Meet Miyavi, the Most Rocking Villain of Unbroken

As a sergeant at variousJapanese POW camps duringWorld War II, Mutsuhiro Watanabeforced prisoners to licktheir shoes clean and once ordered AmericanLouis Zamperini to be punched in theface by each of his fellow captives. (The ordealthat lasted two hours.) ForUnbroken a new film directed by Angelina Jolie thatsbased on a 2010 biography of Zamperini,who was also a U.S. Olympic runner thejob of portraying Watanabe went not to anactor but to a rock star: Ishihara Takamasa,known to fans as Miyavi, a 33-year-old musician famed for his manic slap-guitar style andwild fashion sense.

It was so intense, hesays of his performance, which has criticstalking Oscar nomination. Of courseI never hit people like [Watanabe did] Im just hitting the guitar strings. I tried toimagine if they killed my family or daughters.Thats the situation everybody was in.

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Miyavi scored the role after being approached by a casting director, and he soonmet with Jolie, who aimed to make the villainmultidimensional. We wanted to putsome sensitivity and vulnerability into thecharacter, he says. He wanted to be like[Zamperini] but didnt know what to do.As a first-time actor, Miyavi felt tremendouspressure. In one scene, his character forces an emaciated Zamperini to hold aheavy plank over his head, pledging to killhim if he drops it. I ended up vomiting,says Miyavi. It was really hard.

Miyavi grew up in Osaka and was a junior-leaguesoccer player before an injuryended his career. He started practicingguitar and playing gigs, inspired bythe rowdy showmanship of Buddy Guyand Stevie Ray Vaughan. Before long, hewas a heavily tattooed electro-rock star inJapan. Now, hes got his eye on America he just moved to L.A. and recently recordedin Nashville. I just met Dave Grohl at aradio station in New York, he says. Thatwas crazy.

Miyavi was able to show off his talentsat the films wrap party, where he dedicatedAngie to Jolie and covered AC/DCsHighway to Hell. Angelina was moshing,he says with a smile.