MORE | Nakajima Kento
The ABC's with Sexy Zone[1]
Vol.37 - "Sa" | Sainou (Talent)
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Between a natural genius and a self-made genius, I’m definitely the latter. I’ve come this far by building up my small seed of talent through hard work.
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“A person can’t shine on just talent alone, the important thing is to polish themselves.”
The first time I ever thought “If only I could be that talented,” was in middle school. This was directed towards my upperclassman in the soccer club. At the time, I looked up to world famous soccer players like Oliver Kahn and Iker Casillas. I wanted to be a goalkeeper just like them, so I asked to be a goalkeeper on the school team. My upperclassman was also a goalkeeper. He also played in a junior youth league and would only show up to school practices once or twice a month. I’d only see him every once in a while, but he would always give me advice whenever we met. All of that had me thinking “Wow”, “He’s so cool!”, and I’d look at this upperclassman who guarded the goal with eyes of envy.
There’s still an image I will never forget. It’s the image of my upperclassman practicing by himself after practice had ended. He was already more athletic than most, but moreover, he focused more of his time and passion into soccer than most. What I learned from watching his back was, “Just because someone has talent, doesn’t mean they will become a genius. Only those who take the effort to grow their talent will become a genius.” I believe that everyone is born holding a small rock of talent. Whether you decide to just let it be or actually decide to polish it, how much you decide to love it, focus on it, pour passion into it… those are the important things, and it’s from there that I feel a difference begins to grow.
In this world there are certainly “natural geniuses” who started with a sparkling diamond in their hand. If you asked me whether I was the type with a sparkling diamond or a small rock, I would definitely answer with “a small rock”. The proof of that can be found when I first entered Johnny’s & Associates and I asked my parents to buy me a full-length mirror. I danced in front of that mirror so much. I would spend countless hours in front of that mirror because I wanted to become better at dancing and be able to stand out from my peers. It’s been the same with singing and acting. To become good at something, you need to put in effort. Once you’ve managed to accomplish one thing, then a new thing will pop up… and the cycle repeats. There’s no end to working hard.
“'The world’ and 'English' are the new things in my line of sight”
Right now, the new thing I’m focused on is “The world”. I think it’ll have been announced by the time this edition of MORE comes out, but I’ve actually landed a role in an overseas drama. In fact, after this interview I’ll be leaving Japan in a few days to start filming in Italy. I’m right in the middle of preparing for that. The role I’m playing in the drama, “Concordia”[2] is an arrogant and prideful genius engineer who graduated from Stanford. He’s the one responsible for overseeing a city-wide surveillance system, but then a murder occurs in the city. The story starts from that point. The cast and staff for this drama come from around the world. I’m also the only Japanese member of the cast. Basically, everything at the filming site and all my lines will be in English. It’s seriously stressful!! My head is basically bursting with English. If you asked me right now what skill I would want, without a doubt I’d tell you, “I want to be able to speak English more fluently!!” (laughs).
“It’s because I was weak that I became mentally strong.”
When I look back on things, what really led me to focus on my English was when I got the job as a reporter for the Academy Awards. I wanted to be able to express myself directly without the need for an interpreter and began taking private lessons from an English teacher who was well-known for being incredibly strict. From there, jobs that required English slowly started coming my way. I also had more chances to do English interviews on my show, “Things About Film Nakajima Kento Wants to Know About Right Now.”[3] I was able to share my thoughts on his works to Director Martin Campbell, and directly asked Director Christopher Nolan to take a look at my acting. People around me have told me “You’re mentally strong.” I want everyone to be clear about this though. Even though I appear that way, I’m actually really anxious! Before interviewing these masters, my hands were covered in sweat, I was so worried, my throat was dry, and I instantly downed two entire bottles of water on the spot (laugh).
Calming my anxieties and worry takes careful planning. I push myself forward by trusting in the belief, “I’ve made it this far, I’ll be fine.” That’s why I work so hard. I don’t really want to admit it because I only want people to see what I look like when I’m on stage but… behind the scenes Nakajima Kento works really damn hard! It’s because of that that was I able to toughen myself up mentally.
“When others around me are giving 1% of effort, I give 100%”
There are some who might say I have “the natural talent to be an idol”, “star power”, or “an aura that glows”. While those comments make me happy, truthfully, I don’t really get it. More than those things, I feel like I have the “talent of working hard”. It’s because I don’t have anything I excel at that when others are giving 1% of their effort, I give 100%. That’s how I’ve done things so far, and I believe that’s how I’ve become the person I am today. The reason I am able to work so hard though, is because I like to. I think another one of my talents is to be able to continue loving something deeply.
For anything that someone likes, the more seriously you work on it and focus on it, eventually at some point you will come to hate it. I believe that point is a chance. It would be easy to stop there, and hard to keep going. Those who choose the difficult path to continue though, will always get somewhere. Every time someone comes across the crossroad, “To stop” or “To continue”, they become stronger. The more you come across those crossroads, the more a person will grow. Even for English right now, I feel like I might be reaching the point where I’ll start to hate it… But, I want to be able to overcome that and come back from Italy a completely changed person!! (laughs).
Translation Notes
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