Singer-songwriter milet took on the challenge of acting for the first time in the movie "Shiranai Kanojo" (directed by Miki Takahiro), starring Kento Nakajima. In the film, she also plays the heroine Minami as a university student, which reminded her of her own student days. "I also went to university, so it brought back memories, and the scene where I play and sing was a lot of fun, as I was able to sing while remembering the time before I became a singer, when I didn't even have the ambition to become one," says milet, as she looks back on those days when she was "nobody."
◇ A bookworm during his student days
"The Unknown Girlfriend" is a fantasy love story based on the French film "Love, Second Sight."
Riku (Nakajima) and Minami (milet) met in college, fell in love at first sight, and got married. Eight years later, Riku has become a popular bestselling author with Minami's support, but one morning he wakes up to find that Minami is nowhere to be found, and he is confused by the lack of conversation he is having with the people around him. To his surprise, Riku has become an editor at a literary magazine, and the sight and songs of "Maezono Minami," a top artist he has never met, are spreading across the city... This is the story that unfolds.
Milet herself says that when she was a student, she "spent all her time in the library."
"I loved studying and books, and like a bookworm, I read all the books about theater and movies. I didn't have many friends, but I made some friends during that time who I still call my best friends, and they taught me some very important pieces of music that I still use today, but in a word, I was a person who spent all my time in the library (laughs)."
Milet also said that at the time, "I didn't know what I wanted to be," and described herself as "a wandering student with no set goals." She also experienced many setbacks during her time as a student. "I was full of failures," she recalled.
"I was a shy person by nature, and I didn't have the courage to try new things. But I think that it's because of those experiences that I've been able to get to where I am today. If I'd been successful in something else back then, I probably wouldn't have pursued music. I had a lot of failures, but I think it's because I was able to use those failures as motivation that I'm standing here today."
Sometimes, being "full of failures" can actually make me stronger.
"Because I've made so many mistakes, I no longer feel embarrassed about them. So now I'm not embarrassed if I sing off-key or do whatever I do in music. I've learned that there are things you can learn from making mistakes, so I think it was a good thing that I made so many mistakes."
◇Did you learn about the importance of words when you were in elementary school?
Milet is such a book lover that she spends all her time in libraries. It was when she was in the early grades of elementary school that she realized the importance of words, which later led to her success as a singer-songwriter.
It all started with an encounter with a teacher at the time who I could call my mentor.
"My teacher loved poetry, and he had us memorize an incredible number of poems. It was a class effort to memorize poems together, and we were made to memorize around 200-300 poems over the three years from the first to third grades of elementary school. I think that at that time, even at a young age, I learned the beauty of words, and who put what emotion into them. I think it's because of that experience that I'm able to write some of the lyrics now, and that I've become able to cherish words."
Milet has lived a life connected by words, and has used her many setbacks and failures as fuel to move forward. We asked her finally if she plans to take on further acting challenges in the future...
"Filming a movie is quite tough, and I think it's a job that requires a lot of physical strength. But I think it was really refreshing and fun to be able to discover a new side of myself, be in a new place, and be stimulated in a way that's different from music, so if I'm given the opportunity, I'd like to take on the challenge again."
