The Asian premiere of the joint U.S.-Japan production Rental Family, which took place November 3 at the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival in the Gala Selection section, sold out very quickly. The movie isn’t slated to be released in Japan until February, so lucky ticketholders got a three-month jump on seeing it. Moreover, they were treated to in-person stage greetings by the US-based director HIKARI and six of the movie’s Japanese stars.
 
The film’s leading man, Brendan Fraser, who won the 2022 Academy Award® for Best Actor for The Whale, was unable to make the premiere, but he was definitely there in spirit, since everyone on stage mentioned him with glowing praise. Fraser plays Phillip Vanderploeg, a struggling, over-the-hill American actor whose only claim to fame is a commercial he did in Japan some years ago that became a kind of meme. He tries to parlay this notoriety into a career by moving to Japan full-time, but seven years later he is still living in a tiny Tokyo apartment and dining off convenience store box lunches.
 
One day he gets a call from his agent, who has set him up as a mourner at a funeral that he quickly discovers is fake. There he meets Shinji (Hira Takehiro), the man who arranged the funeral through his company, Rental Family, which provides actors to fill those parts of people’s lives that are emotionally unfulfilled. He offers Phillip a job as the company’s “token white guy.”
 
Veteran actor Emoto Akira, who plays a retired jidaigeki (historical drama) actor whose daughter hires Phillip to impersonate a foreign writer interested in recording her father’s life history, confirmed that “Brendan is a big man, though not as big as a whale. We had many scenes together, and I want to tell you he isn’t just physically big; he’s big-hearted, too. It was an honor to work with him.”
 
Matobu Sei plays the daughter of the Emoto character, who is perhaps too protective of her father. “It’s a movie about people supporting one another, and so it’s very heartwarming. It shows how we all have to live together.”
 
The youngest person on stage was Shannon Mahina Gorman, who plays a young girl named Mia in the film. Mia’s mother (Shinozaki Shino), who is not married, hires Phillip to pretend to be Mia’s father so that she can get into a good private junior high school. The girl has never met her real father, whose identity and whereabouts are never mentioned in the story. Phillip naturally bonds with her despite her initial resentment of this deadbeat dad trying to charm his way back into her life.
 
“I had a lot of fun on set with Brendan,” said the young actress. “We ate together and made jokes, but once we were in front of the camera he was just Phillip, and it was such a pleasure to work with him.”
 
Shinozaki, who plays Mia’s mother, said she learned a lot about what it means “to connect,” especially as a single mother, who tends to have a tough time socially in Japan. “Phillip makes it possible for my character to connect with Mia, and as a result she grows as a mother and a person.”
 
Morita Misato has a brief role as Phillip’s first challenge at his new job: a woman who needs to get married to a non-Japanese man living abroad to appease her parents. “I really learned what a family could be like [through this film] and found the message very positive. I hope you’ll enjoy it.”
 
Kimura Bun, who plays Kota, Shinji’s senior male assistant at the company. He recreated his character’s hyper-enthusiasm on stage as he expressed his gratitude for being cast in such a big production. “This is my first time at TIFF!” he said, bowing extravagantly. “The movie shows how people need to be loved and recognized, even as they grow older. It’s a very warm, enveloping movie, and since I play an employee at the company, I am asking the media to help spread the word enthusiastically.”
 
While Rental Family’s director, HIKARI, didn’t talk about the film itself, she did have a big announcement. “Emoto-san is 77 years old today, which is a very auspicious age. Happy birthday!” And as a stagehand brought out a bouquet of purple flowers, the whole cast, as well as the audience, burst into a chorus of “Happy Birthday to You.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, and no one was being paid to fake it.
 
Greetings from the Stage: Gala Selection
Rental Family
Guests: HIKARI (Director), Emoto Akira (Actor), Gorman Mahina Shannon (Actor), Matobu Sei (Actor), Kimura Bun (Actor), Shinozaki Shino (Actor), Morita Misato (Actor)