Takehiro Hira, who stars in “Shogun,” says he has only seen one script for season 2. Still, he says he thinks he knows the fate of Kazunari Ishido, the character he plays.
“I can’t really talk about it, but you know, the older characters in ‘Shogun’ loosely follow real historical figures. So my boyfriend doesn’t really survive after a big war, a battle. So my days are numbered,” Hilla told me Wednesday night at the premiere of Searchlight Pictures’ new drama Rental Family at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles.
“I’ll probably die with honor,” he said, teasing, “but I might come back as…”
Last year, Hira was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role on the show.
Around the same time that the premiere carpet for “Rental Family” opened, FX announced that production on Season 2 would begin in January. New additions to the cast include Asami Mizukawa as Aya, Masataka Kubota as Hinata, Sho Kaneda as Hidenobu, Takaaki Enoki as Lord Ito, and Jun Kunimura as Goda.
Continuing cast members include Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Fumi Nikaido, Shinnosuke Abe, Hiroto Kanai, Yoriko Horaguchi, Tommy Bastow, Yuko Miyamoto, Eita Okuno, and Yuka Kouri.
Season 1 directors Hiromi Kamata (Season 1, Episode 6 “Ladies of the Willow World”) and Takeshi Fukunaga (Season 1, Episode 7 “The Stick of Time”) will return to direct Season 2. Anthony Byrne, Kate Herron, and series co-creator Justin Marks are also set to direct episodes for season two.
According to the official logline, “Shogun Season 2” takes place 10 years after the events of season 1.
Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Gorman, Brendan Fraser, Akira Emoto, and Takehiro Hira attend the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Rental Family’ held at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles, California on November 12, 2025. (Photo provided by River Callaway/Variety)
“Rental Family” stars Brendan Fraser as an actor living in Japan who takes a job at the Rental Family Agency, played by Hila, and is assigned to fill in various roles for clients. Hikari directed from a screenplay co-written with Stephen Blahat. The cast includes Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto.
“Rental Family” will be released on November 21st.
