Tom Cruise’s modern classic war and action film The Last Samurai earned him a lot of praise for his acting, and the film itself was positively received. Hiroyuki Sanada, who played Ujio in the film, claimed that he had to clarify a lot of things to the filmmakers to fix the portrayal of Japanese culture. In an interview, Sanada discussed his overall experience as a member of the Hollywood industry.
The actor had many positive things to say about the industry, but he also emphasized where they need to make improvements when it comes to describing a culture in a movie.
Hiroyuki Sanada had to correct many things about the Japanese culture to the makers of The Last Samurai
Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai was released on 1 December 2003. The actor played the role of Nathan Algren in the movie. The movie had many Japanese elements in the film. Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada was also a vital part of the film but Sanada admitted that he had to explain a lot to the filmmakers to ensure that the cultural representation was perfect in every way.
In an interview, the 62-year-old actor was asked if he ever had to correct any director about the Japanese cultural representation, and the actor said,
“Yeah, every time I join a project, I talk to the producer and the director and correct our culture as a consultant. I volunteer, every time. On The Last Samurai, I spent a long time with production to correct everything as much as possible. Working in the U.S., it was good training.”
Reportedly the actor helped the makers and the cast to understand more about the culture and to make sure the movie isn’t a part of any controversy during the release.
Tom Cruise said he was fascinated by the Japanese culture
Before Cruise started filming for the movie, he had to get physically fit, learn the Japanese language and also learn how to fight with swords. In an interview, the actor talked about the difficulties he came across while preparing for The Last Samurai. The 60-year-old actor said the physical aspects were very difficult because he wanted to make sure everything looks real. The Top Gun actor said he disciplined himself for the film. Cruise was also asked why he did the film and why. In response to this question, the Jack Reacher actor said,
“For me as a man, philosophically, when you talk about honor and integrity, that’s the way I want to live my life. It moved me. And also I’m just fascinated with their culture and this gave me the opportunity to explore it and to honor the things that I love most about their culture.”
Cruise also explained that the other reason why he said yes to working in The Last Samurai is because he wanted to work with Edward Zwick. He also said that the film was very ambitious.
Source: Esquire; Live About
