‘The Boy and the Heron’ Star Says Hayao Miyazaki Apologized for Giving Him ‘Such a Strange Role’

Voice actor Masaki Suda plays the strange bird in “The Boy and the Heron,” the latest Hayao Miyazaki’s animation movie, and detailed how the cartoon legend joked about being sorry about the character’s oddities…

Jessica Marie BaumgartnerNov 10, 20232 min read

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himself hadn’t spoken until then. But there was a sense of tension, since he was listening,” he went on.

“And then, while I was trying different voices, I heard him say, ‘That’s it!’” he added.

Yonezu asked, “Like the voice of God coming from above?”

“Yeah, exactly! After that moment, everything was quick,” Sudan recalled.

“The boy and the heron,” is slated for early release in select theatres throughout New York and Los Angeles the day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 22. It will then be released wide to theatres on Friday, Dec. 8.

Yonezu also described the excitement of working with Miyazaki during the discussion with Suda. He said, “Honestly, I thought I was going to die.”

“I got to the point where I didn’t know what was right anymore. I always worked at home alone in my studio, making songs by myself. Like a weaving crane, I’ve always worked by myself. This time, I was so lost,” he confessed.

He then detailed how the music finally came together and affected Miyazaki. He said, “Seeing sitting right there in front of me, listening to it… He even cried.”

Robert Pattinson plays the role in the English-speaking version.