Ai Hashimoto is the new Sadako

Say what you will about how tightly controlled Japanese movie publicity is, but they sure know how to keep a secret. Just one day from the theatrical release of Tsutomu Hanabusa’s Sadako 3D in Japan, the young actress playing the latest incarnation of Sadako has finally been revealed: Ai Hashimoto.

There was actually a preview screening held back in April, but the 12 minutes of end footage that would have revealed her identity was left out. The casting puts her in good company. Although the first Sadako was played by kabuki actress Rie Inoo for her ability to move creepily, subsequent Sadakos were played by famous actresses such as Yukie Nakama and Tae Kimura. Anyone who follows mainstream Japanese films should be pretty familiar with Hashimoto at this point. She’s appeared in a slew of movies since her debut in 2009. Most notably, her performance in Tetsuya Nakashima’s critically-adored 2010 film Confessions made her the ultimate “it” girl of teen film actresses over the past two years.
 

In the newest installment of the Ring series, Sadako’s curse is spreading faster than ever thanks to internet video sharing, and her essence floats around in the cloud waiting for an appropriate person to posses by climbing out of their computer monitor. Unlike the first version of Sadako, who was portrayed as hideous and waterlogged after climbing out of a well, Hashimoto’s version remains a pretty girl, supposedly to entice people who see her into even more fear. 

Sadako 3D opened in Japan last Saturday.

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