Interview with Sophia Brown
Interview with Sophia Brown, who plays Donna in Giri/Haji.
Published: 2 October 2019
I was immediately interested in playing a hit-woman. I liked the fact that they’d given me an outline of the person, so I could fill in the gaps and build the body of her
Who is Donna?
She is part of Abbott’s (Charlie Creed-Miles) team. She’s grown up around this criminal lifestyle through her dad, who was friends with Abbott, the lead boss, and when her father passed away, she was taken under Abbott’s wing. So it’s like a father-daughter relationship, but quite a skewed one. She’s trying to gain his approval, but at the same time she wants to stop doing this, because she’s falling in love with Yuto (Yôsuke Kubozuka).
Why did you want to play her?
I was immediately interested in playing a hit-woman. I liked the fact that they’d given me an outline of the person, so I could really fill in the gaps and build the body of her. I was interested in her being someone who’s killed a few people, but trying to kill someone who is a family member of the person she loves is a different story. She’s not very similar to who I am, so I could really play some extremes and escape, more often than not, my daily life.
Did the role require much training, primarily in terms of firearms?
Yes. We did many shooting scenes, so I had to know the basics of how to hold a gun, really. I wanted to make sure that Donna was believable and that she’s not new to holding a gun, even though I’d never held one in my life. And then there were some stunts. There’s a big scene in one episode where we’re running through so many different locations and there’s constant gunfire, and learning the stunt choreography was almost like dance. I come from a movement background so it was nice to tie that into the acting process. With all the stunt teams and armourers to work with, it was overwhelming at times, but that’s what I love about doing this.
Would you say it was a challenging shoot?
There were challenging moments, where maybe I wanted to do certain things and I had to really work my way into making them believable. Not just the gun work. There’s a scene where I have to roll a cigarette, and I don’t roll cigarettes. And there were a lot of night shoots, which after a while can be a little bit testing, because… they’re night shoots! [Laughs]
Were there language barrier issues between the British and Japanese cast?
Yeah. My on-screen lover Yuto is played by an incredible actor, Yôsuke, whose English is not the greatest, while I don’t speak Japanese. So at the beginning, we couldn’t really understand each other. It was odd, like it was all kind of understanding each other through gestures, and we built a relationship fundamentally on looking at each other and building each other’s body language. And then as I learned a little bit of Japanese and he learned more English, we kind of came together. It was really nice to have those moments.
Do you have a favourite memory of your whole Giri/Haji experience?
There’s one moment that stands out, from quite early on in the shoot. I’m driving a Bentley down The Strand, and we’re on a low-loader. I’ve got Charlie Creed-Miles and Justin Long in the back, and then I’ve got Yôsuke in the passenger seat. I’m just thinking to myself - excuse my French, but - “fucking hell. This is absolutely insane”. I’m doing this, and I’ve got Julian [Farino, lead director] watching the monitor, and I just literally have a bit of a scream whilst they’re not filming and say, “oh my God, this is so incredible!” And Julian just says, “ride the wave, baby. Ride the wave".
To be able to let that out, and for the director to nurture that, it made me feel like I could just be myself and do what I want to do here and really grow. So that really stuck in my mind, and I’m just going to continue riding the wave [laughs].
The Legend Of Giri/Haji
“Let me tell you a story. It
starts with Kenzo Mori. A Tokyo
detective, living a quiet life...
Until his younger brother comes to
him for help. Yuto. The black sheep
of the family. He’d done something
very stupid. But, as it turns out,
not everything can be fixed. Fast
forward a year and Yuto is dead.
Just another Yakuza that met his
end in a hail of bullets. Except
maybe not... Because as Kenzo is
about to find out, the past has a
way of coming back to haunt you.
Rumours start to circle that the
younger Mori brother may be alive
and living in a far-off land. And
soon Kenzo is on a journey to see
for himself. Kenzo and Yuto. A
killer and a saviour. But which is
which? Now, trouble follows Kenzo
everywhere he goes, but so, as it
turns out, does his daughter -
Taki. Sixteen years old. A brave
girl who befriends a lost boy.
Rodney. Half Japanese, half
English. He thinks if he talks loud
enough he won’t be able to hear his
demons. But he doesn’t know yet
just how loud they can scream.
On his way looking for his brother
Kenzo meets Sarah. Another cop
trying to escape something she
can’t outrun. Two people in a city
of eight million and they find each
other. So I suppose this isn’t just
a story about death. It’s a story
about life. And love. And
heartbreak. About the split second
decisions that we make and the
things we lose and win as a result.
It’s a story about gangsters.
(Abbot and Fukuhara)
Killers.
(Donna and Jiro)
Cowards.
(Vickers)
And heroes.
(Rei, Natsuko, Eiko,
Toshio)
It’s about two brothers. Engulfed
in chaos.”
