Interview with Will Sharpe
Interview with Will Sharpe, who plays Rodney in Giri/Haji.
Published: 2 October 2019
How would I describe Rodney? I said at the costume fitting that I thought of him as a peacock that you find in a skip, and I still think that now.
How would you describe Rodney?
I said at the costume fitting that I thought of him as a peacock that you find in a skip, and I still think that now. Rodney is a sex worker, and an addict, and what drew me to him as a character is he has a self-destructive streak which he buries under humour. He uses his sense of humour as a defence mechanism. And he is one of the characters who ends up colliding with Kenzo (Takehiro Hira) and forming this slightly odd, hotchpotch, makeshift family.
It’s interesting that you liked how he uses humour as a defence mechanism, because on your series Flowers, as a writer, you deal with serious subject matter in a humorous way. Is that why Rodney and Giri/Haji chimed with you?
Yeah. Also, Rodney’s half-Japanese, I’m half-Japanese. He has a destructive streak in him, I think I have a bit of that in me. But his sense of humour gave me a very clear way in. So it felt like I could do a good job with him.
As someone who is half-Japanese, half-British, do you feel the show handles the meeting of those two cultures well?
I think so. One thing I find quite interesting about Japanese and British culture is how they’re different, and how they’re the same. We’re both countries where we don’t talk about feelings very readily, and so the way certain things are communicated is through gestures; you’re quietly doing something that will mean something, rather than just saying it, and I felt like that’s there in these scripts. It’s an extraordinary undertaking, but the production was very sensitive to the need to make it feel authentic.
I wasn’t part of the block that went to Japan, but it didn’t feel like there was the Japanese half of the production and then there was the British half. Everyone was mixed in together, like one big family.
Most of your scenes involved working with Kelly Macdonald, Takehiro Hira and Aoi Okuyama. What was that like?
It was great. Everyone was collaborative, good-humoured, hardworking and invested in this project. There wasn’t any cynicism or jaded energy around. I loved working with Kelly - she’s brilliant and very funny - but also this felt like the first time I’d hung out with and met Japanese people who, if I’d carried on living in Japan, would be my friends day to day, who had a similar worldview and similar interests. I really appreciated the time with Tak and Aoi, and Yôsuke (Kubozuka) as well. I liked that part of it from a personal point of view.
On Flowers, you wrote, produced and directed, as well as acted in it, but in this you’re only a performer. Is that harder for you, or do you actually like that?
I like it all. I use the analogy that if you’re a musician or in a band, sometimes you write the music and perform it as well. And if you like mixing and producing, then you could also do that. But if you need a session drummer, you get one in, and if someone else wants you to play keys on their track, then you can do that. On this, I did find it liberating not to have the additional pressure of needing to complete the day, not having to look at the shot lists to try and think about how to get everything done in time.
I’ve been very lucky so far, with the directors I’ve worked with in the last couple of years, in that I’ve just thought they were really good and I've got on with them. So I felt safe with Julian and Ben (Chessell), and I’ve learned quite a lot from them just by seeing their different styles.
So it’s been educational for you, in a sense, working on Giri/Haji?
It has a much bigger budget than we had on Flowers, so it’s interesting for me to see how different that is, and how it’s the same. More than anything, actually, it’s pretty much the same, just on a different scale. And with Julian, I learned from his steady warmth and confidence. He’s a very personable team leader, and I often liked his choices. I liked watching him make his choices. That was always interesting to me.
Pictured: Tiff (John McCrea), Rodney (Will Sharpe)
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.”
