From Hollywood to Manila

MANILA, Philippines - In order to play the role of Kaoru, Eugene Domingo’s baby daddy in the Cinemalaya entry Instant Mommy, Hollywood actor Yuki Matsuzaki had to learn to speak Tagalog in 134 hours. This wasn’t something that the producers or the directors asked of him; he willingly did it by himself.

“After I was cast I knew I had to study Tagalog to read the script. I ordered a Tagalog dictionary and I started from studying grammar. I studied for 134 hours to read the script. I looked up every single word in the script. I didn’t want to be a guest actor. I wanted to be just an actor who goes to the set and works. That’s my motto as a professional actor,” Yuki shares.

Yuki has been based in Hollywood for over a decade. He’s been in big-budget movies such as The Last Samurai, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Letters from Iwo Jima. But his road to success wasn’t easy. When he first moved to the US to pursue acting, all of the money that he saved for acting classes and living expenses was stolen from him at a hostel in New York City. He survived by street performing for nine months until he got cast as a villain in a B-movie. After that, he moved to Hollywood and landed roles in films opposite the biggest actors in Hollywood.

Yuki recently went back to Manila to support the commercial run of Instant Mommy. We talked to him about his fight against typecasting, getting his first role in an Asian film, and learning naughty Tagalog words from Eugene Domingo.

SUPREME: I read that you did a pretty crazy diet for your role in Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima.

YUKI MATSUZAKI: Letters from Iwo Jima was such a significant movie for Japanese actors in Hollywood. Before Letters from Iwo Jima, when Hollywood depicted Japanese soldiers, they’d either have to be a pure villain or one Japanese soldier who’s struggling with (his) conscience in an evil Japanese empire. There were only two types of roles for Japanese soldiers in Hollywood. We Japanese actors weren’t happy with that because we all know our ancestors were just ordinary people. Because Clint Eastwood made Letters from Iwo Jima, it totally changed how Japanese soldiers are depicted in Hollywood films.

My grandfather’s generation went to the war. I didn’t want to depict just a caricature in the film. I thought maybe I should play as realistic as possible and make my character into a human being. Instead of acting hungry, I’ll make myself hungry. I decided to go into an extreme diet. I didn’t eat much or almost anything for five weeks. I lost 30 pounds. It was dangerous, actually, because sometimes I was blacking out. While I was driving (during the shoot), I was looking at the road, suddenly, my eyesight fell to my lap. I felt like I was looking at my lap, but the road was right there. My friend who was a doctor strongly suggested that I should start taking some nutrition, but I didn’t. I did that for five weeks. I think it played out pretty well in the movie. I think I was able to portray my character truthfully.

How was it like working with Eugene Domingo in Instant Mommy?

I’m a big fan of Eugene Domingo. The biggest reason why I accepted this role in the first place was to play a scene with Eugene. After I applied for Instant Mommy, I did some web research, came across Eugene Domingo, I realized she received an award for Ang Babae sa Septic Tank, I watched it and I was totally blown away by her performance. She was hilarious in it! I watched it many, many times; I actually remember some of the lines from that movie. I was hoping they would offer me the role (in Instant Mommy).

Was working with Eugene how you thought it would be?

I didn’t know how she was like in real life. The Eugene I knew was her character in Ang Babae sa Septic Tank, but the actor Eugene is extremely down-to-earth and friendly. The first time I met Eugene, I was getting kind of nervous because one of the producers, Alemberg Ang, was telling me that “Yuki, you have to be very respectful. She’s one of the most respected actresses in the Philippines. Just put ‘po’ everywhere. Whatever you say just put ‘po.’ Hello po, nice to meet you po.” I was getting kind of nervous meeting her. When Eugene saw me, she said “Hi! Kaoru-san! We have a love scene, you know!” (Laughs.) Then my imaginary Uge, the diva Uge, shattered. I realized how nice a person she was. After that we became such good friends. Everything went so smooth. She was such a professional actress, so easy to work with. Uge actually taught me some naughty Tagalog words, which made it into the movie. 

Would you say Eugene is in league with the big actors that you’ve worked with in Hollywood?

I think she’s equally amazing as an actress like many of the actors I’ve worked with. Like Ian McShane, Johnny Depp, Emily Mortimer, Tom Cruise. I think she is equally amazing as those well-known Hollywood actors.

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Portrait by PATRICK DIOKNO

Produced by DON JAUCIAN