Andrew Hamlin
Northwest Asia Weekly
Photo courtesy of Magnet Release
Before her first film role, the Japanese-American singer MASUMI (she spelled her name in all capital letters) was already singing and dancing for her own family, as early as 5 years old.
She played in a Japanese drum group, transformed into singing and recording her own songs, and survived the Tohoku Earthquake. But her starring role in the action thriller “The Gangster Princess” was released in theaters and on-demand on September 3, pushing her in a direction she had never considered before.
When asked which film techniques are the most difficult to master, she bluntly replied: “My mind is the hardest to master. As a newbie to everything, I have to struggle with the feeling of “not good enough” or not skilled enough. But the same. , The entire team and [my] The actors are very supportive. In all night shots, everyone put in 120% of their efforts. I don’t have to be confident and perfect, I just owe them my absolute best…
“Kendo, swordsmanship, stunt fighting, performance. Everything is new to me. Before shooting, I had a month to practice fighting choreography and sword movements. Fighting choreographer Rizzo is a kind and patient People, I spent a lot of “rest days” practicing with him! My husband Kenny Leu is a martial artist, so he also trained me. We learned kendo at the dojo in Sao Paulo, and then went back to our apartment gym to train more many.”
Photo courtesy of Magnet Release
“The Gangster Princess” directed by Vicente Amorim tells the story of MASUMI’s character Akemi traveling through the Japanese community of Sao Paulo, the largest enclave of Japanese expatriates on the planet, with a population of approximately 1.5 million. She believes she is the heir to a large part of the Japanese criminal gang, and she is looking for evidence, or at least a true story.
But lies and treachery were always in front of her, as were armed attackers with guns and swords. An amnestic Westerner named Shiro (played by Jonathan Rice Miles) walked into her, although it turns out that he may be more like an enemy than a friend.
As MASMUI explained, after releasing a few songs, she rejected an invitation from Japan and portrayed her as a Japanese pop idol. She refused because she wanted to decide what kind of artist she should grow into. But in the confusion and frustration at that stage, she decided to learn acting and put music in a secondary position. Her agent shared the audition tape with her husband’s agent, and she was eventually selected as the “gangster princess”.
It took three months to shoot in Sao Paulo.
“The first month is to rehearse and prepare to practice martial arts. Most Brazilian Japanese mainly speak the local language. Most people don’t speak Japanese anymore.
“But my Kendo teacher can speak fluent Japanese. He told me that his passion is to spread Japanese traditions through Kendo to Brazilian Japanese who are not familiar with Japanese traditions in Brazil. His passion for protecting culture moved me.”
She thanked Amorim for her patience with her thoughts on her role. Miles is like a big brother to her, it is difficult for her to keep up with all his useful acting skills. Her Japanese partners Tsuyoshi Ihara and Eijiro Ozaki taught her swordsmanship.
“It’s difficult to have 90% of the shooting time taken at night. We shoot most of the fighting scenes from midnight to 6 in the morning. It’s a challenge to keep our bodies flexible at that time. Our schedule is very tight and we are not allowed Too many changes, so I try to sleep as much as possible. Most of the time, until five minutes before the car comes to pick us up.”
When asked about future projects, she said that she did not have a new cast, but she was releasing a new song to coincide with the release of “Princess Gangster”.
“I hope you can understand my music,” MASUMI said, and she signed it.
Andrew can be at info@nwasianweekly.com.
