Because We Forget Everything, the new Japanese drama coming to Disney Plus Hotstar, tells the story of M, a mystery writer whose girlfriend of five years suddenly disappears on Halloween night. As he begins the search to find out what happened to her, M begins to question just how much he actually knew about his significant other.
In this Goggler exclusive, we sat down with series star Hiroshi Abe (The Garden of Evening Mists, Still Walking, Chocolate) for a conversation about his first every streaming series and why he’s excited for people to watch it.
Goggler: Because We Forget Everything revolves around a mystery writer whose girlfriend suddenly disappears. Have you had anyone in your life “disappear” all of a sudden? Someone whom you lost contact with, who moved away, or just gradually grew apart from?
Hiroshi Abe: Working in this industry, it happens quite often actually. Due to the nature of the job, where I get involved in a new project every three months, the people around me, my costars, the production crew, it changes every time. The entire environment changes every three months. But personally, I try to have long-term relationships. So there are those kinds of people in my life. The ones with whom I try to build a relationship with for a long time.
Goggler: Since the drama series, The Man Who Can’t Get Married, this new drama marks your return to the romance genre and a return to a lifestyle drama. Is it a difficult or easy transition?
HA: I’ve got some experience playing the character of a normal man. And in this particular project, we’re dealing with just daily life and a series of common occurrences. In many cases you can have an ordinary conversation with other people, and that simple conversation can reveal many aspects of that person. So this drama is really about that.
The lines and the dialogue are quite casual and normal, but hopefully audiences can reflect on the situation that my character finds himself in and maybe make some new discoveries in their own lives. But yet, the role was quite comfortable.
Goggler: What was it about Because We Forget Everything that made you say yes to this project?
HA: First of all it was a different team. A lot of the people here were new to me, especially the director and the creators. I felt like they had a real attention to detail and were quite particular with a lot of things, which made me quite excited. I had a high expectations for the project. And that is why I said “yes.”
Goggler: What kind of things did you do to prepare yourself to play the role of M?
HA: While M is quite ordinary and casual, he nevertheless has a nuance to him as a character. How it worked on set was that I would do a take, and then the director would come up to me and give me some frank opinions, feedback, and options, and we would proceed from there. I feel and think that we managed to create a actual world, with great atmosphere, and real drama. I hope audiences will see that in the show.
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