L ily Franky is a true multitalent, having found success as an illustrator, designer, essayist, lyricist, photographer, novelist and band vocalist. His 2005 autobiographical novel "Tokyo Tower: Okan to Boku to Tokidoki Oton (Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me and Sometimes Dad)," in which he described his relationship with his feisty mother as she was dying of cancer, became a best seller and was made into a hit film of the same title. He also appeared in the last film by cult legend Teruo Ishii, "Moju tai Issunboshi (Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf)" (2001), but he got his first starring role as the shoe-repairman turned courtroom artist in "Gururi no Koto (All Around Us)."

In person, Franky is the same low-key but alert and thoughtful guy he portrays in the film, with a warm baritone voice that suggests yet another career: late-night radio DJ.

I had thought you did your own drawings in the courtroom, but (director Ryosuke) Hashiguchi told me that wasn't the case — that professional courtroom artists did the drawings. Was that at your request? Yes, in a way. I practiced (those drawings) at the request of the director, but they're not like ordinary drawings, in that you can't see the subject clearly. So instead you try to draw your impression of the defendant or the atmosphere of the courtroom. I tried it for about a month, going to court, but I realized that I couldn't match the technique (of the professionals). My drawings were too amateurish, so I thought it was better to let the pros do it.