Takehiro Hira Discusses Whether Ishido is Really the Villain of ‘Shōgun’

Awards Daily talks to Shōgun baddie Takehiro Hira about whether Ishido is really the villain of the Emmy-nominated FX drama series.

Before stepping into Ishido on FX’s Shōgun, Takehiro Hira had actually played many roles around the real-life historical figure in Japan.

“Back in the 1600s, you had to be born into the ruling class to become a samurai or someone of political power,” said Hira. “But Ishido was actually born on the other end of the spectrum and was a peasant son, so he had to break a lot of barriers and make a lot of sacrifices to be where he is. Along the way, I’m sure there was a lot of resentment toward people of privilege and maybe hatred, anger, and indignation. That was the emotional core in his personality. To be honest, I’ve played a lot of villains in my career, so it was familiar territory.”

But is Ishido a villain? When you look at him juxtaposed against Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), they both want the same things (power) and will do anything they can to be the last one standing.

“I don’t want to belittle my captain to be a villain,” continued Hira. “In a way, Toranaga is more villainous than I am! I never thought of myself as a villain, but we both want the same thing, and I tend to play those emotions that I mentioned before, so I guess that’s how I played the antagonist.”

Ishido’s humble background factors into why he wants to eliminate Toranaga as a threat. His contrasting personality, too, is another reason he’s desperate to kill his competition.

“I’m surrounded by all these people of privilege. I guess Toranaga thinks outside of the box, so to speak. Ishido is so boxed in in the system, and that’s his logic. I just can’t stand him, someone who’s thinking outside of the box. What are you doing? This is Japan!” said Hira with a laugh.

Laughter is something you rarely see from Hira on screen, as the captain tends to keep his cards close. Ishido can level you with just a look — and there’s a reason for that, according to how Hira approached the physicality of the character.

“Since it was a Japanese language show and 100% Japanese on my part, I was always worried or conscious of what I do in front of the camera and what would be conveyed to the Western audience. Am I doing too much or too little? Most of my scenes took place in a big ceremonial hall where we sat down and talked and talked. There’s not much freedom in terms of movements. Only through looks here and there or to stare at someone, that’s all I could do. I was really careful to be expressive and accurate in the looks and the emotions in my eyes.”

For as cunning as Ishido is, Hira said there’s one thing he especially admires about his character.

“I like that he’s loyal to his boss (Taikō). He came from a humble background and so did Taikō, and that’s why he’s so loyal and respectful to him. It’s almost silly in the way he’s loyal to him. I like that.”

Ishido proves this allegiance in what Hira called the most emotionally challenging scene of the series: when the captain proposes to Ochiba (Fumi Nakaido), his deceased boss’s mistress.

“That was hard because I had to keep this masculine, powerful image of Ishido, but what he’s saying is really vulnerable. I found it interesting that Ishido respects Taikō so much. Sometimes we had little scenes here and there where Ishido would look at Taikō’s armor as if he were looking in the mirror—Am I doing it right? Am I doing okay, father? He’s loyal to Taikō, but Ochiba is Taikō’s mistress. By marrying her, it was a political move to further impeach Toranaga, but at the same time, it’s one step closer to becoming Taikō. Ishido almost wants to become Taikō in that twisted way, sharing the same woman. It was hard to convey all that, but I enjoyed it.”

Shōgun is streaming on Hulu.