Speed Racer!?

hi michi san

a few things that might be of interest. (first off, yes, i'm SURE that must be it, he calls me for advice...hee hee) NOT. (but i WISH...) hee hee.

BUT....what i DO BELIEVE is that he IS taking the advice and counsel of his management office, and his manager(s) there. i am quite certain that since hiro has made this choice to relocate to the U.S. in order to open up his opportunities in "international and hollywood" films... PLUS signed with THIS particular management firm, that he IS listening to THEIR advice. :)

and...my guess is that they are telling him that, essentially, he WILL need to capitalize on his VERSATILITY and TALENTS (action, etc) as well as understand his 'LIMITATIONS' (being asian in a western 'world' of film).
the 2 best examples of this, of course, are jackie chan and jet li. (and in early days bruce lee). it's certainly likely that jackie shared this 'reality' with hiro.

ONE blockbuster or BREAK OUT film, and hiro will have SO MANY MORE options. (as evidenced by ken's career). i think he is really understanding this, hence taking on roles that are perhaps, surprising to his fans. (minor roles, action roles). but to me, sanada san's making very intelligent career choices, and YET maintaining his love for fun, 'NEW' CHALLENGES. (imo)

now. his management company. what i LOVED when i first found out that he signed on with them is that they represent a relatively small group of clients. there are a couple of managers at their company, who work with TOP TIER clients (which in hollywood right now would be tobey maguire, kirsten dunst, jake gyllenhaal)

hiro had no one assigned to him for about 6 months (that showed on imdb), and then, a chinese guy (i assume) was assigned (bill choi) along with an additonal guy, peter kiernan.

michi san, THIS is where it gets exciting. peter and bill represent what i would call the company's 'SECOND TIER' of talent.

here is a blurb about peter from the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER magazine, in an article that featured the "BEST OF 2005" LIST of the "agents and managers in the industry". (it featured the top TWELVE!)
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He has been with Management 360 since its inception three years ago, proving that he has an eye for discovering new talent and reinventing seasoned actors. His clients include Jason Biggs, Troy Garity, Bryce Dallas Howard, Wentworth Miller, Hiroyuki Sanada and Tom Selleck.
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TROY GARITY AND HIRO WERE BOTH IN SUNSHINE. (coincidence?) hmmm.

toby and kirsten in spiderman, jake gyllenhaal and anne hathaway (who they also represent) were in brokeback mountain. so this type of 'negotiation' often happens. (buy one, get another in a "package" sometimes)

ANOTHER thing i really like is that his company manages ALOT of people who shift to t.v. shows. to me, this would be a GOOD THING for hiro! (tom selleck, (friends) holly hunter (new series), amanda peet (studio 60), kiefer sutherland (24) , matthew fox (lost) , to name a few).

MY DREAM would be for hiro to be in next seasons HEROES tv show, since they ended the season with little 'hiro' (masai) waking up to find himself among the EDO PERIOD SAMURAI!!!! can you IMAGINE taking off the helmet and seeing OUR HIRO??????????? (btw, his management company also rep's a guy who was on heroes...
Santiago Cabrera who played a character: Isaac Mendez)

here is the synopsis of NEXT SEASON heroes, with a TAG LINE: generations.

next season is called "Generations", Hiro (masai) will travel through the time and will know about the current heroes ancestors.

well, it's a DREAM i have. :)

here are peter's thoughts about managing...
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"Once I found out that I could have a positive impact on these people's careers, lives -- that's like a drug," Kiernan says. "For actors, they can go and audition today, and it can change their lives tomorrow. That is, on the one hand, daunting but, on the other hand, completely intoxicating. And to live with that kind of energy and thrill, that I could get them that opportunity, it gets me excited."

Finding talent is one thing, taking them to the next level is another, Kiernan says. "My first thrill is the discovery, seeing what nobody else sees and being the introducer of the talent," he says. "The hardest part of the job is being the architect, making the right choices. It's the guidance of a career, the maintenance of a career that is the hardest thing to do."
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now, the final thing about speed racer. michi san...do you know what character hiro would play? (do you know the storyline?) since it sounds like it is centered on a Caucasian lead my guess is that any asian guy would be a minor role. so even IF hiro DOES do this, it might be a short shoot schedule so he COULD do another role. it sounds like a short shoot. matthew fox is doing it on summer hiatus from LOST. and the word is that they will largely shoot this on green screen.

since it is not going to release until may of 2008, from everything i've read, it's going to be VISUALLY AWESOME...LOTS of CGI, and HD.

hiro COULD still do silence, but it certainly does not sound like kichijiro (?) is a role for him. he sure keeps us guessing!!!!!!!!

if you can share anything you know about the original storyline for speed racer, and who you THINK hiro might play, that would be great.
meantime, i can't WAIT to hear more. very exciting news!!!!!

thanks much, michi.

want to hear a fun 'coincidence'?

johnny depp WAS originally cast to star in this film in the mid 90's!

isn't that fun?

and i'm so confused about where i've posted WHAT info, but just to try and keep this HERE...

there was info that RAIN is going to play a minor but critical role, as a young driver who is trying to save his family's business. (i assume race cars?)
so i was assuming that hiro sama would play rain's father.

interesting, if he is coach or father (or both).

rin rin, THANK YOU for the video clip, but i cannot view windows because i have MAC. boo hoo. (cry).

so nekota...THANK YOU for posting that pic.

found a few more links...i'll post later.

this is beyond EXCITING!!!!

hi rin rin
it is SO FUN to be able to 'talk' with you here on VOX.

i want to say, arigatou! (i hope this is correct) and THANK YOU
for taking the time, and making the extra effort to communicate with me in
english. i always love to read your comments. you do SUCH A GOOD JOB at expressing yourself, and it always makes me happy to hear from you.

i sadly cannot watch the clip on my mac computer. but maybe i need to download something first. windows media player. i know that mac is not
compatible with some systems.

we are SO LUCKY to have our michi san to help 'bridge' the communication
gaps for all hiro fans from japan to the U.S. and beyond. she serves as the heart of all hiro fans....to keep us all informed, and united with one another.

it is SO EXCITING to have much information available because of RAIN fans too!

but i was VERY HAPPY that japan news finally gave us more info too.
thank you for sharing it!!!!

Michi, the latest has it that Rain would be on screen for 40 minutes instead of my expected 20 mins and will not be using a stunt double and will drive at 300Km/hr. Perhaps Hiro might get a bit more screentime too!