1.Prologue

Our November 15th episode was our “Hollywood Star Special". We aired snippets of interviews I did with composer Alan Menken, actor Hugh Jackman, and actor Rami Malek, and looked at their social media accounts to get a sense of how Hollywood elites use such platforms. In a word, it was what the Japanese call ミーハー (mee-haa).

In this article I’ll be writing about some thoughts and insights I had that were either left on the cutting room floor or were outside the scope of the episode. I’ll also recount how I used social media to prepare for the interviews I conducted with the three aforementioned stars.

2.America’s Dad, Alan Menken

First we looked back at my interview with famous Disney music composer Alan Menken. Menken posts regularly to platforms like Instagram and also actively experiments with new apps like Snapchat. (The man is apparently more young at heart than I am.) What’s more, his daughters sometimes leave playful comments below his posts, painting what is perhaps the ideal picture of family ties in the digital era.

Under this post, Menken’s daughter Anna Rose, a singer-songwriter, has commented “Dad, you gotta tell people what your name is on snapchat!"

In accordance with the name of our show, SNS Eigojutsu (which translates to the incredibly lame-sounding “English-language techniques for social media"), I always make sure to check and see if the people I interview use social media—and if they do, how they take advantage of the platform. In Menken’s case, it was immediately clear to me that he enjoys approaching Instagram with the same playfulness you can find in his music. Scrolling through his feed, I came across a photo of Menken’s father showing him how to tie a bowtie. After a little research it became clear that Menken had posted the photo in February 2019, right around the time his father had passed away.

By coincidence, we were planning on airing my Menken interview right around Father’s Day, and were even thinking about making it the topic of the entire episode. After discussing it with my producer at E-Tele, we decided that I would ask Menken about his father during the interview. Menken ended up telling me about how his father was a boogie-woogie piano-playing dentist. He also spoke about his own thoughts as a father to musically minded daughters. On his Instagram page, he has also posted photos of him and his daughter collaborating in the recording studio.

(For more about Menken, check out CINEMA & THEATRE #017)

3.Social Media Enthusiast Hugh Jackman

Australian national treasure Hugh Jackman posts frequently to social media—posts promoting his current projects, behind-the-scenes shots, and well as posts of him indulging in hobbies such as jigsaw puzzles.

Jackman came to prominence in his native Australia as a stage actor who could sing and dance with uncommon flair. To American audiences, he clawed his way onto the scene—and into the hearts of comic book fans—as the mutant Wolverine in the X-Men series. With American fans since finding out about Jackman’s singing and dancing prowess, his popularity has only continued to grow.

On social media, Jackman has an ongoing “feud” with Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds—who has played the wise-cracking Deadpool in the X-Men film series and in his own standalone films. While in Beijing promoting the film The Wolverine, Jackman posted the following photo of him with fans:

In response, Reynolds posted the comment “Pretty sure those are protestors."

On another instance, when Jackman invited Reynolds to a Christmas party, he apparently tricked him into being the only person to show up in an ugly Christmas sweater.

The more I scrolled through Jackman’s Instagram, the more I became convinced that there is no other Hollywood actor out there with such a healthy, playful relationship with social media. So I asked Jackman about it during my interview; truth be told, I would have much preferred to just forget the interview and spend some time with Jackman working on a jigsaw puzzle.

4.The “Queen" Foursome

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Actor Rami Malek was catapulted to a new level of fame for his performance in the 2018 hit Bohemian Rhapsody, culminating in him winning an Oscar for best actor. Malek has a reputation for being a very private person (roll smartphone footage of the actor politely refusing to say hello to the friends of a fan who had started taking the video without his permission), and for all intents and purposes is currently inactive on social media. I like to think it’s because he’s too busy filming his villain role for the new James Bond film, No Time to Die. Whatever the case, we looked at a few of his past tweets on the show, and I hypothesized that the actor must have been so overcome with excitement during preproduction and production for Bohemian Rhapsody that he was simply compelled to post to Twitter.


In terms of social media activity, it’s much more fruitful—and interesting—to look at Malek’s “bandmates" Joseph Mazzello (who portrayed bassist John Deacon) and Gwilym Lee (who portrayed guitarist Brian May). Malek fans will be encouraged by the fact that the actor has appeared frequently in the pair’s past posts.

The first time I saw actor Joseph Mazzello was in Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece Jurassic Park (a film that defined my childhood). The then 10-year-old(ish) Mazzello portrays the computer and dinosaur geek Tim Murphy. As I was scrolling through his social media in preparation for the interview, I saw that he’d posted a picture of him with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum that he comments was likely taken at the Jurassic Park premiere. Since then, he has also posted a picture of himself reuniting with Dern at an awards show. It was all like catnip for my inner mee-haa.

Gwilym Lee has also posted various behind-the-scenes and press tour shots of him posing with “the band", including some shots with Brian May himself. The day before my interview, he posted the following shot:

The photo is captioned, “We miss you Ben Hardy..."Apparently actor Ben Hardy, who portrays drummer Roger Taylor in the film, had to miss out on the Japan stop of the press tour due to scheduling conflicts.

The following day, I walked into the interview room where the three awaited, shook hands and introduced myself, and then promptly started with the following question: “So, there are only three of you here today...did the band break up?"

5.My Wardrobe for This Episode

Allen Edmonds “Park Avenue"

These are “Park Avenue" shoes, a classic Oxford shoe by American high-end shoemaker Allen Edmonds.

Established in 1922, Allen Edmonds makes leather shoes with superior fit. The brand made shoes for American soldiers in the army and navy during World War II. The brand was beloved by President Ronald Reagan, who wore Park Avenues for his inauguration; each subsequent U.S. president (George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush) would follow the tradition until President Barack Obama, who wore non-U.S. brand shoes to his inauguration.

In Japan, the shoe select shop Trading Post is an official Allen Edmonds dealer, and my pair was purchased at their Aoyama store.

Salmon pink necktie by Brooks Brothers

I purchased this Brooks Brothers necktie at the brand’s Aoyama flagship.

Black pinstripe three-piece suit by Tailor Fukuoka

For more about this item, see CINEMA & THEATRE #021.

White dress shirt by KASHIYAMA the Smart Tailor

For more about this item, see FASHION & SHOPPING #030.

Black glasses by Zoff

For more about this item, see FASHION & SHOPPING #006.