Joe movie he made.
The ice machine is starting to get to Andrew Koji in his new apartment in South Africa.
But Koji is willing to suffer for his art.
Andrew Koji’s Kimura boards the ‘Bullet Train,’ a film about a bunch of assassins riding a high-speed locomotive.Scott Garfield/Sony
(Although these days withthe Discovery merger, who knows what will happen.)
He’s not the same actor anymore.
He’s not the same person, either.
Andrew Koji in ‘Warrior’.David Bloomer/Cinemax
The Japanese-English actor has since starred oppositeHenry Goldingin a franchise film,Snake Eyes: G.I.
Even among a sea of A-listers, includingBrad PittandSandra Bullock, Koji’s performance cuts through.
Not just that he’s more relaxed.
Andrew Koji as Storm Shadow in ‘Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins’.Ed Araquel/Paramount Pictures
Koji thinks back to the beginnings ofWarrior.
“I used to really give myself a hard time,” he says.
“Warrioris a very demanding job.
Andrew Koji works with director David Leitch on the set of ‘Bullet Train.'.Scott Garfield/Sony
It’s tough on the body and the workload is a lot.
I used to have sleepless nights, man.
I think I burned myself to the ground.”
“I’m definitely trying to enjoy the ride a bit more,” he adds.
See below for EW’s conversation with Koji.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You’re calling from South Africa, right?
ANDREW KOJI:Cape Town, yeah, filmingWarrior, which has been pretty tough.
In the month before filming, I had a bunch of sicknesses.
First it was a flu: a fever and all that stuff.
Then I went straight to the stomach bug.
Then straight after that, a chest infection.
Then after that, a cold.
I just had to try and channel it, man, because what else can you do?
Either I fight this or I just use it.
you could’t do anything about that.
Does it feel crazy to be back on set?
Most of us had given up and moved on with our lives.
It’s been a strange experience coming back, but not with the same crew.
It’s also been weird to come back to a character you put to rest a couple years ago.
We’ve been feeling strangely relaxed.
People trust our instincts more, and it feels more collaborative.
Season 1, I was this untested commodity.
I very much had eyes on me and directions telling me, “Do this, do that.”
Now I’ve got more agency.
It feels good, different but very strange.
Do you feel like you’re in a new place as an actor?
I used to have sleepless nights, man.
I think I burned myself to the ground.
Season 1, I had a bit of a psychological breakdown.
Season 2, I had a physical breakdown because I was just pushing my body too hard.
Typical tortured artist, sleepless nights about scenes coming up.
I missed this."
Now, I’m a lot more relaxed.
I see that doesn’t necessarily help.
I’m definitely trying to enjoy the ride a bit more.
You don’t want to become too complacent.
I remember that forSnake Eyes.
Because of the script and a lot of the things going on, I was not sleeping.
I was going, “How do I make this work, because this is awful?
How am I going to do this?”
So it’s that weird balance that I’m trying to figure out between ease and efficiency.
I haven’t got the answer.
Did working onBullet Trainhelp you develop this ethos?
I’ll tell you what affected that: seeing the other actors and how they approached it.
It depends, obviously, on the scene.
The next thing that I learned was I had moments inBullet Trainthat were cut from the film.
[Director] David [Leitch] had a good reason.
You don’t have final say over the film."
How did the physical and emotional demands ofWarrioryou were talking about compare to something likeBullet Train?
Bullet Trainwas easy, because Kimura can’t fight.
He’s a brawler, if anything.
There’s only that one little sequence at the end.
ButWarrioris tough because it’s a long shoot.
You hardly have a moment to breathe.Warriorwas quite a big thing in Cape Town.
You feel like eyes are on you all the time, and that’s a weird thing.
I can’t even actually imagine what people like Brad [Pitt], those big, big stars…
I don’t think it’d be nice.
Maybe they get used to it.
They must, or they die on the inside.
Personally, the best actors can do a bit of both.
And then the byproduct of them being good at their craft is attention.
It’s weird, man.
Some people love it.
I don’t know if that’s me.
That’s why sometimes I question: Am I in the right job?
I’m starting to see the balance between the business side and the art side.
What film are we making?
Are we making a film for the fans?
Because if it’s for the fans, surely we should do this and this and that."
They’re making it based just on money.
It’s turned this industry and this whole streaming thing into this cog machine.
I think maybe the films we grew up with were a bit more special.
I’m sure there was still a bunch of trash there at the time.
But I think it still feels a bit out of whack.
Was that a benefit of you doingSnake Eyes, learning more about the inner workings of this industry?
What I hear is that it’s important to get on your feature-film thing as soon as possible.
So that was part of it.
I did actually like Robert [Schwentke], the director.
He’s definitely more of an actor’s director than a franchise or IP one.
And then, I got the independent film I did after that.
You’re really good inBullet Train.
I was worried because all the other characters are so colorful and they leaned into the comedy.
I was like, “Arewegoing to be the downer?”
Both of you are in that rare circle of performers who can also do physical stunts if needed.
What do you remember most from that experience with him?
I’ll tell you this one moment that didn’t make the cut either, and that moved me.
It was this moment, basically, right at the end of the film.
The whole film was very different, initially.
Everything in our past is now okay and we’re going to move on.
Hiroyuki, he didn’t need to do this.
This is a man who cares deeply.
We wanted to confirm that the Japanese characters had integrity.
That made me [cry] as well.
I think he knew that he saw I was having a tough day.
That gesture will stay with me.
It seems like COVID had a real impact on this production.
And I think actors or even any Instagram celebrity are given too much weight and importance and means.
There are people who are actually doing important things in the world.
We’re just part of the entertainment industry.
In most other industries, you’re going to get smacked by whoever.
You’re not going to get away with that.
Youshouldn’tget away with that.
That’s important because we don’t need any more douches in this world.
How do you keep yourself grounded?
I think they’ve made a choice to believe in this.
Obviously, if you get super, super famous, life would be different and hard.
But I think it’s just knowing that you’re not that important, really.
I don’t know.
I’ve got this quote.
This is something that I learned recently, which put everything into perspective for me.
I’ll recite this for you now off the top of my head.
With COVID and all that, we’re a tiny piece of this, aren’t we?
And we’re on this planet for a very small amount of time.
I hope I never become that guy, I never become a wreck.
Bullet Trainis now playing in theaters.
This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
