Loading ...James Marsters Interview
DBTheMovie has a newly translated interview from Japan’s Jump Square (which the previous set of scans originated from).
What is the difference between the original and the live-action movie ?
JM: Definitely the story of this movie is different from the original. But it’s a necessary change because we need to condense the long story of the original for a movie. For example, some characters in the original don’t appear in the movie. And we try to give it a more gritty and graphic (realistic) feeling.
Though there are differences between the two, I think it is all right if the core part of Dragonball remains. I let my son watch the anime’s Dragonball, DBZ and DBGT since he was eight years old. At first, I thought it was too violent, but I realized this is the best show for training to become a true man. True men need not to flaunt themselves. Their calm, gentle and modest but when it comes to the crunch they don’t hesitate to kill the enemy, and I think that’s what Goku is.
Goku is a real man. I know my son received such a message and applied it to his own life. My son doesn’t use violence to others, but he isn’t afraid of his own anger. I think it’s an important thing.
How many hours does it take to apply the make-up?
JM: It takes about four hours. Luckily, my make-up artist is very chatty, we have a lot of chat during the make up.
Please tell us the most remarkable scene in the movie, especially action scenes!
JM: It is the last battle after all! I like playing the battle scene. When I worked for a TV show for seven years, every Friday I fought till sun rise, I felt I would never have such a good time again until now. In addition, I have never gotten terribly hurt (laugh).
Do you talk with other co-stars as well?
JM: When I have a problem, I have a talk with Justin [Chatwin]. At first, we worried about the costumes. We thought it should reflect the spirit of the original, we persisted this thought to the producers. We didn’t want to make our characters beautiful and safe. I talked with Justin, and he agreed with me. So did the director.
What do you care about in acting for this movie?
JM: That’s a good question. Speaking of Piccolo, one word comes into my mind, it’s “loneliness”. Piccolo is always floating in the air in the beautiful landscape, but he never even admires the landscape, he is only thinking or musing and staring at his feet. I think that is a characteristic of piccolo more than anything else. Maybe it must be a characteristic for revenge. He hates himself and blames the people who has trapped him. His desire to kill not only them but their family, furthermore to destroy the city and the planet they live and protect. To get revenge is everything to him. Everything.
How was shooting in Durango?
JM: The desert of Durango is very cold at night (laugh). I was luckily wearing armor, but Goku was freezing at the beginning of shooting. The local people are very kind and get along with us. Besides they love to party very much! If I didn’t have work, I would be willing to join them. They are drinking and singing songs until 4:30 a.m. But I need to sleep for the shooting the next day, after all so I changed the hotel to get away from the partying people.
Finally, please give us a message to our readers in Japan.
JM: Japan is beautiful. Thank you for giving Dragonball to us! It’s an important show to us all and I want you to watch it, especially the young people. I thank the show for a lot of good times with my son. I’ll do my best to meet the high expectations the fans have.
Discuss on the boards.
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July 8th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Like i said b4, Marsters wont dissapoint, neither will chatwin. I hope the mass will end up liking DB and we can get another one started.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:24 am
Thank you Marsters. I believe your role of Piccolo and this movie will be the best thing to hit the silver screen since ….
Iron Man.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:26 am
I’m glad to hear that him and Chatwin were concerned on some elements. It shows that they care about translating the franchise carefully.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:30 am
“..staring at his feet”
July 8th, 2008 at 1:39 am
I’m a bit concerned. Marsters character sounds a lot more like Piccolo Jr.(The one seen in Z, and GT) rather than Daimao. Daimao didn’t seem like the kind to stare off into space, unless he was planning on destorying it.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:44 am
“And we try to give it a more gritty and graphic (realistic) feeling.”
- James Marsters says it will be gritty. PG-13 maybe?
“…but I realized this is the best show for training to become a true man.”
- Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Awesome!
July 8th, 2008 at 2:06 am
Marsters Is just awesome seriously who better to play Piccolo then a fan of the show?!!
July 8th, 2008 at 2:20 am
omg…
nine more mounths!
July 8th, 2008 at 2:41 am
I love this guys dedication! He’s like the only actor to be so hyped, so excited to be playing his role! Thanx Marsters for shedding us some light through all this!
July 8th, 2008 at 2:49 am
As someone mentioned before, he does sound a lot more like Piccolo Jr. than the evil one. Oh well…so he’s wearing armor eh? Costumes being more true to the original….it’s good to have a fan of the work be part of the project rather than a random, who doesn’t really know what they’re getting into.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:51 am
“For example, some characters in the original don’t appear in the movie.”
