Did you notice that my character “Toshi” was Zainichi too in the movie “The Ramen Girl”? Originally Toshi was Japanese, but the director and the writer and I talked about and changed into Zainichi character. #TheRamenGirl#Zainichi#在日の表象
There were some voices from the creative team of The Ramen Girl saying “Why is Korean actor playing the love interest of Brittany in this movie? We should’ve hire a Japanese actor!”
So, the director and the writer really knew me and what zainichi is. They said “Okay! Then let’s just change the character into Zainichi!” Then, my character being Zainichi even became a key to a romance between Brittany’s character and mine. The story got more interesting.
"Among the actors in the cast who play Zainichi characters, I am the only real-life Zainichi actor."
「(このシリーズで)在日役を演じる俳優の中で、実人生においても在日なのは僕だけです」(拙訳) #Pachinko#AppleTVPlus
"the second-generation〜born in Japan. Lots of the second generation got lost in their identity crisis."
「在日二世は日本で生まれた初めての世代。(言葉も文化も仲間もあった一世とは違い)多くの二世がアイデンティティの狭間で苦悩しました」(拙訳) #Pachinko