INDEX
The Femme Fatale without the Villain
What’s interesting is that the characters you play are, in a way, femme fatales, as they dramatically change the lives of the men they encounter, but they’re not villains. Whether it’s Nagi in SUPER HAPPY FOREVER, Kasumi in ‘Night Drifting,’ or Oshima in ‘A Tale of Winter,’ they are grounded women who accept the men’s affections without malice. Yet, they still alter their fates dramatically. How do you feel about this recurring role as a catalyst?
Yamamoto: Oh, wow, that’s really insightful—I hadn’t thought of it that way until now (laughs). I’m the type of person who takes a while to step back and view things from a broader perspective. Even when I think about the roles I’ve played, I only analyze them with an outside view after filming has wrapped, saying, “Oh, she was such an interesting character.” I play my characters with my natural tendencies, so when I talk about my work in interviews, it comes from a place close to my personal memory and experience. While acting, I never felt like I was intentionally leading the male characters astray. If anything, the women I portray live with a straightforwardness within the film.
That makes sense! Lately, I’ve been thinking about how I would have loved to see your roles as a woman of the same generation in my thirties. How do you perceive the contemporary aspect you bring to your work?
Yamamoto: It’s somewhat related to what I just said. No matter what I’m playing, my natural self comes through, which, in turn, reflects the times and environment I’m living in. I don’t think I’m particularly good at controlling my emotions, and when I read a script, I focus not just on the character’s setting but on aspects that resonate with me personally and that I want to be conscious of while performing. I don’t intentionally aim for that, but it inevitably comes out in my acting. That said, while there are more films with female leads, the vision of the scriptwriters and directors—who are often of the opposite gender—is still the primary focus.
Yamamoto: I found it interesting when you mentioned that many of the roles I play have a femme fatale position. However, I don’t want to fall into the role of a woman who, through some trigger, just causes a man’s life to take a dark turn, nor do I want to act in a way that makes it seem like that. There are roles where I could choose to play the “bad girl” if I wanted, but right now, I don’t want that. If, after filming, I realize that there may have been some “villainous” elements, that’s fine, but when I first receive a script, I don’t want to automatically label the character as a villain. It’s probably because I focus on aspects that I’m naturally cautious about or interested in, so it doesn’t turn into the portrayal of a “bad woman.”