No krillin?
ok this now totally SUCKS balls
July 8th, 2008 at 4:25 am
james is the savior of this movie
July 8th, 2008 at 6:10 am
test
July 8th, 2008 at 6:13 am
test 2
July 8th, 2008 at 6:16 am
@ ti: You knew Krillin, Tien and Chiaotzu weren’t in the movie before you read this interview.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:56 am
But aren’t they merging King Piccolo and Piccolo Jnr into one character anyway because the whole egg thing would just be wierd in a movie like this.. so if he had to take on the personality of one then i think Piccolo Jnr is a much better choice.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:51 am
James is awesome.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:30 am
james your amazing i wana marry u (lol)
he has so much dedication i just love him!
July 8th, 2008 at 10:34 am
“Their calm, gentle and modest but when it comes to the crunch they don’t hesitate to kill the enemy, and I think that’s what Goku is.”
This is stupid. He doesn’t get the characters at all. Goku DOES hesitate to kill his enemies. He’s kind and gentle and ready to forgive even his fiercest enemy (General Tao, Tien, Vegeta, Freeza). That contrasts with the fact that he’s an astounding fighter. Chatwin doesn’t get this kind of nuance.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Well, junior was a reincarnation of daimao anyway (even though the character wasn’t quite as pure evil). I think he even kept all his memories and everthing so I dont really see that much of a problem in sort of combining the two chaacters in the film adaptation
July 8th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Well Frost, that seems to be your interpretation of Goku. It seems that Marsters hass his own as so do I.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:33 am
James rocks ;D
July 8th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
“Well Frost, that seems to be your interpretation of Goku. It seems that Marsters hass his own as so do I.”
You have every right to have your own interpretation of Goku, though yours might have no support whatsoever.
What’s your interpretation? That Goku is just but ruthless against evil? C’mon. It just ain’t so.
July 8th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
ya frost is right
hopefully james just meant, that goku would kill for the greater good before give up other lives
the only reason goku didnt kill frieza is cuz he was alrdy done pretty much
tho you know wut goku was alot less ruthless in z then db kinda…like in db goku pwned King piccolo pretty eruthlessly so
July 8th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Marsters has just raised my hopes once again on this film, I already knew that he was playing a mix between Daimaou and Jr. so that doesn’t surprise me…but the whole thing about Goku not hesitating actually is kinda wrong…he always seemed to give the villain a small bit of mercy in the end, but that always backfired (Frieza) and ended up in their death…what he was saying sounded a little more ruthless, kinda like something Vegeta would do, not Goku…but anywho, I’m getting excited for this film once again!
July 8th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I agree with CJB. Goku would usually spare his Enemies like Vegeta,Frieza,(in a way)Kid Buu. But for Cell, Goku killed himself to Kill Cell (Didn’t work out so well)
July 8th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
heason,
“tho you know wut goku was alot less ruthless in z then db kinda…like in db goku pwned King piccolo pretty eruthlessly so”
Granted, in DB he had a lot less mercy - but at the same time, the only “serious” saga in the original DB is Piccolo’s. There, Goku shows for the first time his fury when he goes after Tambourine to avenge Krillin’s death. The previous sagas were much lighter and more comedy-centered.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Jessssssse,
“But for Cell, Goku killed himself to Kill Cell (Didn’t work out so well)”
Well, he did spare Cell before and even gave him a Senzu bean to regain his strenght. He didn’t do this out of mercy, it’s true. He wanted to unleash Gohan’s hidden powers.
But that (and his refusal to fuse again to defeat Kid Buu as well as his previous displays of mercy) only comes to show that Goku *does* hesitate to kill his enemies, if only because he has other values at stake besides his wish to save the world.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Ok, Goku may have been merciful to Kid Buu cause he didn’t want to fuse…UM WRONG!
It’s called Pride. Vegeta answers for both of them when he says that they want to fight like true Saiyans not crappy fused stuff.
Again, if you say he didn’t kill Fat Buu cause of mercy again you are wrong. He wanted the next generation to fight and save the world cause he was getting tired of it, for literally saving the world for the past 30 years.
Vegeta - He wanted him to come back stronger cause it was Goku’s rival and greatest fight.
Frieza - Ok, I don’t think there was any mercy there really. Yeah he did give him a little energy, but I highly believe that Goku believed that Frieza wouldn’t use it for good anyway. I mean if he wanted to show true mercy, he would have HELPED Frieza to a ship or something. Not let the planet destroy him. THEN come back to Earth and kill him. Which Goku does say when he talks to Trunks.
