John Wick: Chapter 4's Hiroyuki Sanada On 'Sword Fu' And Fighting Donnie Yen [Exclusive Interview]

Some brotherhoods may span across lifetimes after all.

If anyone believes Shimazu Koji (Hiroyuki Sanada) and John Wick (Keanu Reeves) of "John Wick: Chapter 4" are reincarnations of their characters in 2013's "47 Ronin," Ōishi and Kai, no one would hold that against you. Even when the world of both men is less feudal-mystical and more assassins in ballistic chic and consecrated killer hotels, they again assume their prior positions as rescuer and rescuee. With Wick's fight against The High Table, our very tired protagonist is in desperate need of rest, and thankfully, the Osaka branch of The Continental Hotel (run by Sandada's character, Shimazu, and his daughter, Akira, played by Rina Sawayama) are willing to oblige him. For the moment, anyway.

The presence of the seasoned actor, martial arts practitioner, and Sonny Chiba's protégé is just one of many crucial Japanese elements in Chad Stahelski's globe-hopping, stunt-filled, and clubbing-aplenty franchise. In fact, the full title of "John Wick: Chapter 4" reportedly used to have the subtitle "Hagakure," possibly a homage to Yamamoto Tsunetomo's historical text about the connection between bushido — the samurai warrior's code — and death.

I had the fortune to chat with Hiroyuki Sanada about becoming Shimazu (and at last joining the "John Wick" crew), building chemistry with his co-stars (Sawayama and Donnie Yen), and an upcoming limited series that will mark the first producing credit of his career.

Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

For Shimazu, did you have any input on how he should look, move, or think?

Yes. Basically, Shimazu Koji grew up with John Wick together. They trained together. So my basic style is just like John Wick, gun-fu style. I had to learn that first. And also, Chad, the director, wanted me to use the Japanese sword, putting some Japanese flavor into the gun-fu style. So that was a theme of mine. During the three-week training before we started shooting, I put in a lot of ideas for my fighting style, gun-fu plus Japanese sword. So yeah, "sword-fu" or "sword gun-fu" or something [laughs]. Use everything together. Shimazu came from that mixture.

This is I think just a minor detail, but I find it really refreshing that Shimazu is from Osaka, instead of the typical Tokyo.

Yeah. But who knows if he did grow up in Osaka, right? He grew up with John Wick and then he went all over the world to work, to kill somebody [laughs], and then the High Table decided to make a Continental Hotel in Osaka, not Tokyo, so he went there as a manager. He wasn't necessarily [an Osaka native]. I didn't use any Osaka dialect.

How was the process of building chemistry with Rina Sawayama, who plays your daughter?

Oh, yes! We spent as much father-daughter bonding time as possible during rehearsal, because it was her first time acting, so she was so nervous. We spent a long, long time — every day we had a dialogue session or sometimes movement acting, or we tried another approach. And I gave her some pointers for the acting or action, how to show your character. She took that in so quickly — she was a great learner, and of course, she has great talent, so immediately she understood what I was saying. Day by day, she would get better. On the very first day of shooting, we felt like we were a real father and daughter [unit] already. And she had confidence. She was living as Akira, her role. I'm so happy she's done well.

Drawing upon your martial arts background, how was it being directed by a stuntman or being surrounded by people who know action choreography?

I'm not a martial artist, per se. I was a child actor. When I was five years old, I started acting. In the process, I started learning everything — singing, dancing, martial arts — as one of my skills as an actor. I just continued doing this and learning. But my background is acting, and then I learned [more] skills. It's a little different from other action stars, I think.

But my hope is to [not have to] separate drama and action. The best way is to have a mixture. So this time, the director knows about action, so it was easy to collaborate and then we could try to make good action with emotions, with drama. For me, it was like a dream come true this time.

I think a lot of people would say they can see that mixture of action and drama best when Shimazu fights with Caine, Donnie Yen's character. How was it working with him?

Yeah, it was a great cooperation with him. We both had the experience to create the action scenes, and also we know what the important things are in the action scenes. So we put some ideas together, and Chad just gave us freedom, watching us and enjoying the chemical reaction between us with our different fighting styles, different backgrounds, all at once. Then after we created the choreography, Chad gave us some pointers, adjustments, and then, "Let's shoot." One take. Two takes. And done, high-five! And then next. It was an easy and fun collaboration.

Finally, you have an upcoming series called "Shōgun," which will also be your first time as a producer as well. Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

What can we look forward to in it?

It was a great cooperation with the Western crew and the Japanese cast and crew. International project. We tried to make it authentic as much as possible. It was a dream team for me. So I'd like to continue [doing] those kinds of things, and then introduce great talents from Japan to the world. I think that's another important mission in my life from now on.

Do we have a release date for that? I can't wait for it.

We have not decided the release date, but sometime late this year, I think. Fall or winter, I don't know yet. We are still in post-production.

"John Wick: Chapter 4" arrives in theaters on March 24, 2023.