GACKT (50) will be starring in the second movie “Fly to Saitama ~From Lake Biwa with love~”, which will be released on November 23rd, his first starring role in four years. Furthermore, his sequel autobiography “Confession II” will be urgently published on the 22nd for the first time in 20 years (published by Kobunsha). Based on interviews with this magazine, he has written all about his shocking second half of life.

Actor GACKT’s “spiritual father” was Ken Ogata, with whom he co-starred in the taiga drama “Furin Kazan” (2007). Some excerpts from the same book have been reorganized and delivered to you.

What guided me was my encounter with Ken Ogata, who can be said to be my spiritual teacher and spiritual father. It was a big turning point in my life when Ken-san accepted the role of Sadamitsu Usami, Kenshin’s tactician.

He was a really interesting guy. Every time I met him, I became more and more attracted to him.

One day, during a script reading rehearsal, the director’s assistant said, “Mr. Ogata, that line has been cut.” Ken-san paused for a while, then replied, “Oh, I see…” with no expression on his face, and the scene moved on smoothly. I decided to start reading the script from scratch again. When he got to the line that Ken-san cut, he said, “Hey, director… why did you cut this short?”

The assistant interrupted without a moment’s notice and said, “It’s a matter of time. Thank you in advance.” After a moment of silence, Ken-san replies, “Oh, I see…” and the script reading continues. The reading begins again from the beginning. In front of Fist-san’s cut line, he asked again, “Hey, director… why did you cut this…?” he asked, expressionless but in a strong tone.

Then, the troubled director said apologetically, “Um, due to time constraints.” After a long silence, he begins again, “Oh, I see…” Everyone present was nervous at this freezing hour. “Something is going to happen! ‘ I was the only one who was excited.

When the script reading was over and everyone was about to stand up, Ken-san spoke. “Director… the lines are the lives of the actors. In other words, you… are you going to take away my life for the sake of time…?” The director panics and blurts out something incoherent, “No, no, no! I won’t steal it!” “This person is so funny! ‘, I said, holding back my laughter as his shoulders shook. No one knows how much of it is serious and how much of it is just singing and dancing.

I heard about him after he passed away, but Ken-san had undergone surgery to remove cancer just before appearing in this taiga drama. He was discharged from the hospital quite early, and he took on the challenge of filming. On many days when he wasn’t feeling well, he sometimes waited three hours, sometimes four hours. In fact, even on days when he was so sick that he couldn’t wake up, he would tell his manager, “Gakkun is waiting for me.”

It’s about rehearsal one day. It happened when we were reading the script for the scene in which Kenshin tries to convince Sadamitsu Usami, played by Kenshin, who was his father’s archenemy, to become his military commander. Usami was originally Kenshin’s father’s nemesis and was the person who repeatedly blocked Kenshin’s father’s path. This is the scene where he goes to meet Usami himself for the first time and conveys her wish for him to be her military master. At the end of the rehearsal, I said, “Gackt, there aren’t many love scenes in Taiga, right?This exchange is like a love scene.What you just said won’t move me.Until the actual performance.” Please finish it.” For five days from that day until the actual performance, I practiced my lines over and over again by myself, but the more I tried, the more I didn’t understand them.

[Acting and not acting] [Acting is the technique of expressing it] are the words that Ken-san always told me. I couldn’t understand this for a long time. As I was practicing this line, a thought suddenly crossed my mind. “Does acting mean expressing the many emotions and feelings you’ve gained from your own experiences through the role, rather than just taking on the role you’ve been given? “and. At this time, I was already deeply in love with Ken. He thought for a while. “Instead of conveying the [meaning] and [content] of Kenshin’s lines to the other role/character, I will put my own honest feelings toward Kenshin into my character’s lines and convey those feelings directly.” decided. On the day of the actual performance, I told the director, “I want you to start the actual production as soon as the camera rehearsal is over.” Because you may not be able to do it many times. Ken-san also replied, “If Gakkun says so, then let’s do it.”

■Ken-san’s movements stopped and his face suddenly became scary.

Several cameras were lined up behind Ken’s back, and all of them were aiming at me from behind Ken’s back. Fist-san only sees his back. The actual performance has begun. Kenshin’s feelings for Ken-san are conveyed honestly through long lines. In the middle of the line, Ken-san’s stern expression suddenly changed to a face that said, “Wow.” The last line is over. It has not yet been cut. Ken-san smiled at the camera and gently gave him a thumbs up, saying, “That’s good!” ” he said with a big smile.

