{"id":193,"date":"2023-12-25T00:35:53","date_gmt":"2023-12-25T00:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/?page_id=193"},"modified":"2023-12-25T00:43:52","modified_gmt":"2023-12-25T00:43:52","slug":"a-sonny-chiba-interview","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/press\/a-sonny-chiba-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"A Sonny Chiba Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Meniscus Magazine<\/em> interviewed Sonny Chiba at the inaugural Singafest Asian Film Festival on October 2, 2011. Mackenyu does not speak in the interview but is heavily mentioned so I thought it would be nice to give a little insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As this interview is not directly with Mackenyu, only highlights in bold will be his name or mentions of him. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Original Article:<\/strong> Click Here<\/a>
— This was an unpublished interview with Sonny until August 3, 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Original<\/h2>\n
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The interview had concluded and Sonny Chiba (\u5343\u8449 \u771f\u4e00) had tears in his eyes \u2013 not, I assume, because our on-the-record conversation was over (although he did express out loud that we should keep chatting for another hour), but because he was continuing his thoughts about a pending film project. While he was explaining the synopsis and asking for my opinion, the visibly-moved Chiba\u2019s insistence on a validation of his work was indicative of the blood, sweat and tears poured into a career that stretches all the way back to 1959.<\/p>\n

For this longevity, Chiba was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural Singafest Asian Film Festival in Los Angeles. Meniscus Magazine was the primary media sponsor of this event, hosting a private dinner for Chiba, two of his children (Juri Manase and Mackenyu Maeda<\/b>, who both followed their father\u2019s footsteps into acting) and several associates just prior to the award ceremony. The following day, we sat down with Chiba to talk about his work, his family and why \u2013 when asked about his proudest achievement \u2013 he still strives for more in his career. (This previously unpublished interview took place Oct. 2, 2011.)<\/p>\n

Yuan-Kwan Chan: All right, we\u2019re here with Sonny Chiba. Congratulations on your Lifetime Achievement Award.<\/p>\n

Sonny Chiba: Thank you very much. Thank you so much.<\/p>\n

I know that a Lifetime Achievement Award for you is not \u201cthe end\u201d because you still very much want to continue working as much as possible. But looking back on what you\u2019ve done so far, what are you proudest of?<\/p>\n

Looking back on my career \u2013 all my career happened in Japan, mostly. When I came to the United States and tried to get into the industry, I felt like, \u2018Wow, what I did was on a very small scale. I can do more.\u2019 So, I would like to do more in the United States. Not just only the United States, but the whole world. I\u2019d like to continue and let everybody know about Japanese culture through movies.<\/p>\n

Yesterday before our dinner, I was told by the festival organizers that you\u2019d be bringing members of your team to dinner and I thought, oh, he\u2019s going to bring members of the Japan Action Club or some stuntmen. But you ended up bringing a couple of your children. It was very clear to me that you have a very close bond with Juri and Mackenyu<\/b> and then Gordon [who wasn\u2019t present at the dinner but appeared at the ceremony]. What advice have you given to them since they seem to want to follow your steps into acting, martial arts and other areas?<\/p>\n

As you know, Juri\u2019s already an actress in Japan and she\u2019s trying to come to the United States. My older son \u2013 the middle child \u2013 Mackenyu, yes, he is interested in getting into this type of career as well.<\/b> But not the youngest one, Gordon. He\u2019s not interested in becoming an actor.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t really given any advice to either Juri or Mackenyu because they\u2019ve been seeing me acting, they\u2019ve been seeing me working. I think that\u2019s really enough. I really don\u2019t have anything to teach them. They see me working as an actor, so I think that\u2019s enough.<\/b><\/p>\n

The entertainment industry can always be, you know, very up and down. Were you concerned when they decided to follow that career path? Or you\u2019re really excited that they wanted to be actors and martial artists?<\/b><\/p>\n

As far as getting excited or maybe being a little concerned about my children, I really didn\u2019t have any of those feelings. My children are very independent so I am not too concerned or worried about them being in the entertainment industry. I can let them be free. If they really want to get involved with this business then yes, they can, but if they\u2019re not, then I don\u2019t really care.<\/b><\/p>\n

