Actors Nishijima Hidetoshi and Kagawa Teruyuki made an appearance at the Tokyo press conference of Double Face, the joint TBS-WOWOW drama production which is a remake of the popular Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs with a Japanese cast. The two men gamely hammed it up for the cameras and showed how at ease they are in each other’s company. Gah, why so cute?
Double Face, which is the first drama collaboration between TBS and WOWOW, depicts the fateful encounter and confrontation between two men who have each been ordered to infiltrate the police and the criminal underworld. Nishijima is Moriya Jun, the lead character in TBS’ Sennyuu Sousa-hen, a police officer who has become an undercover operative in the underworld, while Kagawa is Takayama Ryosuke, the lead character in WOWOW’s Gisou Keisatsu-hen, an elite police officer who is actually a spy for the criminal organisation. Directed by Hasumi Eiichiro of the Umizaru movie series, the story will be broadcast in two parts and Nishijima and Kagawa will appear in both.
Nishijima says he is a huge fan of the original movie. It was “like a dream to receive an offer”, especially for the role that Tony Leung acted which appears to be his favourite. “I put my heart and soul into acting, believing I was the only one in Japan who could do this role,” he states emphatically. To which Kagawa reveals what he thought when he first heard the news. “Who’s playing which role?” “Nishijima-san say he’s the only one who can do it in a production where two men are in the same position, but I think it would have be interesting even if it were filmed with our roles exchanged,” he suggests. “I want to be Tony Leung too!” His envious tone makes the audience burst into laughter.
The two men have been friends for more than 20 years, but this is the first time they are actually acting together. Nishijima recalls that his impression of Kagawa has always been that of a genuine actor. “I thought he was someone who would thoroughly create his character, but I felt it more strongly on the set.” On the other hand, Kagawa compliments Nishijima, “I’ve had the image of Nishijima-san being a stoic person, but it was double what I thought. He’s someone who delivers a restrained performance with no excess.”
The two of them do not have many scenes where they directly communicate because they are men who live on opposing sides and organisations. Commenting on their adversarial relationship, Nishijima discloses, “I was happy that we were going to act together for the first time, but we had to maintain a distance on the set.”
Double Face Sennyuu Sousa-hen airs on TBS on 15 October at 9.00 p.m. and Double Face Gisou Keisatsu-hen airs on WOWOW on 27 October at 8.00 p.m. In the meantime, we will have to be content with the few scenes of the drama that we can get from the following clip of the press conference.
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