Rina Sawayama is a North London-raised pop superstar, producer, and actress from Japan. Not too long ago, she visited Good Morning America (LIVE in Times Square NYC) to chat about her feature film acting debut in the highly anticipated next entry in the John Wick franchise, entitled, “John Wick: Chapter 4,” with Keanu Reeve and Laurence Fishburne.
Rina Sawayama on “Good Morning America”
When asked, what was it like performing with Elton John at the Oscar’s afterparty, Rina Sawayama responded, “Magical, I’ve never been in LA during Oscar season so even being asked to go, let alone perform, was insane. And we actually sang a song together so that was so wonderful.”
About her acting debut, Rina stated, “Honestly, [it’s] like a Hollywood dream. I’d been doing self-tapes in the background, you know, for a couple of years. I’ve never actually landed anything. I came very close to actually getting the “Matrix,” which is like a whole different story that was like a very dramatic story. But, I actually got a call out of the blue from Chad Stahelski, the director. He said, ‘You know, I’m trying to find this role and I’ve like seen your music videos, and like I can see that you act, and I can see that you do dance and choreography and fight scenes – what are you doing for the next three months?”
Two days later, Rina traveled to Berlin and started doing some pretty rigorous training.
“It was crazy,” Rina stated. “You know Chad and ‘John Wick,’ the kind of style of it, the shooting action is that you shoot from start to finish. There’s… it’s not very choppy in terms of the cuts and so you need to learn the choreography from start to finish. So, it’s long sequences, and actually, on the first week, I pinched a nerve in my back just doing the most basic move. So that was so not cool at all. You know it wasn’t like a very complicated move, yeah. It was just, I was like dodging, I was like ducking, and then it pinched. But in a week, after a week, I had the best medical treatment and I got better and I was able to learn it all. But yeah, five weeks. It felt like it wasn’t long enough, I wanted more, more time.”
Maybe, Rina Sawayama will get another chance soon enough because she proved she can act in an intense scene. Keanu Reeves, a legend in the movie world, took Rina under his wing.
Keanu Reeves
“He’s so sweet,” stated Rina. “He obviously knew it was my first role, and just looking after me behind the scenes, you know. He’s not a very showy person, he does things a lot behind the scenes to make sure everyone’s feeling okay. So, kind and honestly, he can turn off the celebrity, which is a weird thing to say. You think you know someone like Keanu – walking around the set – has an air celebrity constantly. But he’s there just to work, you know. He’s like there to work and he knows it’s a teamwork. And yeah, it felt really… I didn’t feel intimidated at all. It was nice.”
TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, The Netherlands
Rina talked about her mother, her biggest inspiration, whom she learned a lot of life lessons from.
“You know she is an immigrant,” stated Rina. “My parents were separated since I was about 10 years old. So, she kind of raised me on her own, and in a country [where] she didn’t speak the language, and from her, I learned perseverance. And she was in survival mode for a long time, and she raised me, and she gave me the best opportunity. And I honestly wouldn’t be here doing this with you right now if it wasn’t for her. So yeah, I owe her a lot.”
From what she has accomplished thus far in her career, Rina Sawayama is surely making her mother proud every single day.
Rina Sawayama has been hailed as the future of pop. So far, she has accumulated over 400 million plays across various streaming platforms. Her critically acclaimed debut album, “Sawayama,” ranked on more than 50 album of the year lists in 2020.
Sawayama rose to stardom via an unusual route at Cambridge University while studying politics, psychology, and sociology. She funded her early music endeavors with money earned from modeling, before eventually signing a record deal. With no genre off-limits, Sawayama’s attention-grabbing singles include “XS,” an Elton John collaboration “Chosen Family,” and “This Hell,” which Sawayama performed live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
We highly recommend going to the movie theater on March 24th, 2023, to watch the “John Wick: Chapter 4” movie featuring Keanu Reeve, Laurence Fishburne, and Rina Sawayama. Also, let us know how you feel in the comment section below. Mel Blanc’s famous catchphrase, That’s All Folks! Thanks for reading another great article on Bong Mines Entertainment – the hot spot for new music and entertainment news. Always remember that (P) Positive, (E) Energy, (A) Always, (C) Creates, (E) Elevation (P.E.A.C.E). Contact us on social media via Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook, and let us know what’s going on.