Oricon - April 23, 2008

Translated by: Gekka_no_neko @LJ

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Love at first sight of Kenshin determines Gackt’s Hollywood debut

It was announced that Gackt, an artist who is successful even as an actor, will be performing in the Hollywood movie “Bunraku” (scheduled to release in 2009). He accepted the offer of director Guy Moshe, and will be co-starring with Josh Hartnett and Demi Moore. Having gathered with the other actors in Romania since the middle of this month, Gackt said, “I could really feel the need for me to be in this movie, and I readily agreed to perform.”

“Bunraku” is a film directed and written by Moshe, director of “Holly” (2006), and the title refers to the Japanese traditional performing art that uses puppets, called bunraku[1]. Although details about the story are not yet clear, in the foreign press it has been described as an action movie revolving around the revenge tragedy of Hartnett’s wanderer, the Drifter. The movie is set in a borderless world of the near future, and mixes elements of bunraku, video games, comics and German Expressionism.

Gackt plays the Drifter’s partner, a samurai named Yoshi who represents the Bushido[2] spirit. Moshe, who first noticed Gackt through his highly acclaimed role as Uesugi Kenshin in the NHK Taiga drama “Fuurin Kazan”, pitched the film to him directly. Gackt was impressed by Moshe’s enthusiasm and readily agreed to the role, saying, “I was touched by the director coming to Japan himself, and the way he continued to passionately talk about his hopes for this movie and for my performance.” Having just made his drama debut in “Fuurin Kazan”, he now continues at once, accomplishing his first step into Hollywood. Being thrilled that his expression as an actor has been recognized by the world, Gackt boldly states, “I want to prove that even among the big stars representative of Hollywood, my performance, my expression, is world-class. Please wait with (high) expectations. I’m going to go fulfill one more dream.”

Notes:
[1] 文楽: Bunraku; Japanese traditional puppet theatre.
[2] 武士道: bushido; Japanese chivalry; the spirit of the samurai

Source: Oricon news

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