“Mrs. Sakamoto? I’m afraid we have bad news…”
In Apple TV+’s stunning new thriller “Sunny,” American expat Suzie Sakamoto (Rashida Jones) is alone. A decade after starting her new life in Kyoto, a mysterious plane crash has taken her son, Zen, and husband, Masa (Hidetoshi Nishijima) — leaving her with nothing but gut-wrenching grief. So, what happens when Masa’s secret passion project — a domestic AI “homebot” named Sunny (Joanna Sotomura) — is delivered to her door?
As Suzie struggles to process her new reality, she realizes that Masa may not have been the mild-mannered refrigerator engineer she thought him to be. Working to unravel the mysteries of his life (and death), she and Sunny team up to investigate the truth behind his disappearance.
The odd-couple duo is joined onscreen by Suzie’s quick-witted new friend Mixxy (Annie the Clumsy), her harsh but well-meaning mother-in-law Noriko (Judy Ongg) and ruthless yakuza queenpin Himé (You). Based on Colin O’Sullivan’s 2018 book “The Dark Manual,” the A24 production premiered its first two episodes on July 10 and will continue to release weekly until Sept. 4.
Ahead of the show, Sotomura sat down with Character Media to talk about AI, the unique production process and what it took to bring homebot Sunny to life.
Character Media: What initially drew you to this project?
Joanna Sotomura: Well, first off, Rashida Jones. Oh my gosh. When I heard she was attached to it, I was like, “It would be just such an incredible thing to be able to work with her.” And then on top of that, the fact that the show shot in Kyoto was just amazing. But really, the thing that drew me to the project was the character of Sunny. I thought she was just so wonderful and sweet and layered and just such a cool take on AI that I’ve never really seen before. I could not put the scripts down; they were just so fascinating. The fact that I actually got the role and got to play her — it’s still hard for me to believe.
CM: What was the audition process like for a role like this?
JS: It was such a ride. I initially sent in a voiceover audition that I recorded in my closet, and I didn’t even have the full script but I was like, “What a fun scene! This’ll be a cool show; good luck to whoever gets it!” And then I got word that they actually wanted me to do a self tape because the role was going to be way more than voiceover; it was going to be animated in this new technology that we haven’t really seen before. So I put myself on tape, and then I got another audition with Lucy Tcherniak and Katie Robbins, our executive producer-director and our showrunner. And then I chemistry read with Rashida, which was crazy. And at each step of the way, my thoughts changed from, “Oh, it’d be so fun to move to Japan!” to “Oh, I might be moving to Japan,” to “Oh, am I really going to Japan?” [laughs].
I had one final audition, maybe, like, five weeks into the process, and it was something I’d never seen before — all new sides, a very different energy of Sunny. And I was like, “You know, at least I got to let her live in the audition. If they don’t want me, so be it.” But I booked the role, and a week or two later, I moved to Japan.
CM: You mentioned the new animation tech they used to help bring Sunny to life. Can you tell me a little bit more about production and what your days looked like on set?
JS: It was really trippy because we actually had a 3-foot-tall Sunny robot on set, and I got to Tokyo two weeks before we started filming so I could practice with her.
For each scene, I’d go on set and do the rehearsal as myself — as Joanna — and they’d actually mark Sunny’s eye-line with a piece of tape on my tummy so that Rashida and Annie could act off the proper eye-lines [laughs]. Then I would go off [set] and get rigged up in this helmet with a monitor, a camera and a ring light. Then, they’d wheel the robot Sunny on, and we would film the actual scene.
What was really cool is that I animated her in real-time: When I blinked, she blinked. And we had two puppeteers, Jayce Ong and Hiroko Yashiki, who mimicked my hand movements as well. The three of us brought Sunny to life.
CM: What was your favorite part about working on the show?
JS: Working with all of the legends that were there. Rashida, Judy Ongg, Hidetoshi Nishijima — I just learned so much from them, and they were such wonderful, giving actors. It was a really inspiring set to be on.
CM: One of my favorite parts of this show is that you’re never quite sure who’s a hero and who’s a villain — Sunny included. You did such a beautiful job making her character endearing and lovable while also giving her a bit of a suspicious edge; how did you balance those nuances in your performance?
JS: Knowing the full trajectory of her character helped, but honestly it was all Katie Robbins. She created such a wonderful character in Sunny, and I honestly just tried to do justice to her scripts. She created such an organic, fully-fleshed-out character.
But overall, I think I just let things happen organically; I played in the world Katie created and let Sunny live. So when I watched it for the first time, I was happy that she came off the way she did.
CM: On that note, how did it feel seeing the final cut for the first time?
JS: I think I didn’t speak for about two episodes, which is not like me because I’m always getting in trouble for being way too loud on set [laughs]. But I was sitting there watching the episodes with my husband, and I just couldn’t speak. We filmed for six months starting in June 2022, and to see it all come together two years later was otherworldly. So, it took me about three episodes to breathe. But I was so proud. And I was just so in awe of the work that we created and the show that we made.
CM: “Sunny” is coming at such an interesting time for tech and AI, when people are already so divided in their excitement and skepticism. What do you hope viewers take away from watching the show?
JS: I hope they take away a really fun experience. The show has so much creativity [regarding] the future of AI — ways that it can help and also ways that it can be threatening and a little scary. Overall, I hope that viewers just come along for the ride and enjoy the world we created.
CM: One last question: Would you want a homebot of your own?
JS: Why not? The only thing is that I would probably change her voice; I don’t know if I could hear myself talking 24/7. Maybe I’d do, like, Pedro Pascal or Judi Dench [laughs]. But yeah, I think a homebot would be pretty cool.
Watch “Sunny” now, exclusively on Apple TV+.