At that time, he gained new joy and awareness. “I’m here just to make this person happy…” Up until now, all my work has been for the fans. I thought his feelings were completely irrelevant and I didn’t need his personal feelings. That day, he was surprised by the feeling he had for the first time. “I’m only acting to make Ken-san happy…” For the first time, he realized that “doing something to make just one person happy made me so happy.” Until then, I had lost my way in acting, but I realized that Ken’s kind smile had always guided me.

He was in the middle of filming when he went to a location in Nagano. He was on his lunch break and was resting in the car. Ken-san suddenly opened his car door and said, “Hey, Gakkun. Do you want some shiitake mushrooms?” He was grilling shiitake mushrooms in a frying pan on the cassette stove. “I don’t eat boxed lunches. No matter what, I’ll only eat food that’s cooked on the spot. If I eat something convenient, I’ll die early…” he said. He sat around the frying pan and they ate together. I didn’t know why he said this at that time, but he said it to Mr. Fist. “Ken-san, if there’s anything you think is wrong with my performance, please be sure to tell me…” When I said that, Ken-san stopped moving and his face suddenly turned scary.

He keeps looking at me. There was silence for a while. Fist-san slowly put down his chopsticks and opened his mouth. “Hey, Gakkun… I’ve told you everything you need to do. People around you may say what you think about your performance. But… this Ken Ogata says it. You can’t do it.” I’m doing everything I need to do. No matter what anyone else says, I can do it.” He slowly delivered the words one by one with a very stern look on his face. Then he suddenly smiled and said, “It’s okay. Daddy is with me…” and he picked up his chopsticks and started eating the shiitake mushrooms again. Hearing those very kind words, my heart was filled with the thought, “This person has always been protecting me…” The emotions that had been bottled up until then overflowed like an avalanche. Before I knew it, tears were falling down my face. As he cried, he kept repeating, “Thank you…, thank you…” over and over again. For me, who had been estranged from his love, it was the first time in his life that I felt the love of another person deeply. I remember the events of this day as vividly as if they were yesterday.

Immediately after I finished filming Taiga, I decided to go to Romania to shoot a Hollywood movie. At the same time, Ken-san began filming in Hokkaido. This work will become Ken’s final work. We kept in touch via LINE throughout the shoot. “After we finish filming, let’s go eat soba together in Japan,” and “Oh, soba. I love it,” they said, exchanging nonsense.

Just two weeks before I was scheduled to go out to dinner with Ken, I suddenly received a call from his manager. I don’t know why, but the moment I looked at my phone, I felt the news that he had passed away. When she picked up the phone and asked, “Did he pass away?” she said, “He just passed away…” she said in a voice sobbing and speechless.

Afterwards, his family made a special time for us. He made time for us to spend time together. Ken-san, who was lying in the coffin, had a calm look on his face. He looked at her face and said, “You’re such an amazing person. I’m sure you must have been in pain and suffering throughout the filming, but you were always smiling.” It was the very peaceful final resting face of a person who had made a living singing and dancing. “That’s the kind of life I want to live,” he honestly thought. He tried to keep smiling until the end. After saying goodbye to Ken, I greeted the bereaved family members waiting at the entrance. “Thank you very much for making time for me. Mr. Ken truly saved me. Mr. Ken was like a father to me.” The moment I said that, tears suddenly started flowing out like a broken faucet. He tried to hold back, but he was crying uncontrollably. For the next two weeks, I was completely broken and couldn’t do anything.

[Received from Fist.] I have to deliver that to as many people as possible] is the only reason I continue to act. The last thing Ken left behind. I don’t want to stop it.

Every year, I go to his grave and report to him, “I’m still working hard, and I’ll do something like this next time.” Maybe he just wants to let them know that he’s still smiling and doing his best. However, it was because of that encounter that I was able to survive the great river. It is because he has continued acting in this way that he was able to come across “Fly to Saitama” and many other wonderful works. At various points in my life, key people have given me a lot of meaning and teachings for living, which is connected to everything I am today.

He learned a lot from Ogata after co-starring with Taiga.

Source: jisin.jp

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA