Italiano【Part 1】 Special Interview with GACKT for Movie 『Kong: Skull Island』 「It’s a movie that looks at what humans are like and questions it」
The movie 『Kong: Skull Island』 will be released on March 25. As per the movie’s catchphrase 「Humans are the weakest on this island」, it is an action blockbuster that depicts the humans’ struggles among the gigantic beasts all around them. Also, as this movie is about the birth and origin of King Kong, it has also gathered a lot of attention from fans of the yesteryears as well. This time, we will be interviewing GACKT, who will be lending his voice for the dub of the male protagonist James Conrad. GACKT talks about the movie from his point of view, sharing about the highlights of it, and how it is not just your usual adventure blockbuster movie with it’s deep casting.
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–Firstly, when I watched the movie, I felt that Tom Hiddleston’s voice matches GACKT-san’s. Looking back at your own performance, what do you think of it?
GACKT: The recording itself didn’t take much time but, there were a lot more shouting scenes than I expected. And it the end, it was like the director had to keep saying 「Shout more! Shout more!」.
–Are there things to look out for like the tension of your shouts, or how you should shout?
GACKT: Yes there were. Like if I shout too much, they’ll tell me 「You’re too close to the mic so please stand a little further away」. With exchanges like that, we ended with my voice in pieces at the end (laughs).
–(Laughs) When you received the offer this time, why did you decide to accept it?
GACKT: Initially, I told them that I would like to watch the movie before deciding on it. I won’t accept a job if I don’t even know what it’s about. Especially since the only image I have of King Kong is of it climbing a building.
–It’s true that this impression is quite strong (laughs)
GACKT: When I actually watched the movie, the movie didn’t unfold the way I expected it to, then from somewhere in the middle, I thought, 「This is amazing」and sat at the edge of my seat, and when I saw the final scene I burst out laughing (laughs) and thought 「This is interesting!」, and right after I watched the movie, 「Please do let me do it」 was how I felt.
–I see. Was the content somewhat different from the other King Kong movies so far?
GACKT: Yeah, it’s completely different. I suppose you can say that this time’s King Kong delves deeper. It’s about how Kong becomes a King.
–The Japanese title calls it 『King Kong』 but it’s original title is 『Kong』 right.
GACKT: Yes, it’s “Kong”. That’s why it’s the story of the birth of Kong before he can be called King Kong, and that makes it exceptionally interesting. The timeline later gets split into two, and the stories continue simultaneously, making it one of the reasons why you won’t get tired of watching this movie. Also, it’s great that aside from Kong that there are a variety of other gigantic creatures as well.
–All the creatures which appear we huge right.
GACKT: I wonder why, but I guess the impression that I had when I watched 『Jurassic Park』 for the very first time has been revived in a different form. I could strongly feel 「as expected, we can’t co-exist」 or 「humans are weak」and things like that in a good way, and as the story progresses, you won’t be able to tell which side is good or bad.
–I thought so too.
GACKT: In the end, humans are being destroyed, and if humans were not there, they wouldn’t have had any reason to attack. This movie itself is filled with tributes to a large variety of other movies as well, which gives it a side that movie fans, anime fans, and even special effects fans can enjoy, while on the other hand casting light on the arrogance of humans right now, who destroy nature for their own convenience. The themes are much deeper than what you would’ve imagined from the title 『King Kong』, and after you’ve watched it, it will leave you with many things to think about. It’s not just interesting, but it also makes you wonder 「Why is it like this」, and consider if we’re coming to a point when we have to rethink our ways.
–It’s a movie that includes this as well.
GACKT: It’s included. For example, in movies by people like Miyazaki Hayao-san’s, they depict the arrogance of humans quite theatrically using anime, don’t they. So, there are many parts where director Jordan Vogt-Roberts used expressions from the Miyazaki world. That’s a highlight too.
–When the final end credits ended, I was very numb.
GACKT: Actually, I left the hall once when the end credits started rolling. Upon doing that, they got angry, saying 「You can’t go out! Please come back!」(laughs). When I asked 「Why why?」, they told me 「The part after this is important」. So I waited until the end, and the final scene was like 「What is this!!」. I burst out laughing.
–There was the shock of 「”That” actually appears here!?」.
GACKT: Since Hollywood is already out of ideas, they’re looking for all sorts of ideas. And then even though it’s just 「This will appear here」 or 「This will do that」, it’ll be somewhat surprising (laughs)
–I’m really looking forward to see how 『King Kong』 and 『Godzilla』 will be portrayed with the current technology.
GACKT: Actually, it’s the same for 『Godzilla』 but the portrayal is excellent. And, the impression of when 『King Kong』 meets 『Godzilla』 is completely different, with a much bigger scale, and I think that it’ll be a movie that casts more light on the human condition and questions it.
–I see.
GACKT: And from there, you’ll wonder what it means for 『King Kong』 and 『Godzilla』 to clash (laughs) Like, I wonder what will unfold after that.
–I can imagine that this is not just any action movie.
＜Part 2 of the interview, here＞
Source: billboard-japan.com
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA