This interview contains spoilers for Shōgun.
Viewers are still reeling from the epic and surprising Shōgun finale that saw Hiroyuki Sanada's Lord Yoshi Toranaga lay out his plan for becoming the titular leader of Japan. It was a shocking reveal, one that shifted a key moment from the book. Instead of Toranaga revealing his scheming in voiceover, he instead confessed to fan favorite character Kashigi Yabushige, played by another legendary Japanese actor, Tadanobu Asano. It was a moment that Asano told IGN revealed just as much about Yabushige as it did Toranga. "It's not so much about wanting to learn about Toranaga's plans to pursue changing society and the world," he explained. "He's just interested in this person that he thought he knew and understood."
It's a hugely disappointing discovery for Yabushige, who is the only person who learns of Toranaga's true intent and the full reach of his scheming. And, of course, it happens just moments before the charming warlord meets his fate, committing seppuku. As he'd never read the original book or watched the '80s adaptation, Asano only learned he was going to die after filming Episode 7 of the series. "It was then I got the scripts for Episodes 8, 9, and 10. I remember expressing my ideas about Yabushige's mindset to Justin Marks [the EP of Shogun] and I think that's why I got the last part of the script after we finished Episode 7."
Those ideas were part of the collaborative process of creating Yabushige, which began with Asano reaching into his imagination. "I think some people might refer to other period pieces or films that are made in the same kind of era, but that's not what I do," he said. "Nobody now has lived during that time. So in a way, nobody knows exactly what it was like, which meant I could do whatever I wanted. I could use my imagination to play my character, which I find interesting because I can be very free in creating my character."
Watching his performance as Yabushige, that creative freedom and imagination shines through. There's something truly unique about his portrayal as a delightfully self-serving and hilarious man trying his best to survive a brutal era by any means necessary. It's a performance so charming that we see him boil a man alive and are back on his side by the end of the same episode. The ability to laugh at himself and what's around him was what stood out the most to Asano as he looked back on the experience. "I really like how different he is. He laughs at things and thinks that these things that are so valued by other people aren't that important," Asano explained. "Those are the moments that I really enjoyed performing."
That joy is contagious, as Yabushige quickly became one of the show's breakout characters, a fact that made Asano "very happy." His newfound popularity means he's hoping that fans go back and check out some of the iconic work he did prior to Shōgun in films like Ichi the Killer, Zatōichi, and Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl. "I've performed in my teens, twenties, thirties, and forties, and I think the [projects] are all so different. So, if the fans start in my early years and see the progression of my career til Shōgun, they'll have an understanding of how I got here."
Adapting Shōgun was a decades long passion project for Hiroyuki Sanada, so now with award buzz surrounding him and the show being showered with acclaim, what is Asano's dream project? What has he been dreaming of getting made? Alongside his passion as an artist and his love for drawing, he wants to create something hopeful. "I'm interested in fantasy, not a children's fantasy, but exploring another world that's different from this realistic one. I don't want to make a film about the real issues in society. I want to explore a fantastic utopian world where there's no death, no one gets hurt, and there's no one struggling. I believe there's another world like this, unlike this one, and that's the kind of fantasy that I want to make."
As for what comes next, Asano has multiple projects including the highly-anticipated action sequel Mortal Kombat 2, the biopic Ravens, and the Thai thriller Morte Cucina. But he's also excited for the doors that Shōgun might open for him. "I'm also curious about what sort of roles I'll get offered with Shōgun's success outside of Japan. Thanks to my performance as Yabushige, people are interested and that's something I really look forward to."
