In the action-thriller Yakuza Princess, now showing in cinemas, Japanese-American newcomer Masumi plays Akemi, the titular katana-brandishing heroine embroiled in a drawn-out gangland struggle in San Paolo, Brazil. Off-screen, in real-life, however, the Californian native is known for wielding a different kind of weapon, something gentler, hazard-free — the guitar. Look up YouTube and sample the singer-songwriter’s tender acoustic ballads and you’ll be half-wondering: is this the same person behind the kicks and punches and slices and dices an army of thugs that get in her way in the Brazilian production? It takes some getting used to and Masumi finds the transition from songbird to slayer just as surreal, especially since acting and martial arts are alien to her creative DNA (more of that in a bit). “But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a very strong-willed side,” Masumi shares with 8days.sg on Zoom. “So playing Akemi was almost like playing myself – of course, not the violent part! But I think the spirit that pushed her through all those difficulties that came at her out of nowhere was very easy for me to connect with.” Here’s what else we found out from our chat…

Her path to acting began rather obliquely. It started eons ago in Japan where she attended the International Christian University. When the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami struck in 2011, Masumi was trapped in an underground bar. There, she had an epiphany: she didn’t want to regret not pursuing what she really loved, which was music. Two months after surviving the disaster (she still has flashbacks of it whenever she struggles her way through throngs of people exiting a cinema), Masumi packed her bags for the US and got into the Los Angeles College of Music. “I was only gonna be there for a year, but a year became, like, 10 years,” she says.

About four years ago, when she felt her career was in the doldrums, Masumi was encouraged by her now-husband Kenny Leu, an actor, to express her creativity in another field — acting. So she signed up for classes and three months into school, she auditioned for Yakuza Princess, which is based on Danilo Beyruth’s graphic novel Samurai Shiro. “I think I did four scenes,” she recalls. “I think I cried in the middle of the self-tape because I felt so nervous! I wasn’t used to making self-tapes so it took me a really long time to do it. After I sent it, they got back to me in about a week. Then they told me I got the role and four days later, I had to leave LA for Brazil. It was a quick turnaround.”

Tying up loose ends: Tsuyoshi Ihara is not in a mood for negotiations in 'Yakuza Princess'.

3. No time to sight-see in Brazil, which is home to the world’s largest community of Japanese descendants outside of Japan.

She hit the ground running the second she landed, sticking to a spandex-tight schedule that left her only two days off — which she used for training. Shooting in São Paulo’s Japanese neighbourhood was trippy, “They have their own unique essence yet I felt strangely at home,” Masumi says. Based on her encounters with the locals, she realised that “a lot of the young people are starting to forget the Japanese language and that’s why some Japanese-Brazilians are trying to keep the language alive.” She adds, “Some of the team members didn’t speak English, so we were communicating with hand signs and whatever, and we really became like a family. To me, that’s the biggest gift from shooting there.”

Look sharp: Jonathan Rhys Meyers is ready to party with his katana.

4. She learnt on the job from veteran co-stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Japanese character actor Tsuyoshi Ihara.

“Jonathan really supported me throughout because I don’t think he knew at the very beginning that I was a rookie actress,” she says. From The Tudors actor, she picked up tips about lighting and camera angles. “I took so many notes,” recalls Masumi, who looks up to Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie and Momoi Kaori. And what about Ihara? “They really know how to work their faces,” she observes. “They’re aware of how they look, and what kind of energy to give towards the camera. Tsuyoshi-san has played many yakuza and samurai roles over the years, so just by watching the way he moves and how he makes those choices, I learnt a lot from that.”

Not a pretty sight: Tsuyoshi Ihara and Masumi make a grisly discovery.

5. She once had a phobia of handling knives.

“I’m actually scared of anything pointy,” says Masumi who learnt to use the katana for the movie. “That was tough, but the way to overcome it is the same way you overcome anything — when things are just thrown at you, you have no other choice but to deal with it. When I found out that the katana was actually real, I was very worried about hurting people. But that was the reality and I had to get used to it really quickly. So I just spent time with it every day, and — voila! — I don’t have that fear towards pointy things anymore.” Of course, she couldn’t have done it without her martial-arts-trained husband (see Instagram post below). “He helped me every single day,” she says. “I’m very lucky.”

Remember when Masumi had only four days to prep for Brazil trip after being offered the role? “Well, I got married within those four days and then I flew to Brazil,” she says. And when she returned from overseas, she was so busy with auditions that she hardly had time to enjoy life as a newlywed. Then COVID-19 struck. “It was really time for us to have this moment of realisation that we are married and that I’m trying to balance my acting and with my music — so it was a time of healing for me. It was a lot of writing down my thoughts and figuring out how I want my life to shape up. There were a lot of things for me to digest during COVID. It was a great time for me to use it for therapy and have time for myself.”

Next chapter: Masumi hopes ‘Yakuza Princess’ opens doors for her in Hollywood where she can play characters as strong as Akemi. “That’s what I really like about Akemi – she’s never sexualised,” she says. “It was really about her strength of will that carries her through the movie. That’s the kind of character I would like to play more, to showcase that women don’t have to be beautiful, feminine and sexual to be powerful. There’s so many layers of a woman that could be powerful and interesting to watch.”

Yakuza Princess (M18) is now showing in cinemas.

Photos: Masumi: Diana Ragland; Shaw Organisation