Rashida Jones stars in “Sunny,” streaming on Apple TV+, starting July 10.
“After I was in Kyoto filming my new present Sunny in 2022, I began an inventory of issues that I wished to recollect as soon as I did not dwell there anymore. A lot of what I skilled had a deep impression on me as a result of it felt vastly totally different from my common life. Like, in the future, I made a decision to get my husband and son out of town and go to Nara, which is about 40 minutes south and residential to a Shinto home known as Kasuga Taisha and a temple, Tōdai-ji. We needed to drive alongside this lengthy street to get into city, stopping at a retro merchandising machine carousel to purchase my son a toy alongside the best way. Finally we turned a nook and noticed deer all around the hillside. The deer in Nara are a part of the place. You stroll down the road and there’ll simply be two of them taking a nap in entrance of a retailer. You should buy meals and feed them. Some even obtained somewhat nippy with us! It was a really bizarre, magical scene. And it was such a scorching day that the air felt like soup, however we quickly reached Tōdai-ji and it was cool contained in the temple, the place there was this large Buddha surrounded by numerous beautiful lotus flowers. Within the center was somewhat altar the place you might gentle a stick of incense and say a prayer. We had a quiet second of reflection collectively, as a household, under these large idols, and all of it out of the blue felt so humbling. One of the vital memorable issues about residing in Japan for me was the depth of spirituality, not simply on the temples and shrines however even within the inventive areas. There is a respect for tradition and the previous that I lengthy for. We simply do not have that in Los Angeles—no disrespect to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. However simply standing there, on this temple in Nara, I discovered myself slowing down. It was a spot the place I may very well be completely current.”
This text appeared within the July/August 2024 challenge of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the journal here