Actor Tatsuya Wakaba

Respecting the multifaceted nature of human beings and evoking empathy through vivid performances

An actor　Tatsuya Wakaba(Wakaba Ryuya)

■ Profile
Born in Tokyo in 1989. Received the Best New Actor Award at the TAMA Film Awards in 2016 for "Katsuragi Incident." Received attention for his role in the NHK morning drama "Ochoyan" (2020). His major appearances include "Love is Hard for Otaku" (2019), "I Lived" (2020), "AWAKE" (2020), "On the Town" (21), "Those Days" (21), "Kurenazume" (21), "Ex-Convict" (22), "At the Window" (22), and "Chihiro-san" (23), among many others. His upcoming film is "Lightning in Love" (23/directed by Ishii Yuya), which is scheduled for release in March 2024/directed by Araki Shinji.

Wakaba leaves a lasting impression on the audience with her humane acting.Movie "Ichiko"In this film, he plays Hasegawa Yoshinori, the lover of the main character Ichiko, and delicately portrays the emotional nuances of the process of learning the truth about his lover. We asked Wakaba, who plays Hasegawa, the central character in the story, about what he values ​​when playing the role and what the highlights of "Ichiko" are.

I've been acting since I was little. However, when I was in high school, I didn't want to be an actor, so I spent all my time working part-time jobs. Since I'd been auditioning for roles since I was little, I wondered, "How many times do I have to take a test in my life?" and didn't consider going to college. After graduating, while everyone around me got jobs, I was the only one who continued to live the same life as when I was a student, so by the age of 24 or 25, I was fed up with being an actor. It was around this time that I was asked to audition for the movie "Katsuragi Incident." I auditioned with the intention of quitting acting if I failed, but I passed and won the Newcomer Award. It was from that point on that I decided to pursue acting.
Since I started working closely with actors, I have felt a great sense of responsibility in this job and have started to feel nervous because I feel I have to do what is asked of me. However, by facing the work each time and fighting through the tension without running away, I feel that I am gradually gaining confidence.

■"Living There" Ichiko and Hasegawa

When the offer came, Sugisaki Hana had already been cast as Ichiko, and I was interested to see how she would portray such an extraordinary character. As Hasegawa, I wanted to see her performance up close, which was a major factor in my decision to accept the offer. Acting alongside her, I was astounded, realizing, "Sugisaki Hana is in a class of her own" and "she's reached such a high level." She didn't do anything outlandish or eccentric, but beautifully portrayed "someone who simply lives there." I felt that every moment was genuine, expressed at a cellular level. For example, when I spoke louder, Sugisaki would respond louder, responding naturally and with a sense of authenticity. I think the depth of Sugisaki's portrayal of the character "Ichiko" is one of the highlights of this film.
To be honest, I don't really sympathize with Hasegawa that much. The thing I couldn't sympathize with the most was how Hasegawa didn't intervene in Ichiko's past, even though they had lived together for three years. Some say that he did this out of kindness, but I think it was a sign of Hasegawa's weakness and cunning, that he didn't ask because he was afraid to find out the truth about someone important to him. I'm the type of person who intervenes a lot, so rather than "getting into the role," I tried to be the person closest to Hasegawa as a person and "the one who can listen to him with the most sympathy."

■ Value multifacetedness and play realistic characters

In this production, the audience traces Ichiko's past along with me. I felt I was being tested on how fresh and vividly I could portray that past, and I was very nervous. In playing Hasegawa, the most important thing for me was to "not make assumptions." I didn't decide on a specific way to play the role, so as not to make it seem too formal. Humans are multifaceted, so I felt strongly that if I were to make assumptions about what "this person would do," the character would become fake and just a mere character, and no longer human. That's why I only skimmed the script for the scene where Ichiko's truth is revealed. I focused on the time between Hasegawa and Ichiko, and left the rest to the voices, sweat, and passion of the other actors on set. I think not making assumptions and valuing freshness is what makes a character feel so vivid.

■ Humanity that resonates with and moves the audience

While watching a movie as a viewer, I sometimes felt, "No one would say something like that in real life," or "There's no one who's cool or cute 24 hours a day." For example, when a character bursts into tears in a movie, even when I watch an actor crying with the intention of crying, I feel like they're just a character in a movie, and I can't empathize or relate to them. At least, I've never cried unashamedly in public. I think that most people in everyday life try to hold back their anger and tears, somehow suppressing their emotions. So I think that people who burst into tears in public are actually strong people who are able to hold back their emotions and endure them on a daily basis. I've always wanted to incorporate moments like that, when all the things they normally suppress burst out, into my films, and I think it's these moments that are most moving for the viewer. I've never really thought much about character development; I just express the hints I get from communicating with the people around me as my characters.

■Message to university students

When I was in my 20s, many people felt inferior about not having any dreams or things they wanted to do. There was a tendency to think that people who had dreams and things they wanted to do were admirable, and that those who didn't were unstable. But there's absolutely no need to feel guilty if you don't have dreams or things you want to do. I've never really had any ambitions or visions, and I'm happy just being able to eat healthy meals. I want to prioritize the important people around me and work to live, not live for work.
For example, there are people who say, "I want someone to love." But if it's easy to fall in love, you might not be able to call them your true love. In the same way, as long as you're thinking, "I want to find it," you may never find what you really want to do. I think it's important to try your hand at a variety of things, experience setbacks, and find something that strikes a chord, even if it means people think you're half-hearted.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on November 6, 2023 by Satoshi Okawa, a fourth-year student at Tsuda University