Art of life through drama | Yoko Narahashi | TEDxTokyo

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

The moment you discover your "role", is the moment you begin to shine. Yoko Narahashi has been involved as a Japanese casting director in an array of impressive Hollywood movies such as "The Last Samurai", "Sayuri", "Babel", and "47 Ronin". In this touching and passionate talk she shares her foundings, three pillars for good actors, which can be also applied for everyday life.

What would you do if you had only
till 6 o'clock tomorrow morning to live?

This is the kind of question I would ask
my young Japanese actors

who are going to play Kamikaze pilots

in a play I directed
called "The Winds of God".

They would look inside,
and think about what is dear to them,

and they would have to make some choices
and act on it.

This is the kind of work
that I would be asking actors to do.

Sometimes, actors have to go

to places that are a little dark,
or that could hurt,

but in a way, the regular people, we,
cannot sometimes go there,

so we ask the actor to go there for us
and express things that we can't express,

express things we want to, but we can't.

And that's probably why actors
can get a lot of money.

But this is the kind of work
that I've been involved with.

With "The Winds of God"
I traveled with them,

- Australia, New Zealand -
we toured a lot, we went to London,

Actors Studio, and we were also invited
to the United Nations.

There, there was one lady
who I met after the show,

and she said, "My father
taught me to hate the Japanese,

but when I saw this play
I thought they were like my own sons."

It was a beautiful comment,

and it made it all the more meaningful
that I could work the way I do.

And so, today, I want to share

the love for drama,
and this amazing work

on how we try with artists
to create maybe just one moment

where we can move people
and inspire people.

I also want to talk to you
about my international work

which has led me to casting.

And again, that's an amazing,
wonderful thing I want to share with you,

because when you think about casting,

you have a script,
you have words in the script,

and that's all you really have.

You have the director's vision,
you have your idea as well,

but you have this,

and then you have to find actual actors
who can fit this role.

But you have to use your imagination

and to get insight on what they can do.

And then you put them together,

and sometimes an amazing thing happens,

because it's like magic:

the role becomes more charismatic,

the actor becomes even more charismatic.

Here are some of the films
I was involved with.

I did want to show you
the Kamikaze pilots,

that's the one that I worked on.

And I worked on "The Last Samurai"
fully for two years.

It was really amazing.

Ken Watanabe
was the actor that auditioned,

there were, you know, many more,
almost 400 Japanese actors.

"Memoirs of a Geisha".

The little girl who played Sayuri,
I looked at her picture,

and I thought,
"Ah, this is the young one."

And I kind of chose her through a picture.

And Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel",
she [was] among other Japanese actors,

but she stood out
because of her amazing intensity.

And there are several others I'm doing

including "Unbroken"
which has not been released yet in Japan.

There was an amazing performer,
Miyavi, who was in there.

And this one, "The Emperor",

is a film that I produced
along with Gary, and Eugene, my son.

I just really believe
that there was meaning in to produce this

and show it to as many people as possible.

So apart from casting,

just my work [is] in teaching,
directing, coaching and casting,

I've kind of brought down
the elements of drama

into three things,
three pillars, possibly.

But these are the things
I look for in actors,

these are the things I work with
in trying to get better acting.

The first pillar is the truth of oneself.

It's not so easy really,

because we all think
that we want to look good,

we don't want to show our bad [sides],

but the actor has
to really use all of himself

because the power
will not be there to present.

So he has to be able
to accept all the parts of himself

that might not be so good,
that he wants to hide, maybe.

It's like a pie, like an apple pie,

and you can't try
to get rid of a part of the pie

because it is a part of you.

And so you try to accept
all the parts of yourself,

and once you do,
it becomes a little bit easier,

because you're truthful,
you're working on truth.

This is what I believe is so important,

especially in Japan right now
with young people.

I tell them, "There is only one DNA,

there is only one fingerprint,
there is only one you.

So, in a way, you are perfect."

And so, for the actor,

instead of comparing oneself
to somebody else,

"That person is a better actor than I... "
or whatever,

they can use whatever they have
to try to fulfill their role.

I have a quote from Elia Kazan,

who's a legendary film director
who worked with James Dean,

and he wrote an actor's creed, a code:

"I will have my heart open,
I will be vulnerable...

