WEBVTT

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

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

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who are going to play Kamikaze pilots

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

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

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

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

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Sometimes, actors have to go

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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It was a beautiful comment,

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

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And so, today, I want to share

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the love for drama,
and this amazing work

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

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where we can move people
and inspire people.

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I also want to talk to you
about my international work

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which has led me to casting.

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

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because when you think about casting,

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

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and that's all you really have.

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

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but you have this,

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

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But you have to use your imagination

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and to get insight on what they can do.

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And then you put them together,

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and sometimes an amazing thing happens,

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because it's like magic:

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the role becomes more charismatic,

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the actor becomes even more charismatic.

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Here are some of the films
I was involved with.

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I did want to show you
the Kamikaze pilots,

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that's the one that I worked on.

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

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It was really amazing.

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Ken Watanabe
was the actor that auditioned,

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

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"Memoirs of a Geisha".

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

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

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And I kind of chose her through a picture.

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

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but she stood out
because of her amazing intensity.

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And there are several others I'm doing

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

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

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And this one, "The Emperor",

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

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

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and show it to as many people as possible.

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So apart from casting,

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

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I've kind of brought down
the elements of drama

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into three things,
three pillars, possibly.

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But these are the things
I look for in actors,

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

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The first pillar is the truth of oneself.

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It's not so easy really,

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because we all think
that we want to look good,

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

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but the actor has
to really use all of himself

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because the power
will not be there to present.

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

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

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

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

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because it is a part of you.

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

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

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

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This is what I believe is so important,

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especially in Japan right now
with young people.

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I tell them, "There is only one DNA,

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

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So, in a way, you are perfect."

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And so, for the actor,

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instead of comparing oneself
to somebody else,

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

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

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I have a quote from Elia Kazan,

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

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

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

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

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So that's really important.

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The second pillar

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is what I would call purposeful action.

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For example, when we see drama,

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we root for the person
that really fights all these obstacles

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to try and get what they want.

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This is what drama is all about:

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

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

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

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his need, his purpose.

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And he has to really -

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

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

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

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I write lyrics, and I kind of thought,

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

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

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

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

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But after 5 years,

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Stevie Wonder
came out of his hotel room

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

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

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

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Yet, he heard them,

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because he stopped part-way

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to wipe my tears
with those big hands he has.

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

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

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first, it has to be very positive.

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You can't act on something
that is negative,

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

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It's a little difficult.

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

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and that's where the action comes.

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

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

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

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or in wanting to make a movie,
or whatever.

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There is a Tony award-winning dramatist,

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

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"It is the job of the dramatist

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to release universes of thought
and feeling through action."

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For example, he mentioned
this one word, OK,

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and that was the funniest word
in the whole play.

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

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but it's the behavior and the action.

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Now I want to come to the third pillar

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

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

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

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

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but we have something else on our mind,

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the other person
has something else on his mind.

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It's not a real moment

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

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

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

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Here are some moments
with my students,

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and I believe
that little moments like that

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of a real talk and listening -

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Very quickly.
Patric? Are you here?

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Can I have your help
for one second? Oops!

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(Man voice)

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Oh, really? What? OK.

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Patrick: Sure.

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Yoko Narahashi: Is that too late?

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

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I'm just going to ask him to -

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Patrick: What role am I casting for here?

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

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Let's go! I'm ready.

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

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

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Patrick: Flow.

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YN: OK, there was something there, right?

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OK, here we're just passing the word.

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OK, this time, can you look at me,

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

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feel where I am,

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

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try to say something
with that word to me.

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

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Patrick: Flow.

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

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That was beautiful, thank you.

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

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What he was trying to say underneath
was love.

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I really felt that.
Thank you very much.

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But that's what it's all about.

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So, I would like to -

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

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A giraffe and an ostrich.

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I would like to end
with another final quote,

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

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a Spanish cheloist
who was always for peace.

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And whatever work I'm doing with drama,

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I think this is closest to my heart, so,

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"Yes, you're a marvel.

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And when you grow,
can you then harm another

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who is, like you, a marvel?

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You must work, we must all work,

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to make the world worthy of its children."

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By Pablo Casals.

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Thank you very much.

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(Applause)