Nausicaa
in Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind remains the crowning achievement for
actor Sumi Shimamoto, who was the original voice of that character for
director Hayao Miyazaki. It was a dream come true for Shimamoto, who
had been an avid reader of the Nausicaa manga. "The role is something
that I'm still grateful and thankful about and I'm still touched by
that," she said through an interpreter at a Sakura Con interview
session. "I was able to be part of the story. I was asked the same
question earlier (at a panel discussion) and I nearly cried. What I
would like for everyone to understand is to become kinder and gentler
people. Nausicaa as a person might be able to help them accomplish
that." Shimamoto has always been impressed that Nausicaa tried to
change people rather than destroy them, although the character always
wasn't sweet and gentle in the process. Sometimes, Nausicaa is nearly
an avenger in the film, but it's always for a reason. "I tried to turn
that into bravery and courage," she said. "That feeling of wanting to
make people understand is something you need to show with with a
certain amount of strength to get through to people."
Another
character that Shimamoto played that resembles Nausicaa in some ways
was a dub character, Leia Organa in the final three Star Wars movies.
Shimamoto dubbed Carrie Fischer's role in the Japanese versions of the
Star Wars films. "I enjoy playing strong willed female characters, but
Lea speaks more quickly than Nausicaa - bam bam bam! That was
actually difficult." Shimamoto built to being able to handle that sort
of part through her debut role, Clarisse in the Miyazaki-directed Lupin
III feature, Castle of Cagliostro. "I was very fresh and very innocent,
but there are lots and lots of other roles that I've done." One of
those roles is an a occasional appearance in Detective Conan as Conan's
mother, a role she said is closer to her real personality than any
other role. When listening to American dub actors, Shimamoto hears a
naturalistic style of acting among female actors, as opposed to
Japanese female actors who can try to force their performances to sound
cute.
Nausicaa
in Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind remains the crowning achievement for
actor Sumi Shimamoto, who was the original voice of that character for
director Hayao Miyazaki. It was a dream come true for Shimamoto, who
had been an avid reader of the Nausicaa manga. "The role is something
that I'm still grateful and thankful about and I'm still touched by
that," she said through an interpreter at a Sakura Con interview
session. "I was able to be part of the story. I was asked the same
question earlier (at a panel discussion) and I nearly cried. What I
would like for everyone to understand is to become kinder and gentler
people. Nausicaa as a person might be able to help them accomplish
that." Shimamoto has always been impressed that Nausicaa tried to
change people rather than destroy them, although the character always
wasn't sweet and gentle in the process. Sometimes, Nausicaa is nearly
an avenger in the film, but it's always for a reason. "I tried to turn
that into bravery and courage," she said. "That feeling of wanting to
make people understand is something you need to show with with a
certain amount of strength to get through to people."
Another
character that Shimamoto played that resembles Nausicaa in some ways
was a dub character, Leia Organa in the final three Star Wars movies.
Shimamoto dubbed Carrie Fischer's role in the Japanese versions of the
Star Wars films. "I enjoy playing strong willed female characters, but
Lea speaks more quickly than Nausicaa - bam bam bam! That was
actually difficult." Shimamoto built to being able to handle that sort
of part through her debut role, Clarisse in the Miyazaki-directed Lupin
III feature, Castle of Cagliostro. "I was very fresh and very innocent,
but there are lots and lots of other roles that I've done." One of
those roles is an a occasional appearance in Detective Conan as Conan's
mother, a role she said is closer to her real personality than any
other role. When listening to American dub actors, Shimamoto hears a
naturalistic style of acting among female actors, as opposed to
Japanese female actors who can try to force their performances to sound
cute.
