Cast and Characters (Rental Family) Rental Family
Brendan Fraser carries the film as a gentle, broken actor
Fraser plays Phillip Vanderploeg, an American actor in Tokyo whose career stalled after a toothpaste commercial. Phillip joins a rental family agency and discovers that playing stand-in relatives for strangers fills a void in his own life. Fraser was cast after director Hikari saw him in The Whale and felt he embodied the vulnerability Phillip needed.
"It was so far removed from anything I had seen. The story is an unusual way to fulfill the needs of people who are bereft of family." — Brendan Fraser, Variety (2025)
Fraser described the film's emotional core as loneliness itself:
"It felt like a film without a villain per se — apart from apathy. That speaks to us at this time." — Brendan Fraser, Variety (2025)
Hikari chose Fraser specifically because of who he was on set, not just on screen:
"When I saw him I just felt, 'Oh, there's my Philip.' He's such a kind soul." — Hikari, IndieWire (2025)
"He's always careful. He's constantly talking to people who are just the PAs...he says hi to everybody. And when he leaves he says thank you to every single person, that's who he is." — Hikari, IndieWire (2025)
Critics were divided on Fraser's approach. Some praised his warmth; others found it too broad.
"The quiet warmth of Fraser's performance and delicacy of direction just about distract from sentimentality." — Donald Clarke, Irish Times (2026)
Brian Eggert at Deep Focus Review was less convinced, finding Fraser's performance "grand and caricature-like" compared to his more restrained Japanese costars, creating "an unintended sense of othering." (deep focus review)
Takehiro Hira plays the agency owner who maintains the illusion
Hira plays Shinji, the owner of the Rental Family agency and Phillip's boss. Shinji operates in the moral gray zone — he genuinely believes the service helps people, but he also profits from deception. Reviewers praised Hira's nuanced performance as a grounding counterweight to Fraser's broader style. (deep focus review)
Mari Yamamoto is the colleague who sees through Phillip
Yamamoto plays Aiko, a Rental Family employee who works alongside Phillip. The Nerdist review called her "utterly fantastic," noting that Aiko embodies the film's argument that the people who work for Rental Family are just as lonely as the clients they serve. (nerdist)
Shannon Mahina Gorman grounds the film's most emotional storyline
Gorman plays Mia Kawasaki, a half-Japanese girl whose single mother hires Phillip to pose as her father so she can gain admission to a prestigious school. Will Hume at Flickering Myth called Gorman's child performance the "film's greatest strength," praising how she "avoids sentimentality" in a role that could easily have tipped into it. (flickering myth)
Akira Emoto delivers the film's most devastating arc
Emoto plays Kikuo Hasegawa, a retired actor with dementia whose daughter hires Rental Family to provide him companionship. Phillip is assigned to befriend Kikuo, and their relationship — built on a lie — becomes the film's most genuine human connection. The Nerdist review called this storyline "the best surprise of the film." (nerdist)
The supporting cast fills out the agency's world
- Shino Shinozaki as Hitomi, Mia's mother, a single parent navigating a system that penalizes her family structure.
- Misato Morita as Yoshie Ikeda, a closeted woman who hires Phillip to stage a fake wedding.
- Kimura Bun as Kota, a Rental Family employee.
- Sei Matobu as Masami Hasegawa, Kikuo's daughter.
- Tamae Ando as Lola.