Completion screening event of new movie "Karera ga honki de amu toki wa"

The completion screening event of new movie "Karera ga honki de amu toki wa" was held at Marunouchi Picadilly on 18 January which was attended by the director Ogigami Naoko and cast members Ikuta Toma, Kiritani Kenta, Kakihara Rinka, Mimura, Kadowaki Mugi and Tanaka Misako. The movie which will be shown in cinemas from 25 February, describes the 60-day period of how a transgender woman Rinko (Ikuta) and her lover Makio (Kiritani) live together with the latter's niece Tomo (Kakihara) who has never experienced what it means to be loved after she is abandoned by Makio's sister.

When asked to comment on the role of Rinko, Kiritani said that he could see that Ikuta went through a lot to make his acting convincing because he not only had to portray a transgender woman's feelings but also pay attention to the mannerisms and physical appearance. However, Ikuta's efforts paid off as Kiritani praised him for looking more beautiful as Rinko as the days went by. In response to the praises from his co-stars, Ikuta remarked that he will probably never get another role to play a woman again so that was why he decided to take up the offer. However, it was a fulfilling experience to learn how to play a woman and he felt a natural surge of maternal instinct during the filming as he immersed himself fully into the role. Although Ikuta thought that he might get a father's role now that he is in his 30s, he was surprised to be getting a "mother's role" first so he was very thankful to his co-star Kakihara for helping him feel like a real mother.

On the other hand, Kiritani revealed that it was important for the movie to show the beautiful side of Rinko which everyone in the story had a part to play in. In the past, he usually tried to make himself stand out as much as possible when acting so it was a totally different feeling this time to be making someone stand out more than him.

It was also announced that the movie will be competing in the 67th Berlin International Film Festival's Panorama Category and be screened as a special film in the Generation Category. The director, Ikuta, Kiritani and Kakihara will be representing the cast and crew to go to Berlin for the screening.

At the end of the event, Ikuta mentioned actress Lily who was part of the cast but passed away in November last year as a source of courage for him when he lacked confidence in playing Rinko. However, Lily kept assuring him that he was doing fine. As such, Ikuta called upon the audience to give a round of applause to Lily who couldn't be with them to witness this.

Sources: Eiga.com / Modelpress