By: Izumi Hasegawa July 31, 2025
She has it all—beauty, talent, a loving husband, and a child. On top of that, she’s incredibly funny! In this exclusive conversation, I found her to be genuine and warm, and I hope that comes through in this interview.
Q: I don’t see you on the screen. No camera?
KG: We’re off camera for this one. I’m in my pajamas. You don’t need to see this. [laughs]
Q: I’m kind of curious—what pattern is on your pajamas? [laughs]
I’m Izumi from Japan. Can you see my background? It’s a photo of the Shinto shrine my family has been taking care of for generations. Have you ever been to Japan?
KG: Oh, that’s so cool. I love Japan so much.
Q: Have you been to Japan a lot?
KG: I have been to Japan only once, but it’s always been number one on my list of places to visit. And I finally went for my honeymoon to Tokyo and took the bullet train to Kyoto, which was really fun.
Q: My hometown is even older than Kyoto and is considered the hometown of Japanese mythology, so you can actually walk through sites mentioned in the ancient legends.
KG: What’s your hometown called?
Q: It’s called Izumo.
KG: Izumo?
Q: Yes, Izumo—that’s the name of the region. My name is Izumi, so it’s a nice little coincidence!
KG: Izumo!
Q: I hope you can visit one day.
KG: Yes, that would be amazing.
Q: It’s the best place for sashimi, the birthplace of sake, and even the hometown of the creator of Kabuki.
KG: Oh! – So many!
Q: OK, let’s talk about you. What made you want to become an actress? Your family isn’t in the entertainment industry, right?
KG: Yeah, so I don’t come from a show business family whatsoever. I’m from a really normal background. I’m from the Highlands of Scotland, and I decided I wanted to become an actress because I just… I grew up loving doing different voices, and I would put on different voices all the time and play these different characters for my parents. I would do it in school. I was a really shy kid, but I was able to be more commanding when I was acting. And so it was almost like a channel for me to be the confident person. I wish I could be in real life. And so that was where my interest came from. And then I moved to London and studied acting for a little while, and then did a little bit of modeling after that, but really that was a small chapter while I was trying to become an actress.
Q: Congratulations on becoming a mom!
KG: Thank you.
Q: Being a mom while working is really challenging. What have you learned about motherhood, and how do you manage to balance work and being a mom?
KG: I mean, being a mother is the best experience of my life so far. It’s really been the most rewarding and most demanding thing I’ve ever done. But I really do believe that a cure for so much, you know, when people are dealing with feeling down or not good about themselves, I think a sort of good antidote to that is to be in service to others. And I think being a parent is the ultimate in that you are in service to this person, and you are putting their needs before your own. And it’s so good for the soul. And so I’ve really enjoyed that. And I feel really good about myself when I’m putting her before me. And I haven’t found the balance between work and motherhood yet. I’m still trying to figure that. I’ve just sort of devoted myself to motherhood. And this is one of my first days back to work since becoming a mother. And I don’t know what it’s going to be like to try and film a movie at the same time. I guess we’ll find out.
Q: Naomi Watts told me that the biggest discovery about motherhood is the lack of sleep.
KG: Oh, my goodness. Yeah, the sleep has gone from my life.
Q: The Life of Chuck is about the end of the world. What would you want to do if the world were ending?
KG: What do I want to do? Oh my goodness. I mean, I think I would honestly just want
to be in a cozy cottage somewhere with my husband and my daughter and my dog and
spend our last moments together in front of a fire. That sounds perfect.
Q: I’m lactose intolerant, so if the world were ending, I’d want to eat as much ice cream as I want. [laughs]
KG: I forgot about food. Oh yeah, I’d order seven pizzas as well.
Q: What’s your next project?
KG: I think I’ll probably go back to work for another Jumanji movie. So that will be what gets me out of my retirement.
Q: So you need training too.
KG: Yes, yes. It’s going to be quite the training after having a baby a few months ago. – Oh yeah.
Q: And eventually, your baby will be watching Jumanji, you know.
KG: That’s so cool, I can’t wait. – That’s cool.
Q: For your baby. I think we really need to wrap. Thank you so much.
KG: Thank you so much. Lovely to meet you.
Q: See you in Japan!
KG: Yes, see you in Japan. Bye-bye.
The Life of Chuck is available on streaming.
