Ningen Series no. 2242 // Josei Jishin: Inoue Mao | 1/3
Ningen Series no. 2242 // Josei Jishin 9/29-10/6 issue PART 1
“My family hates my actress self” - Inoue Mao (28)
Rivalry with her mom. Panic disorder. Criticism on the low ratings. Retirement after marriage. The constant hell of aiming for perfection. ‘Confession of hardships’ 240-minute interview.
She started going to a theatre troupe at four years old and made her drama debut at five. In 2011, she became the heroine of NHK’s morning drama Ohisama and was appointed as the host of that year’s Kouhaku Uta Gassen. In 2012, she became Japan Academy Awards’ Best Actress after doing the movie Youkame no Semi. At such a young age, Inoue Mao is at the summit of her acting career. But with her current taiga drama [Hana Moyu] another trial of her career awaits.
“Pressure? Yes… I have this feeling it made me stronger. Before starting this drama, I was more afraid. But as I was doing each and every episode, it seemed my fears gradually subsided. For me, when people tell me everything’s okay, I become more anxious. On the contrary, if they ask me, [Is everything okay?] and they seem so uneasy, I start thinking, [Is there anything wrong?]. I am naturally pessimistic.” tells Inoue Mao (28) who plays the role of Miwa in NHK taiga drama Hana Moyu with a smiling grin.
The taiga drama narrates the life of Fumi, the sister of Yoshida Shouin who was a prominent figure during the end of the shogunate era. From now on, the drama approaches its last chapter as her character goes out of the Mori Ooku and the Meiji era begins.
The taiga drama is the most extravagant drama production of all with a year-long broadcast. By just being the face of NHK’s main program, her fanbase widens to all age ranges and becomes an in-demand actress in the industry. However, when taiga drama ratings take a downturn, fault-finding articles will be naturally on the rise.
“There were lots of false articles being written about me that I always end up laughing every time, but there were parts that hit me hard. I can’t say I can just ignore the drama ratings but I need to put up a cheerful face despite that. As for the inspiration to keep going, more than the drama ratings themselves, for the sake of the people who watch it, we try to make it as a drama that they can fully understand. So with that, there’s this thought that we’re sticking with this until the very end.”
In filming Hana Moyu episodes, if there are any problems in a particular scene, a thorough discussion ensues. And if new ideas come out, more scenes are added and lines in the script are changed. “Everyone’s slogan would be like: [When will this scene be filmed? Let’s make it our homework until then]”.
But more than anyone else, it’s the ‘veteran’ Inoue Mao who fusses more over specific details. “When I was about to send out Kusaka Genzui (Fumi’s first husband portrayed by Higashide Masahiro) for the last time, he told me the line [I want to see your smile]. I don’t want to cry at that point but the more I think that I must send him off with a smile, I ended tearing up. When I realised I did cry, I pleaded the staff to erase my tears through CG effects.”
Hana Moyu’s chief producer Komatsu Masayo speaks in detail about the way they film this drama. “This time we decided on working with more scriptwriters to create the drama’s characters and the setting. That’s why with portraying Fumi and Miwa’s individuality, there’s that part that we let Mao-chan achieve the best character portrayal while she’s acting. ‘My portrayal of Fumi must be the most accurate’ is Mao-chan’s favorite mantra. That side of Mao-chan wherein she wants to portray the character without any pretensions is really amazing. When Mao-chan tells me, [Please write me a nice script” [SS wo kudasai: suteki na serifu]], I tell her, [Then give me a nice drama [[Ja, SS shite ne: ja, suteki na shibai shite ne]]” (laughs)
The day we had this interview was August 19, in the middle of studio filming day for Hana Moyu. That day was the crank-up of the actor who played Fumi’s uncle, Okuda Eiji and Mao-chan took her position in front of the monitor while it plays Okuda’s notable scenes from the taiga drama. While everyone seems to be feeling tense while watching them, it came to the scene when Mao’s character suddenly blurted out ‘wicked tongue’ to Okuda and everyone was bursting into laughter suddenly creating this nice atmosphere in the studio.
When the video ended, Mao-chan walked over the cables in place and went to the set where Okuda-san is. She greeted him with [Otsukaresama deshita] and gave him a bouquet of flowers. Just like today, lead actress Mao-chan giving flowers to all the actors on their last filming day is an established practice in the Hana Moyu set. “These bouquets were not a request from NHK themselves but it was Mao-chan who started that practice. She would check everyone’s last filming day and go to the studio to give out the flowers even if she has no filming that day.” (Chief producer Komatsu-san)
At 28, she already has the appearance of being the overall head of this production. She would contact everyone if there’s any changes in the filming schedule or inform them of catering plans. She attends to practically all arrangements within the Hana Moyu studio. With all the pressure of being the taiga drama lead, Mao-chan had that look of composure all throughout. More than anyone else, with that calm smile, that forward-looking aura never left her.
