Sarah Michelle Gellar

Jason Behr on "The Grudge," Japan, and "Roswell"

From ,Your Guide to Dramatic / Romantic Movies.

Japanese director Takashi Shimizu returns to a story he knows well with “The Grudge,” the American version of the Japanese horror hit, “Ju-On.” Fans of the original will be happy to know some of that movie’s scariest scenes have been carried over into the American film. In fact, the Japanese film is so tied to the upcoming American version that not only does the original director return, but so do a few of the original cast members.

Jason Behr joined his “The Grudge” co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar for the 2004 San Diego Comic Con. It was Behr’s first appearance at the Con and he hadn’t had a chance to look around before sitting down for this interview. Being a comic book fan himself (he named his dog after Frank Miller’s Ronin) he was quite interested in seeing as much of the Comic Con as he could. But with all the “Roswell” fans in attendance, chances were pretty slim Behr would be able to just wander around and take in the sights.

INTERVIEW WITH JASON BEHR:

Can you talk about doing the reshoots?

We basically went back because we knew we were going back to pick up some shots. Some additional scenes.

Sarah Michelle Gellar said something about filming the back story of the characters...

Yeah. It was about Sarah and my characters, kind of giving them a little more life and getting a chance to see them in their relationship and how are they are as humans. I guess to humanize them a little more.

Was your character in the original “Ju-On?”

No. “The Grudge” has a lot of the same elements from the first “Ju-On,” but there’s a lot of other things that were added.

“The Grudge” is the third in the series in Japan, isn’t it?

Yeah. There are familiar things that you’ll see that are necessary to tell the story from the first “Ju-Ons,” but there are different elements added. I don’t think [Takashi] Shimizu [the director] would have done an exact carbon copy of it. We wanted to do something a little different.

Are you a fan of the genre?

Yeah. I think we all grew up on “An American Werewolf in London” and “Friday the 13th.”

What were the challenges of working with a director who doesn’t speak English?

In the beginning, he would come over and he would speak for awhile and then the translator would say, "Let’s just do it again." And that was sort of like the standard mode of operation for the first couple of days. We really didn’t get a whole lot of direction from him, it was always just through the translator. By the end of the shoot, we developed script shorthand and he learned English really, really quickly. So he was able to communicate with us by himself after awhile.

Did you learn much Japanese?

A skosh. I know just enough to order food and drinks and that’s about it.

What’s Shimizu like to work like?

...It’s amazing that this story came out of that mind. Because I mean, it’s a pretty terrifying story. I guess his head is a pretty scary place to be, but he’s a really friendly guy. He’s got a wicked sense of humor, one that doesn’t often need translation. He’s just a really playful, fun guy to be around.

Sarah Michelle Gellar said she has a sense of humor. Did she screw around with you on set a lot?

Not so much. Not so much. I think she stole my shoes once. You have to take off your shoes when you get in the house; when you enter any house in Japan. It’s disrespectful to the house if you don’t. So I remember coming back one time and my shoes were missing and I knew she did it, right away.

Did you get her back, after she stole your shoes?

No, not really.

Did you ever forget to take off your shoes?

No. Pretty much as soon as you walk towards any house, you know you take your shoes off.

Have you been hanging out with Shimizu in Los Angeles?

Yeah. We did some looping and I brought him to Krispy Kreme Donuts. He’d never been there before. He loved them. His favorite was The Original.

Sarah said he’s becoming American. Do you see that?

(Laughing) The first time I saw him in Los Angeles, he had his cell-phone glued to his ear. So he definitely went Hollywood for awhile. Yeah, he has his Birkenstocks and his little Hawaiian shorts and a cell-phone: That Shimizu, Hollywoodized.

All he needs now is a trophy wife and a convertible.

I think he’s working on that.

Did you work with KaDee Strickland at all?

No. I don’t have any scenes with her, but she’s great. She’s great. We had a really great group of people out there. To be in Japan away from all your loved ones, it was really... we got really lucky. KaDee, and Clea [DuVall], and Bill [Pullman] and everybody just had a grand time when we went out.

The streets in Tokyo don’t really have signs. When you went out, did you go by yourselves or did you have a guide?

The streets have no names. It’s not just a song. It’s absolutely true. Sarah and I were there first, so we kind of went off exploring together, navigating the subways and such. But then, when you have your days off, I would just get on the train and go. And I think I probably touched every corner of Tokyo. It’s a huge city. There are 30 million people in Tokyo.

Did you look at some of the great temples?

I went to Sengakuji, I went to The Imperial Palace, I did get the chance to go to Kyoto and go to Nijojo, which is Ieyasu Tokugawa’s old residence in Kyoto and was the capital of Japan. I went everywhere. I watched a samurai sword being made by this guy named Yoshihara Yoshindo who is like the next in line to be the national treasure in sword-making.

”Kill Bill 3”...

