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"Blow wind, blow, and crack your cheeks!"
Full disclosure, I cannot always be counted on to be dispassionate and objective where Yakusho Koji is concerned. He is one of my favorite actors from any country. I was concerned when I saw the slapstick style poster for the drama that he was truly going to test my love for him. I should have had more faith. Did Someone Happen to Mention Me? turned out to be exactly my kind of drama—a moving redemption story. An actor faced his worst nightmare; he and his work were completely forgotten. He thought he needed to reclaim his life, his vocation, and his fame. When confronted with who that man was and the pain he’d inflicted on others, the path forward wasn’t as simple as he thought it might be.
Renowned Japanese stage actor Takasegawa Gen is reveling in his performance in London as King Lear. He’d moved to the UK for the chance to perform on stage and also to escape his latest scandal. Married, divorced, married, and caught with his latest mistress, he asked for people to forget him and he left the country. After two years, he’s ready to go home but his return is delayed due to a horrific pandemic. When he finally arrives in Japan he is hit with every actor’s worst fear—he’s been completely forgotten. Not just by the public, but by family as well. His on-line and financial presence is scrubbed. For a time, he is the King living on the streets until he finally lands a part-time job at a sauna with a feisty Korean speaking manager and an actor playwright. Gen determines to get his old life back, but as he stumbles about on his journey, he realizes his old life wasn’t so great.
Did Someone Happen to Mention Me? is similar to It’s a Wonderful Life, if George Bailey had been a jerk that most people had come to hate. Gen gets a glimpse of how he treated people and the path of destruction he left. By walking in the shoes of extras, stage hands, and others associated with dramas and films he began to experience empathy and humility. His acting skills also expanded as he learned to be “normal” from the invisible extras on set he had disdained in his prior life. As he grew, he still craved validation and appreciation, but more so from people he loved and admired than from strangers. He was no longer glued to his phone searching for any mention of his name. Through the eyes of people who knew his father he gained a better understanding of the man whose shadow he walked in.
The drama revealed the darker side of making films and dramas highlighting the overworked, underpaid people who bring entertainment to life. I was surprised to find that extras are often not paid for their work which is usually not the case in Hollywood. Gen was not alone in feeling alone and anxious. Famous actors, extras, and those behind the camera felt the same way.
Yakusho Koji was perfect for the role of a man with 1000 faces both onscreen and off. Gen reinvented himself, failed, learned, made real human connections, shone, fell on his face, dusted himself off and tried again. And along the way he attempted to atone for his earlier actions. At nearly 70 years old, he demonstrated that it’s never too late to open your heart and mind to the people and world around you. It’s never too late to be the best version of yourself that you can be.
3 November 2026
I did have one criticism which I’ll note below in a spoiler.
****
Both of Gen’s kids at the end said they didn’t care about his affairs that tore apart their parents’ marriages. They just wanted him to excel as an actor. I’m going to call BS on that. It hurt them before, now that he was famous again it didn’t bother them? He’d betrayed and abandoned both families. Forgive him, sure, but laughing it off? Probably not. It was strange how both ex-wives became instantly more amenable toward him once he became famous. He was a celebrity before he left for London and they had no problem disliking him then. He was a better man, but that was whiplash inducing changes in attitudes. I almost dropped my score to an 8.5 and may still, but I really loved Koji’s performance and the story overall.
Renowned Japanese stage actor Takasegawa Gen is reveling in his performance in London as King Lear. He’d moved to the UK for the chance to perform on stage and also to escape his latest scandal. Married, divorced, married, and caught with his latest mistress, he asked for people to forget him and he left the country. After two years, he’s ready to go home but his return is delayed due to a horrific pandemic. When he finally arrives in Japan he is hit with every actor’s worst fear—he’s been completely forgotten. Not just by the public, but by family as well. His on-line and financial presence is scrubbed. For a time, he is the King living on the streets until he finally lands a part-time job at a sauna with a feisty Korean speaking manager and an actor playwright. Gen determines to get his old life back, but as he stumbles about on his journey, he realizes his old life wasn’t so great.
Did Someone Happen to Mention Me? is similar to It’s a Wonderful Life, if George Bailey had been a jerk that most people had come to hate. Gen gets a glimpse of how he treated people and the path of destruction he left. By walking in the shoes of extras, stage hands, and others associated with dramas and films he began to experience empathy and humility. His acting skills also expanded as he learned to be “normal” from the invisible extras on set he had disdained in his prior life. As he grew, he still craved validation and appreciation, but more so from people he loved and admired than from strangers. He was no longer glued to his phone searching for any mention of his name. Through the eyes of people who knew his father he gained a better understanding of the man whose shadow he walked in.
The drama revealed the darker side of making films and dramas highlighting the overworked, underpaid people who bring entertainment to life. I was surprised to find that extras are often not paid for their work which is usually not the case in Hollywood. Gen was not alone in feeling alone and anxious. Famous actors, extras, and those behind the camera felt the same way.
Yakusho Koji was perfect for the role of a man with 1000 faces both onscreen and off. Gen reinvented himself, failed, learned, made real human connections, shone, fell on his face, dusted himself off and tried again. And along the way he attempted to atone for his earlier actions. At nearly 70 years old, he demonstrated that it’s never too late to open your heart and mind to the people and world around you. It’s never too late to be the best version of yourself that you can be.
3 November 2026
I did have one criticism which I’ll note below in a spoiler.
****
Both of Gen’s kids at the end said they didn’t care about his affairs that tore apart their parents’ marriages. They just wanted him to excel as an actor. I’m going to call BS on that. It hurt them before, now that he was famous again it didn’t bother them? He’d betrayed and abandoned both families. Forgive him, sure, but laughing it off? Probably not. It was strange how both ex-wives became instantly more amenable toward him once he became famous. He was a celebrity before he left for London and they had no problem disliking him then. He was a better man, but that was whiplash inducing changes in attitudes. I almost dropped my score to an 8.5 and may still, but I really loved Koji’s performance and the story overall.
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