Kento Shibuya (36) stars in the TV drama "Watashi no Shiranai Watashi" (Yomiuri TV/Nippon TV, Thursdays 11:59 p.m.). He plays Kyohei Satake, a psychiatrist who looks after Mei Haneda (Karin Ono), who has lost her memory. In the seventh episode (broadcast on February 20), Satake's unknown past will be revealed. We asked Shibuya about his thoughts on filming and his work as an actor.
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The drama is an original script by Rieko Obayashi. Mei wakes up to find that she has lost her memory for a year, and struggles to recover that memory.
Satake, played by Shibuya, is a tolerant adult man at first glance. He does not reveal his true feelings, and it is unclear what he is thinking. For Mei, he is an existence that is unclear until the end as to whether he is an enemy or an ally.
"Since the first episode aired, people have been saying 'Satake is suspicious,' so I'm very happy," said Shibuya. "The more suspicious he is, the more people will sympathize with him later on, and as my role in moving the story forward, I was careful not to give away too many answers, and I discussed it with everyone, including the director." He feels that discussing the project together and working seriously is "really fun."
Although the filming environment was very friendly and relaxed, due to the mystery nature of the drama, there were many serious scenes. Regarding his impression of Ono, who plays Mei, he said, "She's a very earnest person, and I could tell from the first day of filming that she was trying to become Mei. I think that attitude will lead the set."
She has known Koike Teppei, who plays Mei's husband Nishijima Kanata, since the 2004 drama series "WATER BOYS 2."
"I co-starred with Teppei-chan about 20 years ago, and have met on set from time to time since then. But we talked about how this was the first time we'd actually had a proper dialogue exchange. I was 15 when we met then, so it feels very emotional to be able to act together again at the age of 36, 20 years after the fact, with all those memories still fresh in my mind."
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Since making his debut at the age of 8, Shibuya has appeared in numerous productions and feels that acting is "very interesting."
"Between actors, a lot of things happen from 'Ready, set, go' to the time the cut is called. There are unspoken conversations, like 'Your breathing has changed since last time' or 'My way of speaking changed, so (the other person) said it like this'. There are also times when we're waiting for a moment when, 'Oh, Shibuya-san, did you forget your line?' (laughs) And those are the moments when I feel like I'm part of a team and it's fun."
At first, she was just curious and didn't know what acting was. "When I appeared on TV, my mom and dad were happy, and people around me said, 'You're on TV, that's amazing.' It started with me feeling happy because they praised me. But as I learned what kind of work it was and what my role was, I started to feel a sense of responsibility," she says.
As I got older and gained more experience, my approach to acting changed.
"In my 20s, I had a strong desire to act more, to play good roles, to deliver lines, and to be seen, but now I think about how to make the production as interesting as possible, how to make the set run more smoothly, and how to make it fun to create. I never thought about such things before, so in that sense I think my perception of the job of an actor has changed."
In the seventh episode of "The Me I Don't Know," Satake's past is finally revealed. Shibuya said, "I think you'll enjoy it if you pay attention to what kind of memories Haneda Mei has and how the people around her are involved. I wonder what will happen to Satake (laughs). I hope you enjoy it."