Ahem. I’m done.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I think that Marsters was describing Goku in the Piccolo Daimao saga, rather than DBZ. Just to through that in, and Chatwin did say that he played a gentle, loving Goku, so yeah.
April 10, 2009
July 8th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
hey JP, wat is da DBZ GAME MMORPG BELOW THIS PAGE!?!? Looks like a virus?? Does it play?
July 8th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
“Ahem. I’m done. :D”
And your right, Caleb.
Just pointing that out as well.
Except, Goku was going to let Frieza escape on his own, but he tried to kill Goku instead so he let him die with the planet.
April 10, 2009
July 8th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Frieza wouldn’t need a ship to escape the planet, even though he was cut in half. Goku shows mercy (he let fat Buu, Raditz, Frieza, and Piccolo Jr. The only one he killed the first chance he got was King Piccolo).
It sounds like Marsters was concerned about the outfits and Chatwin was just going along with him.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
You cant say there “wasn’t any mercy there really” He was just going to leave him there to die though it was relecutant his character could not ignore the cries of somone begging to be helped… and mercy is mercy whether it be just giving somone enough to get by or completely helping them out of a bad situation.
Goku was a very merciful character, which was the main point in one of the most emotional scenes in the whole series. Vegeta’s death. Vegeta had an entire monologue explaining to goku why he can not show any type of mercy for ppl like freeza. Excellent character development you get it straight from the characters the type of ppl they are.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk9iQn6uNAw&fmt=18
July 8th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Chatwin was probably just as concerned as he was, kame. they probably had them redesigned. I bet that Chatwin is a fan, because you can’t have someone who is unfamiliar with the series play Goku.
April 10, 2009
July 8th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I think that each of our interperatations of Goku are right in one way or the other. There are times when he shows no mercy, such as Piccolo Daimao, or Kid Buu (I’m gonna say he wasn’t merciful to Kid Buu, because he did blow his ass up…), but, for the most part, he’s a pretty caring guy. All I’m saying is, as long as Chatwin does the character justice, I really don’t care if he shows mercy.
And Marsters meant exactly that, that there were times when he didn’t hesitate to kill enemies for the greater good.
April 10, 2009
July 8th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Re-watch dragonball goku kills a bunch of people and laughs while doing it look at the red ribbon army lol. Its not till tien saga he realizes killing someone can come back and bite you in the ass. sure in Z Goku gives some characters the choice to live but in the end Him or some1 else finishes them off anyway hes the same old Goku but more mature.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
yep, thats called growing up
but i think marsters is going to do a hell of a job, he has seen every single episode of db, dbz and dbgt, just like myself, and i think that he knows just how to play piccolo after watching a few thousand minutes of the greatest show ever made
July 8th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Goku kills Diamo pretty ruthlessly. The only reason he didn’t kill Piccolo Jr. was because of Kami. He also didn’t hesitate to help Piccolo kill his brother.
July 8th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
well id say he DID hesitate, he was going to let radditz go. OBVIOUSLY hes not going to be like ok ill give you a second chance after radditz blew his first. Goku is forgiving, but in KIng piccolo saga he was not so lets just give marsters that, the cast has said goku is very gentle and loving but knows when to draw the line, id say thats pretty accurate for the most part
July 8th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
It’s too bad they are cutting so many characters. I’m thinking either they will all be combined into Yamcha (which technically works storyline wise) or just cameo Krillin at the temple where Ernie Hudson was (Krillin was originally a monk) and Tien at the World Martial Arts Tournament…
Either way… it’s a workable story. I’d prefer to have a unique Krillin character rather than a Yamcha/Krillin/Tien
July 8th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Whoever is running this website should redesign it where the newer comments go to the top.
I just wanted to comment on Marsters comment on Goku… I think its wrong thats not Goku, what he should’ve said is he doesnt hesistate to fight or to portect… you know. When push comes to shove Goku shoves hard… Goku is not the kind hearted person to kill someone, but he wont hesitate to protect or defend. I think we can all agree on that!
July 8th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
yea goku is a kind guy but james master just ment something else.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Hmm. Well I like Chatwins dedication. I was afraid hed be one sided like ur typical Keanu Reeves(no offense.) Keanu plays in great movies but sometimes i dont see the character, i see the actor, and thats not wat i want from this movie. I just enjoy versatility in an actor like Christian Bale, Johnny Depp(Although not one of my favies). Here it seems hes just as dedicated in the tid bit interviews as Marsters is.
