Attention anyone who isn't up-to-date on LOST: there could be a final-season spoiler in the intro to this interview. If you're sensitive to such things, skip it. The transcript itself is spoiler-free.

Hiroyuki Sanada has been a star in his native Japan for close to thirty years, but it wasn't until his lovely performance in 2002's THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI that he fully connected with international audiences. Suddenly, world-renowned directors like Ed Zwick (THE LAST SAMURAI), James Ivory (THE WHITE COUNTESS) and Danny Boyle (SUNSHINE) came calling; now, after a memorable run as Dogen in the final season of LOST, and an impressively nuanced turn in Ivory's THE CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION (in theaters this Friday, April 16th), it appears that Sanada could be on the verge of a late-career break into the big time. As a fan of his work in all of these films (can't comment on LOST 'cuz I fell out in Season Two and never caught up), I certainly hope so; we need more movie stars who eschew histrionics for understatement. In talking with Sanada over the phone last week, he seemed amused by the idea of becoming an international movie star as he nears fifty. Though he's obviously open to the idea, he's no interest in getting there by capitalizing on his martial arts training - put to memorable use in films like ROYAL WARRIORS and Cory Yuen's NINJA IN THE DRAGON'S DEN - in run-of-the-mill action flicks. Sanada wants to challenge himself as an actor - as he did ten years ago when he appeared alongside Sir Nigel Hawthorne in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of KING LEAR. There's no better way to do that than to throw yourself into a production like THE CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION, and see how you fare against the likes of Hopkins, Laura Linney and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Unsurprisingly, Sanada more than holds his own. In the below interview, we discuss everything from his work in the Ivory film to his anxiety at taking on Shakespeare at the RSC to what he hopes to do now that he's relocated to Hollywood. To his credit, Sanada is humbly just taking each role as it's offered, and trying to involve himself in the best films possible.

Mr. Beaks: I just watched the film yesterday, and your work with Anthony Hopkins is terrific. This is your second film with James Ivory. How did you get on his radar?

Hiroyuki Sanada: When I did THE WHITE COUNTESS, Ismail Merchant, who was still alive at the time, watched my movie THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI. Jim knew my experience, that I had done Shakespeare in English [at the RSC], so I talked with Jim for about an hour. I think that was an audition for my English. (Laughs) After we talked, he told me that if my schedule was clear, I should join them in Shanghai. Of course, I said "Yes". That was the beginning of our collaboration.

Beaks: Which extends to this film. How did this role come about?

Sanada: When we were shooting in Shanghai, Ismail asked if I'd like to join them for the next film in Argentina. I thought, "Oh. Argentina. Maybe it's tango movie or about soccer." And he said, "No, no, no. It's a drama." I was just waiting to see the script. But during the postproduction of [THE WHITE COUNTESS], Ismail was... gone. I had dinner two days before he died, and I just couldn't believe it. But after he died, two weeks later, the script for THE CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION came along.

Beaks: Was Hopkins already on the film at this time?

Sanada: Yes, Jim said he was going to play Adam. It was a great script, a great cast, and working with Jim again... I had no reason to say "No." And Anthony is a legend. I watched his films when I was young. I could've never in my life imagined acting with him.

Beaks: Not just acting with him, but playing his lover.

Sanada: Yes, especially my role. (Laughs) Oh, my god. I was so excited.

Beaks: You've had the great fortune to act alongside two of the greatest actors of our lifetime: Hopkins in this, and onstage with Nigel Hawthorne in KING LEAR.

Hiroyuki: That was the biggest challenge in my life: speaking English in front of a live audience. I was so scared when I received the offer for KING LEAR. Ten years ago, I did HAMLET in London, but that was in Japanese. Nigel Hawthorne and one of the producers were looking for an Asian actor to play The Fool. After they watched my Hamlet, they came to my dressing room and asked if I'd like to do The Fool in KING LEAR with them at the RSC. I said, "You mean in English?" (Laughs) I had never done an [English-speaking role] in film or theater, so I was so nervous about my language and schedule and everything. I couldn't answer immediately, but this time the producer told me, "You have to remember, you are an actor before you are Japanese." And I heard a gong in my head. "The RSC is opening the door for the Asian actor. How can I say 'No'?" It was a big challenge to change the history of the Asian actor, so I finally accepted.

