there for you.’

After he told me that, I couldn’t stop crying. I never felt being loved by someone this much.  Because of what he told me, I could have confidence in that the things I do are not wrong.”

(T) : “While you were shooting for ‘Bunraku‘ (Hollywood movie) in Romania, Ogata Ken-san was in Hokkaido shooting for a drama.  I heard you two were emailing back and forth during that time.”

(G) : “Yes, we promised to go out together for dinner, but a week before the day of our promise, he passed away.  At his funeral, his family gave me some time with him, so I talked to him a lot.  Since he showed me how he lived, I wanted to become like him – a person who expresses their thoughts until the end.”