Im also glad he mentioned in the interview that it is necessary to “condense the long story of the original for a movie.” Just like in the Harry Potter films, not everything in the book can be put into the movie, well it can but if u want to sit through 5+ hours of butt throbbing fun go ahead
To me Goku is like Clark Kent. Well actually Gohan from GT is like clark kent, in that like Kent, Gohan hides his true identity by humanizing himself to conceal his true natural born identity, an alien from another planet. Both also grow to love and protect earth and let nothing get in their way.
^^I was trying to tie in something to the rant about goku being gentle and blah blah but when push comes to shove he doesnt hesistate to kill…yada
~JOE
July 8th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Wonder if Piccolo will have a joker like craze and promotion like the joker for TDK after all he is a villain 100x more powerful then joker. Will masters Have a real powerful presence? Hopefully his dialog will be well written, to pull off a whole new level of villain to the cinema.
*hate to bring tdk into this just curious will
have major hype or no*
July 8th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Jm sed the only difference was time and character absense. he 4got chara. personality and look changes!
July 8th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Phat Joseph, don’t you EVER compare Superman to DBZ, yah hear?! NEVER!!
Superman is a dumbass faggot who wears his underpants on the outside so he doesn’t forget his own name and shoots lasers from his eyes to solve his damn problems! FUCK SUPERMAN!!!!
Sorry, I know I got carried away, but I hate Supperman, and you should all know why.
APRIL 10, 2009, BITCH!
(Sorry to those I’ve just offended, it’s just I feel really strongly against Superman.)
July 8th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
lol, my favorite ignorant “Superman beats Goku” picture is one from the google photos section of Superman holding a defeated SSJ4 Goku, but he holds him by his pink hair (which is unattached to his skin and torn as if it were a shirt, which obviously is what the artist thought Goku was ‘wearing’)
July 8th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
I’ve always wondered what Supermans power lvl is, hmmm….prolly somethin pathetic like 1,000!
July 8th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
God people all he means is that Goku doesn’t hesitate to kill an enemy if it means to protect his friends.
James Your awesome! If anyone gots this movie right it’s you!
July 8th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
I wish everybody would stop dissecting every single word that Marsters said. Sometimes when people talk about things they may not come out exactly as they intended. Or maybe they did, and that’s just the way he sees Goku. You guys are gonna have the cast of the movie afraid to do interviews. lol
Some of you are way too hostile for me, sheesh.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
JAMES MARSTERS NEEDS TO GET HIS WORDS STRAIGHT! HE’S A FOOL!!
HE DOESN’T DO JUSTICE TO PICCOLOLOLOLLOOLLOLO
HE SHOULD PLAY GOKU!!!
GOKU ISN’T ASIAN!!?! WHAAAA??!!?!?!?
Lol…I’m bored.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
“He should play Goku!!!”
Haha, love that. Nice.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:31 am
BTW, I think that it was just a mistranslation on their part or he didn’t think his words through. I can understand that. Sorry for that explosion, BTW, I just really hate Superman.
And the funniest thing, is that my friend thought Mr T could beat Goku. I pity da fooh!
April 10, 2009
July 9th, 2008 at 8:08 am
anyone who is complaining about how masters portrayed goku’s character first must be aware that this is a translation, after all, and it may not be 100% accurate
July 9th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
This movie is gonna be grate. Stop saying negaritive things about the cast, we should just supported and after we see it we could say how bad or gud it was.
July 12th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Okay don’t forget most heroes does the same remember spider man there superman returns they never want to kill there enemies but give another chance
July 13th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
There is only negetive things to say about this cast. its like they just got random people with the same gender. bulma i need a girl, Goku i need a boy, who cares wat they look like.
July 13th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
hey i just got here, and i dont know how to change my avatar. im stuck with the kid Goku one. can someon tell me?
July 16th, 2008 at 7:21 am
am i the only one here who’s awaiting dragonball cuz of james? sorry guys… i was a bit little (go for five years old) when i came across dragonball. i chose sailormoon over him =) please don’t flame. i still did watch it… i’m just not your avid fan.
anyway, james is a dedicated actor. he’s done not only shows and movies but theatre too. if you want someone who can give dimension to a bad guy, it’s gonna be him. give him a break please? dragon ball is not really the hot stuff during his teen years. and from what i’ve read, he’s doing this for the character, not for himself. he shines when he’s the bad guy ok? so give him a chance please? thanks
July 26th, 2008 at 3:04 am
I found this blog on a google search and boy am I glad I did. I thought I heard someone mention it in a free chat room.
Awesome read!
September 25th, 2008 at 1:48 am
If anyone can do Piccolo, it’s Marsters. Don’t underestimate him, he’s an amazing actor!