11 Famous Hollywood Actors Speaking Japanese
There is something fun and amusing about seeing Hollywood actors speak Japanese, especially when they do it in a strange and weird way. Now while I once said that watching foreigners speaking Japanese is great to visualize your future self, this is a little different.
When most actors speak Japanese, it is for a specific role. So of course they don’t really speak Japanese, and are just memorizing lines. Sometimes it sounds good, sometimes it sounds bad, and sometimes you are left with an extremely puzzled look on your face.
Let’s split up the Japanese speaking actors into four types of appearances:
Actually Speaking Real Japanese
This is a real actor speaking real Japanese. Not rehearsed lines. I’m a bit impressed. Unfortunately, I could only find one actor on the internet doing it. Apparently there are rumors that Natalie Portman also speaks fluent Japanese, but I have yet to see any video proving that.
1. Edward Norton
Not bad. While his level is probably below 20, he doesn’t do a bad job. And I would imagine it’s not that easy to speak a language that you aren’t that confident in at a press conference in Japan.
Press Conferences
Usually, when a movie cast goes to promote their movie in Japan, the actors will learn a few Japanese lines so they can excite their audiences. You would assume they would practice the lines heavily to not mess them up. Then again, I’m sure they don’t have the time for this.
2-3. Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean)
They try. With excitement. Apparently Johnny Depp refused to speak in Japanese. So he is the only member of the cast who decided not to bother.
4. Danielle Radcliffe (Harry Potter)
After watching enough of these. I come to realize that Hollywood actors are given variations on 3 main lines:
Hello everyone.(皆さん~こんばんは・こんにちは)
I love my fans. (ファンが大好き)
Japan is the best. (日本最高!)
Speaking Japanese for a movie role
5. Tom Cruise (Last Samurai)
It’s kind of like the immersion method 150 years ago. I find his Japanese to be pleasant.
6. Uma Thurman (Kill Bill)
Slightly disappointing.
7. Bill Murray (Lost in Translation)
Bill never actually used much Japanese in the movie, since the story was that he didn’t understand anything while he was visiting Japan to film a commercial. However, he apparently had some fun on the set using some things he picked up while shooting on location. I found this clip to be extremely funny, where he repeatedly tries to use a silly line, with bad pronunciation that he just learned.
Japanese Commercials
If you’ve ever watched the “old Japanese commercial with Hollywood actor ” craze on YouTube, I don’t need to say more. I’m sure the millions they got for appearing for a few seconds saying some badly pronounced Japanese were all worth it.
8. Tommy Lee Jones
This is just too good. A bunch of major Japanese celebrities are all singing the Sukiyaki song, and out of nowhere, Tommy Lee Jones pops in to sing a verse.
h
9. Bruce Willis
A series of fun commercials with Bruce Willis apparently not doing what the director wants him to do and acting cocky. They actually repeatedly give him different Japanese lines, which is rare. I like his attitude.
10. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold is the king of appearing in cheesy Japanese commercials in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Arnold’s lines are kept very short, and repetitive. Similar to his Hollywood movies.
11. Sylvester Stallone
Selling pork bits and fried chicken. The perfect role. And he doesn’t sound like Rocky while saying it.
Your Top Picks?
Which actor do you think does the best job? Which one do you think creates the most hilarious results? Any good ones that I missed out on that you know of?
Founder of Jalup. iOS Software Engineer. Former attorney, translator, and interpreter. Still watching 月曜から夜ふかし weekly since 2013.
This is really funny and entertaining! I loved watching and listening.
This was really interesting and funny! Fun read!
LOL. That was pretty funny. You can tell some of them just weren’t even trying. :P What the heck was going on during the Arnold Schwarznegger commercials. I have no idea.
Thanks, that was interesting!
btw, what about Steven Seagal?
Oh nice, I didn’t know he spoke Japanese. Not bad.
Here’s a clip I found: http://youtu.be/Pg4BjOcitlY
The Ahnold commercials have always been my guilty pleasure. I enjoy them waaaay too much!
Tommy Lee Jones plays an alien in many SoftBank and Suntory/BOSS canned coffee ads.
After watching those commercials, you start to realize he does “alien” a little too well.
Lol uma thurmans japanese sounds really bad
Yeah, but at least she tried haha.
Harrison Ford did a “Series” commercial run for Kirin beer. 1. On the airplane going over, he asks the attendant for a beer. She tells him “Oh Mr. Ford, you need to say ‘Kirin bieru-wo kudasai.'” He does and she approves. 2. In Japan, he goes to a yakitori-ya for food. As he walks in, two Japanese TV personalities see him and say–‘Oh~! Isn’t that Harrison Ford???!!'” He goes to the guy behind the food counter and says “Kirin bieru-wo kudasai.” The counter guy turns to his fellow and says “Bieru-wo ippon!” (One bottle of beer–apparently Kirin is all they serve). Ford knows that’s different from what he asked and is concerned. The counter man tell him not to worry, it’s okay (in Japanese), and hands him the Kirin bottle supplied by his coworker. There are two more in the series. And yes, Steven Seagall is a fluent Japanese speaker with a Japanese son and a daughter by his ex-wife, who is Japanese. He learned Japanese while earning a black belt in Aikido or Jiujitsu in Japan. I saw him in interviews on Japanese TV.
Interesting, will have to check that out. Is he is typical awesome self in Japanese?