Kazuya Shiraishi had his hands full directing the Netflix series The Queen of Villains, which debuts on the platform on September 19, 2024. Not only did he want to tell Kaoru Matsumoto’s story faithfully but he wanted to also depict the world of pro wrestling in a genuine way. The Queen of Villains tells the unknown story of Dump Matsumoto (Yuriyan Retriever), a professional wrestler who spurred the women’s professional wrestling boom with her cult-like popularity and took Japan by storm in the 1980s. Nagayo Chigusa (Karata Erika) and Lioness Asuka (Goriki Ayame) are the members of Crush Gals, a Japanese pro wrestling tag team duo who became the pop icon by dominating the television bringing the social phenomenon.
The following question and answer session was provided by Netflix and the people behind The Queen of Villains.
Q: Did you watch ’80s women’s pro wrestling?
Shiraishi: I watched pro wrestling from the time I was in elementary school. Men’s pro wrestling heels like Abdullah the Butcher and The Sheik were so scary to me. In women’s pro wrestling, the Extreme Evil Alliance was frightening because it felt like they were really fighting, like when they’d use forks and things to make opponents bleed. When I received the offer from Netflix to direct, it felt like I finally got the chance to work with a topic I already enjoyed as a pastime.
Q: I was under the impression that the characters of Dump Matsumoto and the Crush Gals were written with the actors in mind.
Shiraishi: No, Yuriyan Retriever, who plays Dump Matsumoto, and the actors who play the other wrestlers were selected through auditions. Even though Yuriyan is at the top of her field, she still sat with all the other actors and auditioned even in rough conditions. This was after she had lost a lot of weight, so I reminded her several times that this would mean she would need to gain weight again and undergo very harsh training. But her dream is to go to the United States and be an actor, so she had a clear focus, and that professionalism sealed the deal for her. Erika Karata very clearly stated her desire to perform in this series. Her passion and earnestness made her stand out emotionally, and she also has a visual appeal. Ayame Goriki had just left her previous agency to start her own. Something about this project must have clicked for her because she expressed interest in auditioning herself. When Karata and Goriki read a scene together, I could sense how determined they were to give a great performance in a new environment.
Q: How long did everyone spend on the physical and pro wrestling training?
Shiraishi: In principle, training began with building muscle to prevent injuries, which took up to a year and a half depending on the actor. In the training, they spent about six months of pro wrestling training. I think they trained three to four days a week before the shoot. The first time I went to see them practice, I saw that there was always food ringside so the actors could eat at any time and start developing their physiques and not lose weight. Yuriyan would get disappointed when she couldn’t complete the training regimen. One great thing about her is that she never put herself above others. The 10 or so actors playing the wrestlers were all training together, and they encouraged each other to overcome difficult obstacles. When one of them was successful, they all cheered. It felt like they had already created that feeling of camaraderie you find on school sports teams.
Q: How did Chigusa Nagayo come to participate in this project as a supervisor?
Shiraishi: Nagayo and the people at the women’s pro wrestling promotion Marvelous took the lead on everything from the physical training to pro wrestling instruction and provided solid backup. She choreographed the pro wrestling scenes, and she also understood what the actors were capable of doing and which moves were too dangerous and needed stunt doubles. She knew when everyone was tired and when to put a particular scene aside for the next day. She was in charge of physical health, mental care, and even safety, and understood that pushing the actors too far would negatively affect the entire shoot, so she built a complete sense of trust on set to be open and honest. As a former pro wrestler, she’s an incredible entertainer, and also a renowned trainer. Before the shoot, she got together with the actors playing the wrestlers and had a motivational talk with them. While the extras were eating lunch, she would climb into the ring and ask me if she could pump everyone up a little. Then she’d yell, “Everyone, let’s do our best!” All I can say is that she was absolutely amazing.
Q: In terms of the dramatization, what did you focus on when adapting Suzuki’s plan into a visual storytelling?
Shiraishi: When I received the offer to direct, the title “The Queen of Villains” and my mental image of Dump Matsumoto made me imagine a series about a cruel heel hated by all of Japan. As I interviewed Dump herself and spoke with all the people connected to women’s pro wrestling back then, the direction of the story gradually changed, so my impression was completely altered compared to the beginning. It’s a story about ordinary girls who want to shine, how they become stars, and how their professional careers end. These women who seemed to be fighting with a real sense of hatred were all around the same age, so there was a time of their youth that no one
knows anything about. I wanted viewers to see how these women felt and lived even amid their bloody battles. I wanted to take great care with the story of their youth, which viewers would also relate to. With the scenes like Kaoru and Chigusa under the ring at night, or the two of them lovingly writing their names next to Jackie Sato’s in the bunk bed, I wanted to evoke that special feeling of youth, of having lived that irreplaceable, extraordinary time.
Q: This series is also a coming-of-age ensemble drama that features the stories of the senior and junior wrestlers alike, isn’t it?
Shiraishi: It was such an incredible cast that we could’ve kept writing the story forever. Among them, I was particularly focused on Jackie Sato of the Beauty Pair tag team. Back in the day, she was a huge star recognized by everyone in Japan. Kaoru Matsumoto and the other girls also started wrestling because they looked up to her. But after Sato’s duo disbanded and her popularity waned, things got so bad that she was actually left behind in a parking lot somewhere in Shizuoka during a tour. Even a mega-star like Jackie could be tossed aside like a pawn of the company when it deemed her no longer useful. I think seeing that was extremely significant for
Kaoru Matsumoto and the others, and after they became stars too, they were keenly aware of how to stand their ground against the company. The 1985 Hair vs. Hair Death Match becoming such a social phenomenon is interesting on its own, but we didn’t make “The Queen of Villains” solely to recreate that moment. It’s about ordinary girls using pro wrestling as a weapon to destroy male society. They couldn’t demolish everything, but once they found a path to crush even a little part of the world they were in, there was no more hesitation for us.
Q: The Matsunaga brothers, who run All Nippon Women’s Pro Wrestling, Shiro Abe, and Kaoru’s father are presented as symbols of male society that the girls stand up to. Their detailed depiction was quite effective.
Shiraishi: The Matsunaga brothers operate All Nippon Women’s Pro Wrestling as a family business and make money by using the female wrestlers as pawns. But if they’re all shown as just money-hungry bad guys in the episodes, wouldn’t that be a bit unpleasant? The brothers actually love pro wrestling, but they go a little overboard when money is involved. We thought it would be good to have one brother who could be solid and steady, and we felt that Jun Murakami could fulfill that role. In contrast, Takumi Saitoh, whose role as one of the brothers has the most physical aspects, was the key to how we cast the other siblings. Shiro Abe, played by Takuma Otoo, acts as the referee because he likes to showboat, but he is really a promoter. when Dump Matsumoto goes too wild, he just mutters “That’s enough” in a low voice. They have some unpleasant aspects, but they have their good sides too. I wanted to create a sense that society is formed by a collective of personalities.
Q: The production design impressively recreated the vibe of the 1980s, from the atmosphere of the ring in the opening of episode 1 to the props and sets.
Shiraishi: I asked Tsutomu Imamura to lead the production design, since I always work with him. This is kind of a miracle, but Imamura actually did the production design for the 1993 film Ring! Ring! Ring! The Champion Belt of Tears, which Chigusa Nagayo starred in. She had retired, and Imamura worked with her and even filmed the training site for All Nippon Women’s Pro Wrestling at the time. He did a lot of work in the 1980s and understands that era exceptionally well, so I was confident he could recreate it if I left it all up to him.
TOP PHOTO: Kazuya Shiraishi
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