Actor Meru Nukumi took on the role of an announcer in the movie "Showtime Seven" (directed by Kazutaka Watanabe), which was released on February 7th. Ikumi plays a news anchor with a sharp demeanor that is a stark difference from her time as a model or appearing on variety shows. We asked her about her role-making and her current feelings about being constantly cast as an actor.
◇I became captivated by Abe-san!
The film is based on the Korean hit solid thriller "Terror Live" (directed by Kim Byung-woo), and is directed and written by Watanabe Kazutaka, known for the "Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe" series. At 7pm, an exclusive emergency live broadcast with the terrorist bomber begins with a phone call. A bomb is planted at the TV station, and the perpetrator nominates Shinnosuke Orimoto (played by Abe Hiroshi), a former popular newscaster of the national news program "Showtime 7" who has been demoted to a radio station, to negotiate with the perpetrator. This is a real-time suspense entertainment in which the terrorist bombing incident and the live broadcast are happening at the same time, and a shocking ending awaits in the "last 6 minutes". Ikumi plays Yuki Chiharu, a rookie announcer who gets caught up in the incident.
Regarding her first role as an announcer, she said, "I usually have many opportunities to work with announcers on variety shows, but when I acted, I felt that it was a more difficult job than I imagined. First of all, I had to remember what to say where in front of the multiple cameras, and I had to speak clearly..." In this work, in order to create the tension of a live broadcast, there were long takes of up to 10 minutes or more, and she looked back on the filming, saying, "I was nervous that I couldn't make any mistakes, so it was difficult."
To prepare for the role, she received advice from an announcer who she regularly appears with on a TV show. "I listened to what she told me, such as how to add inflection, and how to practice my voice, and incorporated that into my practice. Thanks to that, I think my pronunciation has improved since the script reading stage!"
This is Ikumi's first time acting alongside lead actor Abe Hiroshi. Although Chiharu is annoyed with Orimoto, Ikumi herself says with a smile, "I've become obsessed with Abe!" "He always puts all his effort into my acting, and I think he's a really professional person. But when the cameras aren't rolling, during promotional shoots, he chews on his cue cards, and those kinds of things are really cute (laughs)."
◇Big crisis on "Hirunandesu!"
It is a suspense drama in which shocking events occur one after another during a live broadcast, but Ikumi herself has also experienced mishaps during live broadcasts due to her own "careless mistakes."
"I always wear contact lenses when I appear on TV shows, but when I was in charge of hosting "Hirunandesu!" (Nippon TV), I accidentally forgot to put my contacts on, and I couldn't read the cue cards at all, so I just went along with it by guesswork. With the help of the announcer, I had to squint my eyes the whole time when I wasn't on the screen... I was in big trouble at that time (laughs)."
He has been a regular on "Hirunandesu!" on Thursdays for five years now. He is so close with his co-stars that he calls it his "home." Compared to five years ago, he is now active as an actor, but he keeps the words of MC Kiyotaka Nanbara in his heart as he works hard at his job.
"Mr. Nanbara once told me, 'In your 20s, you should keep moving while you can. You should think that sleeping is a waste,' but while I'm healthy, I don't want to use my lack of stamina as an excuse. It may be a tight schedule, but I think now is the time to work hard."
"Right now, I'm having fun doing a variety of jobs," she says with a smile. "I don't want to stop appearing on variety shows just because I'm doing acting, so I want to work hard so that I can be recognized for everything. I want to become someone who can do everything skillfully," she says with emphasis.
How confident is she in her ability to perform so skillfully? "I'm pretty confident! People say that I'm 'extremely quick' at switching between roles (lol)!" She exuded confidence in her own unique style.