In the past, in Japan when I was active [in films], I always wanted to go to the United States and enter the global movie industry. But when I was born, Japan was at war with the U.S., and the whole society was even saying, \u201cDon\u2019t speak the language of an enemy.\u201d Even though I wanted to speak English and to be able to succeed at an international [level] in the U.S., I wasn\u2019t allowed to learn or speak it. I didn\u2019t want my kids to feel the same way I did. I wanted my kids to challenge in the international playing field and that\u2019s why I moved to the United States with my family. So in retrospect, I\u2019m happy with my decision.<\/b><\/p>\n

You worked with Quentin Tarantino in \u201cKill Bill: Vol. 1\u201d with your daughter, and you were both involved as actors and as trainers for some of the fight sequences. And I\u2019m curious: you\u2019re kind of working with your daughter as a colleague but then you\u2019re also her father. How do you balance those roles when you\u2019re on set?<\/p>\n

On the set, I really don\u2019t think about her as a daughter. She is an actress that I am working with in the movie. I am treating her as a professional actress, not my daughter. Off set, of course, I care about and think of her as my daughter. But working on the set, even though I worry about things like acting a little bit \u2013 she\u2019s professional, she\u2019s pretty good. So, I don\u2019t have to worry about her being my daughter [on set] \u2013 just being an actress who I am working with. It\u2019s been working out.<\/p>\n

I want to go back into some of your background before you got into martial arts. I understand you were a gymnast, an Olympic level gymnast, and then you got injured and later turned to martial arts. Had you not been injured, would you have still gone into martial arts at university? Or would you have stayed with gymnastics and not practiced martial arts?<\/p>\n

If I didn\u2019t get injured, then yes, I definitely would have pursued my career as a gymnast to be able to get into the Olympics, and then win the gold medal to have a Japanese flag raised. That was my passion. When I was in middle school, I was watching the Olympics, and saw that those winning [athletes] had their flags [raised]. I was very moved and thought, \u2018I have to do that. I have to bring the Japanese flag up there.\u2019 So, that was my passion, and I never had the desire to even become a martial artist or movie actor back then.<\/p>\n

Being one of the first to break through as a martial artist on the big screen, whenever something is new, someone may be skeptical. Did it take much convincing of studios and executives to say, \u2018We want to show live action martial arts on film\u2019 or was it something\u2026that you really had to champion and push out there?<\/p>\n

If there were any difficulties in [becoming] a martial artist, acting in the first person? Not really. I had all the confidence to be able to do so. I just asked those people and said that this was what I wanted to do, and everybody followed my idea. My idea was that I did not like to use stuntmen. I like to do everything on my own.<\/p>\n

For example, of course, martial arts. I thought that the idea of having martial arts in the movies would be really good. Riding horses, I don\u2019t use a stuntman to do it. I even have a license to operate small planes because I don\u2019t like to use any other people to operate the plane. So, I have a license.<\/p>\n

How many times have you flown planes in films?<\/p>\n

Twice, yes. Just a small plane, of course, a Cessna. Jumbo, jumbo, no. [laughs]<\/p>\n

So, it won\u2019t be like JAL [Japan Airlines] anytime soon.<\/p>\n

That is my philosophy. I would like to do anything that I can [physically] do to use in movies. I don\u2019t like to use a substitute or a stuntman. That\u2019s maybe one thing that I am teaching my children to experience: anything that they want to do, they can do. It\u2019s very important. Those are the nutrients for being an actor: to experience, absorb and get whatever skills that they can get. For example, my son Mackenyu, he\u2019s doing so many things. One day he\u2019s playing a musical instrument, the other day he is doing karate, and then also he\u2019s playing water polo and swimming, and then another day he\u2019s in a brass band. So many things. But I think that\u2019s what is in my blood, I can tell. I can see those qualities in him is my blood.<\/b><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been known for many roles over the years. Hattori Hanzo being one. But when I mention your name to some of my writers and some of my colleagues, everybody mentions \u201cStreet Fighter.\u201d I\u2019m curious about your career path leading up to that movie. Do you feel like each role that you took in TV and film kind of built up to that, or you just sort of broke off on your own and said, \u2018This is really a type of film that I need to make?\u2019<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not really a buildup, acting [in that particular] role. When I was young, I had a contract with Toei, a movie company. When I was with Toei, there was a quota on how many movies I had to appear in. Sometimes they forced me to be in a role that I didn\u2019t think that I would be good at or I didn\u2019t think was my type. But because I was forced to do it, I actually learned something. I had to study, I had to think about it, I had to do it. Then the repetition, or the building up, of those roles that I really didn\u2019t think that I could do became my career in acting. Now that\u2019s why I can say that my acting career has a wide range because of those times that I had to perform the roles that I didn\u2019t think I would be good at.<\/p>\n

