Sara Minami plays the daughter of the protagonist Mahiro (Yoshitaka) in the NHK Taiga drama "Dear Radiance(Hikaru Kimi e)" (General TV, Sunday 8:00 pm and others), starring Yoshitaka Yuriko. This is her second time appearing in a Taiga drama since "The 13 Lords of the Kamakura" in 2022, and as "Murasaki Shikibu's daughter," her dignified appearance conveys her growth and intelligence, adding color to the story as it approaches its final stage. It's been about seven years since her debut as an actor in 2017, and we'd like to follow the clear footsteps that led to this great performance.
◇Was it amazing from her first performance? She won the Blue Ribbon Newcomer Award for "Shino-chan"
Minami was born on June 11, 2002 and is 22 years old. Minami was an exclusive model for the preteen fashion magazine "nicola" (Shinchosha), which has produced stars such as Yui Aragaki, Haruna Kawaguchi, Eliza Ikeda, and Rinka Kumagaya, and made her acting debut in the 2017 film "A Child Is Born to Us." In this film, which depicts the conflicts of a family that is not related by blood, Minami plays the eldest daughter in her teenage years who rebels against her mother's new husband. Director Yukiko Mishima, who directed the film, praised Minami at the time, saying, "I didn't even know "Ready, Start!", so it was really my first time acting, but she has genius-like reaction skills. When you want to film a realistic clash of emotions, you need a reaction like Minami's. She glares at you when you push her away. She's an actor with that kind of reaction skill." The following year, in 2018, her first starring film "Shino-chan Can't Say Her Name" (co-starring with Aju Makita) was released. She debuted her singing voice in the film as Shino Oshima, a high school freshman who feels ashamed of not being able to speak well and has difficulty fitting in with her surroundings, and won the Newcomer Award at the 43rd Hochi Film Awards and the 61st Blue Ribbon Awards. She also took on the challenge of improvisation in the film "Mugen Foundation" (2018) and period drama "Inemuri Iwane" (2019), solidifying her position as an "orthodox" actress who can compete in acting.
◇ Her first appearance in a commercial TV drama series in "Dragon Zakura" In "The 13 Lords of the Kamakura" as Princess Ohime...
What drew more attention to Minami was the April 2021 drama series "Sunday Theater Dragon Zakura" (TBS). In her first appearance in a commercial TV drama series, she played Hayase Nao, a student at the "University of Tokyo Special Course." Nao is a "modern" girl who has never been serious about anything, has a fickle personality, and is also easily pressured, and in the play there are many scenes where she expresses her feelings to those around her. Minami, as Tono, portrays a life-sized high school student who feels anxious about the differences between herself and the other students and is easily shaken, in a "realistic" way. Viewers have responded with comments such as "It's amazing how she naturally plays a life-sized high school girl," "She looks like a normal girl in a good way," and "I like that there's nothing fake about her." Her success continued in 2022, with films in which she played the lead role or heroine role in "I Want to Be Killed by a High School Girl," "Sara-chan's Holiday," and "This Girl is Evil" being released one after another. In the same year, she made her taiga debut in the role of Ohime, the beloved daughter of Yoritomo (played by Yo Oizumi), who suffered a harsh fate in "The 13 Lords of the Kamakura." In the 24th episode, "The Unchanging Person," Ohime continues to adore the late Minamoto no Yoshitaka (Captain, Ichikawa Somegoro), but despite her faithful feelings, she realizes that the image of the Captain fades from her every day. Once she decides to go to Kyoto to become the empress of the emperor, she learns that she must win the "survival competition" with other princesses of noble birth, and when she falls ill in her confusion, her body refuses to live... Minami embodied the extremely sad end of Ohime, drawing tears from viewers.
◇Shows a smile and sparkling eyes that exude the intelligence of Katako
And after appearing as the image character for the popular "gateway to success" commercial "JR East JR SKISKI" and the "Monday 9" drama "The Goddess' Classroom - Legal Youth White Paper" (Fuji TV) in January 2023, she took on the role of Katako in this "Dear Radiance." Like her mother Mahiro, Katako used to say she didn't want to live, but as the relationship between her and Mahiro thaws following the death of her uncle Korenobu (Takasugi Mahiro), Minami's performance clearly shows her growing stronger bond with Mahiro, as she experiences a faint romance with Sojumaru (Ito Kentaro). Her growth was borne out of her "Imperial Debut" in episode 45, "Habataki" (broadcast on November 24th), where she showed the sparkle in her eyes and smile that exuded the intelligence of Katako, inherited from her mother. We can't help but expect her to return to taiga dramas in even bigger roles in the future.
