“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…
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