Actually, I can say that it\u2019s a buildup in that sense.<\/p>\n

I wanted to follow up with a question I asked earlier regarding gymnastics. You said that had you not gotten hurt, you would have stayed with gymnastics. But since you did suffer an injury, what made you turn to martial arts?<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t start off as a martial artist right away. After my health was ruined, I became an actor. Then, being an actor, I felt like I needed martial arts also. So, at first I became an actor and then I started to learn martial arts.<\/p>\n

I was so surprised to see Bruce Lee coming out with martial arts [films] because I [and my colleagues] were practicing martial arts to be able to use in a movie five years before Bruce Lee actually came out onscreen. So, we were already practicing, practicing, and then one day we saw Bruce Lee onscreen doing all those martial arts. We were like, \u2018What?! [laughs] This is great!\u2019<\/p>\n

My next question has to do with branching out to other productions outside Japan. You mentioned the United States but you did work on a Hong Kong film, \u201cThe Storm Riders,\u201d with Ekin Cheng Yi-Kin and Aaron Kwok Fu-Shing. I\u2019m curious about your experience there because I\u2019ve heard other Japanese actors talk about the differences in working on Japanese sets versus Hong Kong, the amount of hours, the number of times you perform stunts. Can you speak about your experience on \u201cThe Storm Riders?\u201d<\/p>\n

To go back to the experience in Hong Kong of being on the set: the really great director of this movie, Andrew Lau, was actually looking for me for one year. In his mind, the role of Xiong Ba (the Lord Conqueror) had to be acted by me.<\/p>\n

Then I was in Hong Kong for two months. The shooting itself, the whole work, it was very, very tight. And very hard. But I really had a great time. The director was fantastic. All the actors were really great. I played a character and I just blended into the culture even though I didn\u2019t speak the language. [points finger with right hand] \u2018Tonight.\u2019 [makes gestures as if eating rice out of a bowl] \u2018Eat! Okay?\u2019 That kind of communication.<\/p>\n

So, I really had fun. I really had a great time.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s good. So despite the long hours it was worth it.<\/p>\n

Yes. I went to the Hong Kong Film Awards because I was nominated for Best Actor honors for the movie.<\/p>\n

Yesterday we got to see \u201cSamurai Reincarnation.\u201d It was the first time I had seen it and you\u2019d mentioned over dinner that it was an example of a drama that you\u2019re really proud of in terms of your role. From a viewer \u2013 from my perspective \u2013 since it was the first time I\u2019d seen it, it looked like a really difficult movie. You\u2019re fighting with an eye patch and then there\u2019s that scene in the end with all the fire. Can you explain a bit about how that shoot worked and how hard it was?<\/p>\n

[in English, points all around the room] Fire, fire, fire, fire\u2026everything, everything okay? Okay, fire\u2026.and action! Okay, start! [raises hands and shrinks back as if everything is burning around him]<\/p>\n

[translated] I think you can tell that it was chaos. It was very hard. Of course, not only am I wearing the patch but back then, there was no CG. All the fire that you saw was real fire. So, when the shooting started, the director said, \u201cOkay, the fire, fire, fire. Is the fire ready?\u201d And then when the fire is burning, we can\u2019t even do an NG [Ed. Note: in Japanese film and TV shoots, this is an acronym that stands for \u201cNo Good\u201d which means that the scene cannot be used for the final product]. We can\u2019t even fail.<\/p>\n

