With Hugh Jackman’s latest X-Men outing The Wolverine set to open in cinemas this week, Ozzy Armstrong chats with Rila Fukushima about her role as the deadly assassin Yukio…
Ozzy Armstrong: First of all I watched the film last night…
Rila Fukushima: And how did you like it?
OA: I’m a big fan of X-Men and especially Wolverine and I thought that this was the best version of the Wolverine character I’ve ever seen on screen.
RF: Ah, you made my day (giggling).
OA: Well I just wanted to ask first of all, how did you go about getting this role?
RF: My casting process was a little long. When I did the first video casting it was 2011, you know the big earthquake that happened in Japan?
OA: Yes of course, in Tohoku?
RF: Yes, well it was like one month before the big earthquake. I was living in New York and I was modelling and I got the casting call through my New York modelling agency. I went back to Japan and decided to spend more time there when I moved back and when the big earthquake happened, they cancelled everything. Nothing happened for a while but a half year later James Mangold decided to take over the whole project and I was so excited as I already knew his work like Copland, Girl, Interrupted and Walk the Line. I knew most of his stuff. Then he came to Japan and I met with him. I did some auditions for a while and I guess I didn’t have experience so it took time.
OA: This is your first big role but you were in the short film Karma: A Very Twisted Love Story as well. How different was it acting in the two roles?
RF: The short film was like only twenty minutes long and that character was really, like, a quiet character. She talks but no action so nothing like the character I play in The Wolverine.
OA: Do you think it helped prepare you for something like the character of Yukio?
RF: Yes it did but James gave me a lot of freedom with the character. Whenever I needed help though, James was always there for me to discuss with me no matter how crazy busy he was. James Mangold is probably the best director to work with on your first film.
OA: You’re obviously in the film with a couple of experienced actors as well like Hugh Jackman, Hiroyuki Sanada…
RF: (Giggling) I know, when we first started watching the film I was like, a year ago I hadn’t even started filming and I’d only just started martial arts training in Australia. Now I’m working with so many people and I get to sit down and watch the whole movie with everyone.
OA: You mentioned your martial arts training there and I was expecting you to have such a physical role. How long have you been doing martial arts for?
RF: I had three weeks training before we started filming. I learnt Japanese sword, full stick fight, gymnastics, hand to hand combat. I learnt some basics. It was a big challenge because I only had those three weeks. They were like, ‘you’ve only got three weeks and then you have to be a badass’ (laughs). Training, training, training. I was only doing a couple of things, reading the script, eating, training and sleeping.
OA: That’s really quite impressive to learn so much in such a short time. That must be great for a first big role?
RF: Of course. The best bits were working with Hugh Jackman. He’s such a great actor and he’s so patient and I learnt so many things. I mean, I was taking acting classes on and off when I was modelling in New York but it was completely different. I’d never done any action sequences and Hugh inspired me a lot because after working with him and James Mangold I really feel like I want to keep acting. With the other cast as well – I knew Tao Okamoto from many years ago and that was an amazing thing, you know, to have her on set. To have someone [else who was new] to talk to.
OA: Well, just before we finish, with Fox looking to expand its X-Men movie output, would you ever want to play this character again?
RF: Totally. I love Yukio. I hope that there’s a chance that I can play her again.
Many thanks to Rila Fukushima for taking the time for this interview.
Ozzy Armstrong is a Stargate and Rocky superfan. Follow him on Twitter.
The Wolverine is released in UK cinemas this Thursday (July 25th) and opens in North America the following Day. Read Ozzy’s ★★★★★ review here and check back tomorrow as he speaks to Tao Okamoto about portraying Logan’s latest love interest Mariko.
Originally published July 22, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
