Aya Matsuura looks back on her role in ‘The Blue Light’ 5 years after the fact

Posted by kevin at 1:07am on Thursday, August 14, 2008 EDT

Not exactly timely since The Blue Light came out in 2003, but I really like the film and I really like Aya Matsuura so what the hell. During a recent interview with Hot Express, Matsuura talked about everything from her evolution as a pop idol to the legitimacy of her smiles. The conversation briefly touched on her first movie role alongside Arashi’s Kazunari Ninomiya and her interaction (or lack thereof) with veteran director Yukio Ninagawa. I find this bit particularly interesting because I thought she was pretty awful in the movie and almost managed to single-handedly drag down an amazing performance by her co-star. Relevant excerpt below:

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Hot Express: I’ve actually believed that you’d overcome the status of an idol and become active as the artist Matsuura Aya one day. The first time I felt that way was when I watched the movie “Ao no Hono” which was shown in 2003. I’m sure playing the role of someone whose lover turns into a murderer was difficult, but you completely engrossed yourself into that role when you were acting, right?

Matsuura: The same was true for everyone around me. Director Ninagawa Yukio never gives an OK unless you’re totally into the role. The scenes I appear in were filmed a lot later than the ones with Nino, but still, I entered the set beforehand and studied by observation, etc. That way, I got to know the way everything works on the set. And since it was my first movie, I thought, “I want to make it a good movie”, “I want to do everything I can 100%”, so I created the role in my mind on my own. The director didn’t give me any directions at all. It felt like he was thinking, “I don’t understand young people nowadays anyway, so I’ll leave it to Ayaya and Nino. You can change the lines too, just play the roles the way you want. And teach me how kids nowadays think,” and I thought that I have to properly live up to his expectations. That’s why I always discussed everything with Nino. The director rarely allowed a second take, so we had to do everything right and get an OK on the first try. (laughs) But I’m glad that I met Ninagawa-san through that movie.

Hot Express: You’ve worked again as an actress several times after that. Do you feel the same kind of satisfaction as when singing?

Matsuura: I do. There’s a lot you learn from theater and musicals too. The way to speak, for example, and also how to put your feelings into acting. You can learn all that from observing the actors and actresses around you. There’s something to learn every time.
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Check out Hello!Online for the full interview.

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Tags: arashi, aya matsuura, kazunari ninomiya, the blue light, yukio ninagawa

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