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His switch to U.S. movies has proved refreshing, delivering that feeling of starting from scratch. He loves feeling like the new kid on the block, reliving that same uncertainty and thrill when he started out in the movies in his 20s. And that's important for an actor and something he can bring back to Japanese movies, too, he said. "Actors are always afraid of ending up like overcooked old soup over time. What's risky is that you don't realize this has happened, and you just get thick and boring," he said. "Going abroad was like getting a new pot to cook everything again. I was a rookie, a new self. And they were asking me: Who are you?" Watanabe stressed he was proud of the legacy of Japanese films, a legacy he has helped create in a career spanning more than three decades, following legends like Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai. Kei Kumai, the late director of "Sandakan No. 8," said he knew instantly that Watanabe was destined for stardom when they met in the 1980s, recognizing that he boasted the same power to focus that characterized Mifune. "He possessed that charm only stars have, the power to attract people," Kumai wrote in his 1996 memoirs. Watanabe's success highlights the long-lasting power of the Japanese movie industry. The U.S. raked in $10.8 billion a year at the box office, China $2.7 billion and Japan $2.4 billion, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. Watanabe stressed he has gone to Hollywood as a Japanese actor, and nothing else. That's critical for his identity, he said. Sometimes he worries the old glory of Japanese movies may be fading. He hopes his "Unforgiven" might help win over new foreign fans. After working with Eastwood on "Letters From Iwo Jima," Watanabe liked the intuitive way the American director worked, leaving so much to the actors, often not even rehearsing.
Once toying with the idea of directing, Watanabe says after "Unforgiven," he's convinced again of his true calling. "I don't think I can ever get that cruel," he said of its director Lee, with a laugh. Lee demanded multiple takes from his actors, despite the freezing weather, and hung Emoto on ropes for hours and clubbed him with a real stick to film one scene. Still, Lee had only praise for Watanabe's acting. "Ken never waffles. Regardless of the situation, regardless of the colors of the place he finds himself, he is always rooted solid," Lee said in a statement. "His role must speak through his back. It's not when he is saying his lines. He speaks after he has finished talking, when he is listening to someone else, when he is silent." ___ Link for "Unforgiven" trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?vgj3gwo01Pf4
[Associated
Press;
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"I was convinced from the start that this will be an original Japanese movie in its own right," said Watanabe, who has become the go-to Japanese actor for Hollywood.