Beaks: Well, it makes sense. Your training in Japan was very well-rounded: you learned not only to act, but to sing and dance and fight and so on. It sounds a lot like the thorough kind of training you'd receive at RADA in London. Everything you'd learned had prepared you for this opportunity.

Hiroyuki: Yes, it was the next step for me and also for the Asian actor. I thought, "I have to open the door to the West." I was so scared, but that experience changed my life. The mixing of the cultures to make something new: it's so hard, but it's so interesting and important for the future. That's why I started going after international projects like THE LAST SAMURAI, SUNSHINE and [THE CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION]. I felt that this was my life's work: working with another culture, and sharing to make a new future for the next generation. So then I decided to move to the U.S., and I've been living here five years. After forty, I changed my life. (Laughs)

Beaks: But this happens to many actors later in life. Samuel L. Jackson is a good example. He didn't have his breakthrough performance until he was forty.

Hiroyuki: (Laughs) I believe it's not too late. Learning English, living in another country... of course, I can go back to Japan at any time and make more Japanese films. But I'd like to move back and forth and create more of a career in the world. I'm almost fifty now, but... life is amazing.

Beaks: Taking into consideration all of these international productions, you've worked with not only James Ivory, but Danny Boyle, Ed Zwick. Also, you've done LOST. You've chosen your projects very wisely.

Hiroyuki: I could never have imagined doing a U.S. television show. I've done film, theater and TV in Japan, too, but we had this language barrier. And in TV, there's no time for preparation like there is in film. But [Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse] told me that my role would be Japanese-speaking only. No English. So I said, "Okay, if it's only Japanese dialogue..." In the second episode, they had me speaking English a little. By the third episode, I was speaking only in English. (Laughs) It was their strategy. The producer, Carlton Cuse, told me they were laughing. He said, "Nobody knows the future. This is 'LOST world'!" (Laughs) But, again, I felt that this was a challenge: in the theater, it's only one take, and only the audience knows how my performance was; but the DVD of LOST going all over the world... it was like an exam for me. For a long time, I've felt like a student: learning English, learning another culture, learning another system. But finally, I passed the exam: speaking English on a U.S. TV show. It was scary at the time, but now people know this is me. I don't have to pretend anymore. Now, I feel like I'm finally ready to work in the U.S.

Beaks: What are you working on at the moment?

Hiroyuki: I'm in the process of shooting my next film. It's with the director Peter Medak*, and it's called FALLEN MOON. We're going to shoot in New York. My role is a Japanese detective living in New York, and working for the NYPD. It's a modern crime drama: no action, just drama. It's a new challenge for me.

Beaks: Are you preferring drama over action now, or are you fine with going back to your action roots?

Hiroyuki: I want to do both, but I need a good script for doing action. I don't like just showing the action. I learned martial arts and stunts: that's one skill for an actor, like singing or dancing. But sometimes people want me to do just an action film. I grew up a child actor in Japan, so basically I'm an actor who learned a lot of skills [including] stunts and martial arts. But it's always about the acting. I'm not the action star. I think if the director or the script are good enough to do action, I'm ready anytime; I will continue training for that. But as an actor, I need a good script.

Beaks: You need a good director for action. So often in American films nowadays, they don't know how to show off the fight choreography. You worked with masters like Cory Yuen, Kinji Fukasaku and Sonny Chiba; they knew how to stage and film an action sequence.

Hiroyuki: I had a lot of great masters in my life. They taught me a lot. "What is entertainment?" "What is action" "What does the action mean in the story?" I still hear their words in my head; they're still living in my DNA. They made me, so I want to show to the audience all of myself.

THE CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION opens in limited release Friday, April 16th. Faithfully submitted, Mr. Beaks

*If you've never seen Medak's film of Peter Barnes's THE RULING CLASS, do something about that. Then read RED NOSES. You're welcome.