As you can imagine, we were surrounded by fire and then we had to act. The director said, \u2018Okay, action!\u2019 There\u2019s a fire going on, we\u2019re saying the dialogue and I\u2019m speaking, the [other] actor is speaking and it seems to be going well. And then I noticed that my sword had caught on fire. I said, \u201cOh, my God, there is fire on my sword!\u2019 That was because the paint on the sword [was highly flammable]. So, that\u2019s what happened. [in English] \u2018Okay, stop, stop!\u2019 Yeah, honto hard. Very hard.<\/p>\n

And you were saying earlier with NGs. That meant you could only shoot once and that was it, right? Only one take.<\/p>\n

Exactly. No NG because when something like that happens, they have to put all the fire out. Then they would have to build another set because it\u2019s all burned down to ashes. So, yes, of course, they would have had to redo it again. They can\u2019t just use the same set.<\/p>\n

And with the eye patch, I think I read that, you know, you were actually using your bad eye to see?<\/p>\n

It was very, very hard to do martial arts acting with one eye, with having a eye patch, because you lose your distance. So, sometimes I got hit in my head because if you\u2019re doing sword fighting and don\u2019t have a sense of distance, you get hit [laughs]. So, very, very hard. Very difficult. Very tiring.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll mention a couple of things that some of your countrymen have talked about in the past. Tak Sakaguchi has come to New York a couple of times to talk about his films and doing action roles. He said one problem that he found is that in the current generation of Asian action stars, it\u2019s hard to find people his age who understand the foundation of traditional martial arts. So, if you want to hold a samurai sword the correct way, he says now there are very few people who can do it because a lot of the movies mix everything up. Have you been finding the same with the younger generation as well or not so much? Do you agree with what Taku has said?<\/p>\n

I totally agree. I feel the same way. To be an actor \u2013 a Japanese actor who represents the Japanese culture \u2013 they really have to study the basic traditional martial arts if they want to become an actor who does them. Right now, I think the one reason that they\u2019re not making many samurai movies is that these actors may need those basic traditional skills. But at the same time, with this young generation, there is really a lack of attention to study. They have to really study. If you want to represent Japan as a Japanese actor, you really have to study Japanese culture and traditions.<\/p>\n

Your costar in \u201cKill Bill: Vol. 1,\u201d Chiaki Kuriyama, mentioned that in Japan, it\u2019s very much a TV-centered entertainment industry where the big stars tend to be television stars. In other places like the States, it\u2019s the reverse. You know, we look at film and then television. Why is that the case? You\u2019ve done a lot of film, you\u2019ve done a lot of television, but what Chiaki said, why is it that it\u2019s more TV-centered than film, do you think?<\/p>\n

I believe that it\u2019s the same [in Japan] as the United States. I think that movie stars have much more charisma. It\u2019s a higher level, I believe. So, I think that what Chiaki Kuriyama says is not right because I really did grow up as an actor in movies.<\/p>\n

Movie sets have solid lighting and a solid director. It\u2019s very hard. There are so many tests that they are repeating that they will not really compromise by doing just one cut. They have to do it again and again and again to get the perfect film. So, to me, movies are where real actors are. Television \u2013 I won\u2019t say it\u2019s easy but it\u2019s not as hard as the movies. It\u2019s the real thing with film \u2013 you become a real actor then. That\u2019s really where it is, the movies.<\/p>\n

A real actor learns a lot in movies. The director won\u2019t immediately say yes; they won\u2019t compromise. They repeat the same scene again and again and again to get the perfect cut. An actor actually learns through each cut, when they have to repeat the same thing, that they really, really have to study. That will create a very solid actor in a movie environment. Back then, when I was becoming an actor, there weren\u2019t many TV programs. So, I really grew up in the movies and I believe, to be a real actor, you have to be able to act in movies.<\/p>\n

Yesterday you were talking about some future projects and one of them was \u201cGolgo 13.\u201d You played the lead role in the 1977 version but this time you really want to be the mentor to the main character. As much as you can disclose, can you talk a bit about that project and what it is that you\u2019d like to achieve with it?<\/p>\n