The one thing I want most
is to be myself."

So that's really important.

The second pillar

is what I would call purposeful action.

For example, when we see drama,

we root for the person
that really fights all these obstacles

to try and get what they want.

This is what drama is all about:

that there is one amazing purpose,
the heart, yearning, wanting something,

and the actor goes through all
these difficulties to try to get there.

And that's what the actor
also has to find in himself,

his need, his purpose.

And he has to really -

Because he's going to fail
several times, but it's OK,

because he has that passion
and that purpose to get there.

For example, in my case,
I wanted to get a song from Stevie Wonder.

I write lyrics, and I kind of thought,

for this musical I've been writing,
I want to have his music.

And, of course, it is difficult,
it took me 5 years,

and this con artist, really,
you know, lots of problems.

But I met Yoko Ono on the way,
so it was kind of nice.

But after 5 years,

Stevie Wonder
came out of his hotel room

with his brother, who led him
to the piano, and set beside me,

and he started to play the song,
and I was so moved,

and I got tears in my eyes,
but obviously they were silent tears.

Yet, he heard them,

because he stopped part-way

to wipe my tears
with those big hands he has.

So, if you believe in it,
and you really want it, you can get it.

And that's what I want
to qualify, the purpose:

first, it has to be very positive.

You can't act on something
that is negative,

you can't say,
"I want to get out of here."

It's a little difficult.

But you can say, "I want to go there,"

and that's where the action comes.

So, it's got to be positive,
and at the same time,

the biggest thing is to have
belief in what you want to do,

as I'd believed in wanting
to get that song from Stevie,

or in wanting to make a movie,
or whatever.

There is a Tony award-winning dramatist,

Simon Stephens, who said something
that I thought was really wonderful.

"It is the job of the dramatist

to release universes of thought
and feeling through action."

For example, he mentioned
this one word, OK,

and that was the funniest word
in the whole play.

It means that it's not
just the word alone,

but it's the behavior and the action.

Now I want to come to the third pillar

which is so easy to say,
and yet so difficult to achieve.

It is to talk, really to talk,
and really to listen.

I think that it is an art
to be able to really listen.

We so often talk and think
that we are transmitting something,

but we have something else on our mind,

the other person
has something else on his mind.

It's not a real moment

where it is really true,
and full, and alive, and real.

This is the kind of a moment
I've been privileged to see many times,

and that I strive for
in the work I want to do.

Here are some moments
with my students,

and I believe
that little moments like that

of a real talk and listening -

Very quickly.
Patric? Are you here?

Can I have your help
for one second? Oops!

(Man voice)

Oh, really? What? OK.

Patrick: Sure.

Yoko Narahashi: Is that too late?

Patrick: No, that's all right.
YN: It's all right? OK.

I'm just going to ask him to -

Patrick: What role am I casting for here?

YN: The next movie. The big one.
Patrick: OK, the big one.

Let's go! I'm ready.

YN: Say whatever word
you'd like to say. Whatever word.

Patrick: Flow.
YN: Flow. OK, just say it to me.

Patrick: Flow.

YN: OK, there was something there, right?

OK, here we're just passing the word.

OK, this time, can you look at me,

and you can see
what kind of a situation I am in, right,

feel where I am,

and then can you
say it to me with, you know,

try to say something
with that word to me.

Is there something you want
to relate to me through that word?

Patrick: Flow.

YN: Oh, (Laughter) flow.
That's nice. Thank you. (Applause)

That was beautiful, thank you.

Patrick: And the word was "love".
YN: Oh, my goodness!

What he was trying to say underneath
was love.

I really felt that.
Thank you very much.

But that's what it's all about.

So, I would like to -

Oh! Here is just one more,
another one of those moments.

A giraffe and an ostrich.

I would like to end
with another final quote,

because I can't say it any better
than this amazing person,

a Spanish cheloist
who was always for peace.

And whatever work I'm doing with drama,

I think this is closest to my heart, so,

"Yes, you're a marvel.

And when you grow,
can you then harm another

who is, like you, a marvel?

You must work, we must all work,

to make the world worthy of its children."

By Pablo Casals.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)