How Tadanobu Asano plans to crack Hollywood
Tadanobu Asano is relaxed and composed, sitting over a huge desk at his management company’s offices in Harajuku. His hair is neat and trim, his knit jacket and jeans make him the picture of a man calm and content. He looks anything but the roguish bad boy that has filled the lead roles of so many indie Japanese films. He’ll hate me saying it, but he actually looks like a star. Asano, 36, is giving his first major English interview since 2002 and is keen to discuss his various activities while here to promote his two latest Japanese films. Once a reluctant star, he has reconsidered his life and is now taking on new challenges — including breaking into the United States.