VIVANT Actor Ryu Kobata Built Li Mingze's Laugh Over a Month
Ryu Kobata, who plays Li Mingze in TBS drama VIVANT, said he spent about a month working out the character's laugh and tone of voice.
1 source 7h ago
Reporting from 1 source: Cinema Today.
Why it matters
Kobata's account shows the show's antagonist being assembled from the outside in, with a deliberately irritating laugh and a haircut decided on set, rather than from a backstory.
Key Facts
- Ryu Kobata plays Li Mingze in the TBS drama VIVANT.
- Kobata said he thought about the character's laugh for about a month.
- Kobata referenced the laugh of the irritating character in the American film The Shawshank Redemption.
- Kobata said he binge-watched Season 1 after being cast and was surprised by its scale.
- Kobata named Episode 21 as the moment he was overwhelmed by Masato Sakai's acting.
He referenced the laugh of the irritating character in the American film The Shawshank Redemption, and asked people around him which laugh was more annoying. Kobata also said he binge-watched Season 1 after being cast and was surprised by its scale.
Kobata said the direction came at his costume fitting, when he was told the character above all had to get on the viewer's nerves. It was the first time he had been given a role in a single phrase, and he set out to see it through.
He also described the scale of the production. After being cast, he watched Season 1 all at once and was surprised a Japanese drama could be made on that scale, and on set he saw a car hanging in the air at a shooting location. He named Episode 21 as the moment he was overwhelmed by Masato Sakai's acting.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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