That film itself is just really a wonderful, fantastic movie. Everybody knows about the movie and everyone wanted to play that role. That unique character, the main character I am thinking of, even though he has to have a Japanese spirit, it would be interesting to use a Japanese-American actor maybe \u2013 a cool-spirited person \u2013 always cool, cruel sometimes.<\/p>\n

But I want to go back to the past of this man. Who created this man? What made him become that cool and very unique? There might be some reason as to why he is like that right now. So I want to really show that part of the background of the character and why he became that way: cool, and then cruel.<\/p>\n

How far along are you with this project?<\/p>\n

Translator: So, he really doesn\u2019t know and he really\u2014I don\u2019t think he can really say.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s okay. I said, \u2018as much as you can disclose,\u2019 so I wasn\u2019t sure about pre-production. But you did also mention last night that you\u2019re working on something with Jackie Chan. Can you speak about that project?<\/p>\n

[holds up a newspaper-sized printout] This is \u201cThe Father.\u201d Jackie Chan and me, and my son and his son\u2014<\/p>\n

Jaycee, his son Jaycee Chan?<\/p>\n

This is a wonderful story. I, my son Mackenyu, and then Jackie Chan and Jackie Chan\u2019s son \u2013 the four of us are going to play the main characters in this movie. The script is written by me. This story is based on a true story. There are so many movies about Genghis Khan, but they don\u2019t talk about his parents \u2013 the father and the mother. What kind of family does he have? What kind of parents has raised the greatest man on earth? So, this story is about a familial love.<\/b><\/p>\n

However, Genghis Khan is actually not his [father\u2019s] real son. His father\u2019s wife was abducted by the enemy. Six months later, he got her back but she was pregnant at that time. So, the baby\u2019s real father is actually the enemy. So, he has to raise his enemy\u2019s son as his own son. That is the story.<\/p>\n

I want to show the parents and also, not just Genghis Khan, but what kind of surroundings, what kind of environment he has and what kind of parents need to create this greatest man on earth? So, that kind of a storyline.<\/p>\n

And when does it come out? Next year?<\/p>\n

The script is almost done, probably in the next few months. I\u2019m going to have to bring the script to Jackie and we\u2019re going to talk about it. Maybe we\u2019ll have to rewrite here or alter there. So, hopefully we\u2019d like to start shooting next year.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a very good story, isn\u2019t it? Do you like it?<\/p>\n

It sounds interesting because if you mention Genghis Khan you think, okay, this is going to be an action movie and will be almost stereotypical.<\/p>\n

Yeah, exactly. It\u2019s like a domestic drama, in a way, revolving around Genghis Khan. It\u2019s almost a love story behind it. A parent\u2019s love, a brotherhood, the friends, all the surroundings. It\u2019s all love, love stories. I love the story so much.<\/p>\n

And then your role and Jackie\u2019s role, who would play whom?<\/p>\n

My role is that of Genghis Khan\u2019s real father. Jackie Chan is the one who raises Genghis Khan and serves as a trainer in horseback riding, sword fighting and all kinds of things.<\/p>\n

Well, we started the interview with family and we end with family. So, it\u2019s very fitting.<\/p>\n

[in English] Exactly [laughs].<\/p>\n

Well, thank you so much.<\/p>\n

No\u2026thank you.<\/p>\n

We enjoyed the interview, and we enjoyed dinner and meeting your family last night.<\/p>\n

Thank you very much.<\/p>\n

And congratulations again.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Jim Higgins, Michael La Breche and Lindsay Morrison for their assistance with the interview, and to Naoko Shirase for translating Sonny Chiba\u2019s answers from Japanese.<\/p>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meniscus Magazine interviewed Sonny Chiba at the inaugural Singafest Asian Film Festival on October 2, 2011. Mackenyu does not speak in the interview but is heavily mentioned so I thought it would be nice to give a little insight. As this interview is not directly with Mackenyu, only highlights in bold will be his name […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":197,"parent":27,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"article.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ub_ctt_via":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-193","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/19x.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195,"href":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/193\/revisions\/195"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mackenyu.org\/career-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}