Translation: Como 2008.11・Love Love File. 23: Ninomiya Kazunari
Love♥Love♥File. 23
Ninomiya Kazunari
In the drama adapted from Higashino Keigo's bestselling novel Ryuusei no Kizuna, Ninomiya-san plays the protagonist who is burdened by a heavy destiny. On the day of the interview, he was going to display his semi-pro level magic with the cards he carries around everyday. This is fully loaded with surprising inside information, such as hints on acting he got from the process of learning magic.


Photography/Yoshida Tamaki Styling/Nomura Masashi (STUTTGART) Hair and Make-Up/Katou Kazuo Interview and Article/Hamada Yukie

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It's been about a year since I acted in a drama.
In that period, for the first time
I thought seriously about acting,
and I think my performance changed considerably.


This time's serial drama is a mystery in which 3 siblings whose parents were murdered search for the killer. The character I play brilliant and caring towars his siblings but severe and dark (smile) eldest son, Kouichi. This kind of a downer role seems to be more on my wavelength than cheerful roles, and when acting and when watching from the side of the production, it looks like a good fit. This time, a big theme even individually is carefully showing the relationship between myself and my younger siblings, played by Nishikido (Ryo)-kun and Toda (Erika)-san.

Of course the axis of the drama is the search for the criminal and feelings of revenge, but 14 years have passed since the murder, and in that time in and of itself if you continue a daily lifestyle, I think the times you recall those disastrous memories are few. Because I think even while keeping it in a corner of your mind as an emotional scar, there would definitely also be bright, happy moments in your life. Besides, playing an older brother to actors you're working with for the first time is really difficult. I have to spin the aspects of the relationship with the other person seriously, matching the range of the role there. I feel like it will be easier for myself and Nishikido-kun if we don't break our sempai-kouhai relationship, but even going from my experience, it's the kouhai that determines the apprehension on the set (smile). While if Nishikido-kun has the stance, "Let's not worry about it!" it will naturally go that way, I think Toda-san also wants to have fun on set while taking the proper care.

As for how screenwriter Kudou (Kankurou)-san will cook Higashi Keigo-san's original, I'm also looking forward to it. I've seen the drama and the movies of Kisarazu Cat's Eye where (Sakurai) Sho-kun was treated kindly, and I thought he wrote something truly interesting. Just, those who have read the original each have a different image of the appearance and voice, attitude and facial expressions, and so on of the characters that will appear. While leaving that to us with the meaning of making not a reproduction VTR but a drama, I'd like to convey something everyone watching can accept. With respect to the search for the murderer and the revenge as well, I'm thinking I'll do it staying with this unrefined image. As the entirety of the drama, even as we enjoyably paint romantic love and sibling love, a group of young people coming into their own, I'd like to act while making important the power in the action of revenge where 1 instinct wins over 99 reasons.

In my private life, I've been into card tricks since sometime around February. It started when I just happened to watch Close-Up Magic's Maeda Tomohiro-san's and foreign card trick DVDs. At that time I hadn't acted in a while, and it was period where I felt vaguely uneasy about my ability in acting. But, by encountering magic at that time, for the first time I thought seriously about acting.

Magic and acting have a lot of parts in common because of their foundation in "performing." First, in both magic and acting, if you don't perform well, the people watching won't be tricked. Like the audience enjoys magic on the premise of being tricked, in acting as well is not that I'm showing them myself as I am as an actor, but it's because I'm performing that there are definitely interesting parts. I feel like that mentality I learned as a continued magic. Moreover, the point where one trick an unlimited number of ways to do it is the same as in acting. In the case of acting, you make the choice of how to do it together with the director, but I can prepare a lot of ways to do it in advance. This time I've done that preparation well, and I think my performance changed considerably from a year ago. I'd like everyone to look forward to watching that part as well.


KAZUNARI NINOMIYA
Born June 17th, 1983, born and raised in Tokyo. On one hand he is active in Arashi, and he also engages internationally as an actor. Arashi's Asia tour which launched from the National Olympic Stadium is planned to go to Taipei October 11th and 12th, Seoul November 1st and 2nd, and have the finale November 15th in Shanghai. The drama Ryuusei no Kizuna (TBS), in which he plays the lead, starts on 10/17 at 10PM.


Special thanks to yuckie_chan who is the originator of these scans (post locked).