(English) RBBTODAY.COM: Sasaki Nozomi dubbing with GACKT

Sasaki Nozomi takes on her first foreign movie dubbing with GACKT! 『Kong: Skull Island』 public dubbing

GACKT and Sasaki Nozomi have been selected to be part of the Japanese dubbing cast for the movie 『Kong: Skull Island』 which will be released on March 25. On February 16, a public dubbing for a portion of it was held.

This movie is part of a notable series that has an upcoming release scheduled in 2020 that features a dream match between the gigantic Kong and Godzilla, the King of Monsters.

For this movie’s Japanese dub, GACKT will be performing as James Conrad, the leader of the expedition team sent to Skull Island, who is acted by Tom Hiddleston, while Sasaki will be performing as Mason Weaver, the photojournalist, acted by Academy Award winning actress Brie Larson.

This will be Sasaki’s first time taking on the challenge of dubbing for a foreign movie. 「I’m feeling extremely nervous because this is my first time, and it’s also a first for me to be dubbing in front of everyone’s cameras」 she said, with an anxious look on her face that stuck since she appeared. While being watched by that many reporters, she performed a few scenes but she remained nervous from start to end.

Sasaki was hasty and was unable to read her lines well, saying 「I made a mistake. I’m extremely nervous」, and GACKT, who has become used to dubbing in movies, anime, and games, commented 「Cute」, loosening the tension in the air, and leading her forward with an effortless performance.

When asked about her impression of GACKT, Sasaki commented 「His aura appears so bright and sparkly, and I wasn’t sure that he would talk to me but he’s been teaching me a lot since the beginning, I think he’s a very friendly person (laugh)」. In reply to that, GACKT said with a smile 「I’m nice to cute people, because I’m a gentleman」.

With regards to the movie, Sasaki, who watched a King Kong movie for the first time, shared her thoughts, saying 「It’s a movie is constantly thrilling and one that you really can’t tear your eyes away from until the end. I initially thought King Kong was scary but, in the end he became an adorable character that I wanted to cheer for. Women can definitely enjoy it. The power and realism is amazing. It felt like I was in the movie too」.

She also revealed what she felt upon receiving the offer to be a member of the dubbing cast, 「Me!? was the initial uneasiness that I had but, I thought that it’s important to challenge new things, and since this was a rare opportunity, I thought that I should definitely take on this challenge」. In addition, she was asked about taking on Hollywood movies, to which she replied with positivity, saying 「It would be an honour, and if there was such a chance I would definitely like to take up the challenge」.

And, akin to her role in the movie, Sasaki was asked about an event where she felt connected with someone, and she answered 「I turned 29 this month and, I received branded kitchen knives that I’ve always wanted from my stylist even though I’ve never said that I wanted them, I felt like we were connected」, showing a side of her that enjoys cooking.

On the other hand, when GACKT received the offer to be part of the dubbing cast, he said that he first asked to watch the movie. 「I honestly wasn’t looking forward to it much but, (when I watched it) at the end I found myself sitting so far off the edge of my seat that I was almost in the next row. It was that interesting」 he said, sharing his thoughts.

「With the image of King Kong that everyone has, you’d probably wonder from the start of the movie『When is he going to scale the building…』, but it’s not like that. It starts with the story of the birth of King Kong. Then creatures beyond your imagination appear, and there’s a reason for that as well. While thinking 『it would be tough to live in such a world』, the development builds up and everything gets overturned with a variety of tricks. Also, there are lots of tributes to Ghibli and old Japanese special effects added in, and the manager who was sitting next to me and watching it with me was explaining 『This is a tribute to that』」, he said, talking about highlights that special effects fans and Ghibli fans can enjoy.

Furthermore, GACKT appears to really enjoy this movie, as he said excitedly 「After the end credits, something like a trailer starts playing. I think those who are familiar with the old works will burst out laughing and saying 『No way!』. The clip will develop so fully that you’ll wonder how far ahead they’ve planned it, so those who don’t get it please ask someone who’s familiar with it」. Following that, he gave his stamp of approval, saying 「It’s 20 times more interesting than Jurassic Park!」.

When asked for opinions on 『Godzilla vs Kong』, which is scheduled for release in 2020, GACKT could not stop talking about it, despite getting concerned and asking 「May I say that much?」. He then shared his expectations, saying 「I think there are people who feel that it’ll probably be interesting just from hearing the title but, after watching this movie, I think you can start to expect 『Godzilla vs Kong』. Actually, the original title for this movie is 『KONG』, so through the events of this movie, Kong becomes a King. From there, it leads to the next movie」.