However, when she goes out of the studio and retreats to another room to start talking about her childhood, her expression changes.
***
part two here
“My family hates my actress self” - Inoue Mao (28)
Rivalry with her mom. Panic disorder. Criticism on the low ratings. Retirement after marriage. The constant hell of aiming for perfection. ‘Confession of hardships’ 240-minute interview.
She started going to a theatre troupe at four years old and made her drama debut at five. In 2011, she became the heroine of NHK’s morning drama Ohisama and was appointed as the host of that year’s Kouhaku Uta Gassen. In 2012, she became Japan Academy Awards’ Best Actress after doing the movie Youkame no Semi. At such a young age, Inoue Mao is at the summit of her acting career. But with her current taiga drama [Hana Moyu] another trial of her career awaits.
“Pressure? Yes… I have this feeling it made me stronger. Before starting this drama, I was more afraid. But as I was doing each and every episode, it seemed my fears gradually subsided. For me, when people tell me everything’s okay, I become more anxious. On the contrary, if they ask me, [Is everything okay?] and they seem so uneasy, I start thinking, [Is there anything wrong?]. I am naturally pessimistic.” tells Inoue Mao (28) who plays the role of Miwa in NHK taiga drama Hana Moyu with a smiling grin.
The taiga drama narrates the life of Fumi, the sister of Yoshida Shouin who was a prominent figure during the end of the shogunate era. From now on, the drama approaches its last chapter as her character goes out of the Mori Ooku and the Meiji era begins.
The taiga drama is the most extravagant drama production of all with a year-long broadcast. By just being the face of NHK’s main program, her fanbase widens to all age ranges and becomes an in-demand actress in the industry. However, when taiga drama ratings take a downturn, fault-finding articles will be naturally on the rise.
“There were lots of false articles being written about me that I always end up laughing every time, but there were parts that hit me hard. I can’t say I can just ignore the drama ratings but I need to put up a cheerful face despite that. As for the inspiration to keep going, more than the drama ratings themselves, for the sake of the people who watch it, we try to make it as a drama that they can fully understand. So with that, there’s this thought that we’re sticking with this until the very end.”
In filming Hana Moyu episodes, if there are any problems in a particular scene, a thorough discussion ensues. And if new ideas come out, more scenes are added and lines in the script are changed. “Everyone’s slogan would be like: [When will this scene be filmed? Let’s make it our homework until then]”.
But more than anyone else, it’s the ‘veteran’ Inoue Mao who fusses more over specific details. “When I was about to send out Kusaka Genzui (Fumi’s first husband portrayed by Higashide Masahiro) for the last time, he told me the line [I want to see your smile]. I don’t want to cry at that point but the more I think that I must send him off with a smile, I ended tearing up. When I realised I did cry, I pleaded the staff to erase my tears through CG effects.”
Hana Moyu’s chief producer Komatsu Masayo speaks in detail about the way they film this drama. “This time we decided on working with more scriptwriters to create the drama’s characters and the setting. That’s why with portraying Fumi and Miwa’s individuality, there’s that part that we let Mao-chan achieve the best character portrayal while she’s acting. ‘My portrayal of Fumi must be the most accurate’ is Mao-chan’s favorite mantra. That side of Mao-chan wherein she wants to portray the character without any pretensions is really amazing. When Mao-chan tells me, [Please write me a nice script” [SS wo kudasai: suteki na serifu]], I tell her, [Then give me a nice drama [[Ja, SS shite ne: ja, suteki na shibai shite ne]]” (laughs)
The day we had this interview was August 19, in the middle of studio filming day for Hana Moyu. That day was the crank-up of the actor who played Fumi’s uncle, Okuda Eiji and Mao-chan took her position in front of the monitor while it plays Okuda’s notable scenes from the taiga drama. While everyone seems to be feeling tense while watching them, it came to the scene when Mao’s character suddenly blurted out ‘wicked tongue’ to Okuda and everyone was bursting into laughter suddenly creating this nice atmosphere in the studio.
When the video ended, Mao-chan walked over the cables in place and went to the set where Okuda-san is. She greeted him with [Otsukaresama deshita] and gave him a bouquet of flowers. Just like today, lead actress Mao-chan giving flowers to all the actors on their last filming day is an established practice in the Hana Moyu set. “These bouquets were not a request from NHK themselves but it was Mao-chan who started that practice. She would check everyone’s last filming day and go to the studio to give out the flowers even if she has no filming that day.” (Chief producer Komatsu-san)
At 28, she already has the appearance of being the overall head of this production. She would contact everyone if there’s any changes in the filming schedule or inform them of catering plans. She attends to practically all arrangements within the Hana Moyu studio. With all the pressure of being the taiga drama lead, Mao-chan had that look of composure all throughout. More than anyone else, with that calm smile, that forward-looking aura never left her.
However, when she goes out of the studio and retreats to another room to start talking about her childhood, her expression changes.
***
part two here