Yeah (laughing). I actually looked at a lot of samurai swords in different shops and I asked somebody if they knew Sonny Chiba and I don’t think they thought it was funny. So I kept the wisecracks to myself, especially in that environment with all the swords around.

There’s a lot of pride in the making of the swords.

There are a lot of things, but that’s one of the things that makes Japan so refreshing and endearing is that no matter if you’re making a samurai sword or a sandal, they do it to the best of their ability and take great pride in what they do — but humble. It’s a beautiful culture. To be able to experience that for three months is just a dream come true.

Did you buy a sword?

No. But I do plan on going back and doing a little shopping. You’ve got to pick the right sword. Or it picks you, I guess.

Are you a fan of the Japanese horror films in general?

I liked “Ringu” very much. But “The Grudge” is the best of both worlds I think, because it doesn’t lose any of that Japanese sensibility. It definitely has a different flavor in that way that “Ju-On” was very unique. But “The Grudge” is that with American actors in Japan telling that story. It’s pretty terrifying.

You know Sarah from an episode you did on “Buffy,” but was there something about her you learned while working with her in Japan that you didn’t know before?

I’ve known her for awhile, but it’s interesting how she was on “Buffy” and I was on “Roswell” and to come back and spend three months in the same place. It was great to have a friend to go exploring with and to go do things with. I guess she hasn’t changed a whole lot. She’s still the same person, pretty much, that I knew way back when. She’s a good person. She knows what she wants in life and how to get it. As I worked with her I could see that she’s really, really happy and I’m ecstatic for her. Working with her on “Buffy” a long time ago and then coming back to work together again, it was great to have a friend in Japan... to be one of the lone Americans out there and to have, to feel so... There’s a definite sense of being lost in translation and there’s a sense loneliness if you don’t have anybody around, so it was really, really good for both of us, I think.

I think we both pushed each other to go out and explore different things. I mean, we both had our little books of Tokyo and you know, dog-earing pages and saying, "We did this, we did that. Now let’s go see this and let’s go do that." We both did things on our own as well, but we were there for three weeks before anyone else got there so got a lot of sightseeing in before we started work.

Was there anything you learned about yourself while working in Japan?

I always had sort of a desire to go to Japan and I didn’t really know why. I just really liked the culture. I liked a lot of things that were Japanese. I think what I found out about myself is, why. And understanding that love and that culture is just... Japan was just an amazing experience for me personally because everywhere I traveled - be it the giant Sony building in the middle of this bustling city, and around the corner is this 300 year old temple. It was like a meeting of these two different worlds, that I found myself kind of grappling onto both of them. Kind of being nostalgic about things past, and also going forward in the future. It was just a really nice centering.

Would you ever do a sequel to “The Grudge?”

If the opportunity presents itself I would definitely read the script and take a look at it. I would work with Shimizu again in a heartbeat. He was amazing. Even with all the obstacles in the beginning with the whole language barrier, and being able to overcome those and still make the movie that we made, I would work with him again in a heartbeat.

Have you noticed a lot more people are aware of “Roswell” since it’s come out on DVD?

What’s funny about it is that it was playing a lot in Japan. Both “Roswell,” and “Buffy.” So it was kind of interesting to listen to my voice being dubbed, because I knew what I said back then! But I have a much sexier voice in Japanese.

What was it like?

It was weird. I want to meet the guy, I want to see what he looks like. The voice has a little more power to it [than mine], a little sexier than I was able to give.

Will you be participating in future “Roswell” DVDs?

I think they’re doing 2. I think they did 2 when I was in Japan. The last time they came out with the first one, it was like this small window of opportunity that I... "Can you come in and do this stuff?" And I was in Minnesota at the time, so it was like, two days went by and that was it. And so this last time they did the second one, I was in Japan. So I’m not on either of the special things.

Would you want to be involved in the future, if you’re around?

Absolutely, absolutely.

Some people shy away from these things.

I’m trying to think... no, no. I would definitely do it... It was literally, like, two days. They weren’t even expecting to do a boxed set, I guess. And they called me at the last minute and said, "Can you come in?" And I’m like, "I’m in Minnesota, I’m watching a ballgame. My Twins are winning."

What’s next for you?

I just wrapped a movie called “Shooting Livien.” It’s about this delusional musician who sounds a lot like John Lennon. So I had to do a lot Lennon research, and read a lot of books and watch a lot of DVDs, and music videos; a lot of things on John and Yoko. And I had to learn to play guitar — or at least four songs really, really well. The whole movie revolves around this rapid decline, drugs and rock & roll. I had to drop 40 pounds for it to kind of get there. It helped out a lot, you sort of wear your skin differently. It hangs on your bones a little bit lighter. It was an amazing experience. We did that movie in about a month and a half. Real bare-bones. I probably got about two hours of sleep a night. Really, really working hard on it. But it’s, um... I’m really, proud of it. I hope people get a chance to see it. We’re just finishing it up now and we’ll probably do the festival circuit.