Actor Abe Hiroshi Abe appeared at the preview screening of the TBS Sunday Theatre "Caster" (Sundays at 9pm, starting April 13th), in which he plays the lead role, with co-star Mei Nagano and others, in Tokyo. "I have the best pronunciation of any of my previous works," he said.
Nagano, who plays Sakikubo Hana, a girl who is bossed around by Abe's character, the main newscaster, Shindo, revealed, "Filming began in January, so I had a hard time because the cold made my speech slurred." Abe responded by grumbling, "I was the worst. Even though my speech was slurred, it was so cold I couldn't stand it," making Nagano and the others laugh.
Looking back on his scenes with Nagano, Abe confessed, "I was looking forward to seeing Mei fail (because of the cold)." However, he thought it was "bad" when Nagano succeeded in one try, leading to Nagano poking him by saying, "Don't look forward to me failing (laughs)." When asked by the MC about the pressure of playing the role of newscaster Shindo, Abe jokingly said, "Yes, I do, this time I have the best pronunciation of any of my previous works," getting the crowd excited.
Abe said that he watched the first episode with the audience from the back of the auditorium that day, and when asked about his impressions after watching the first episode, he revealed his feelings, saying, "Just being an actor is a heavy responsibility, but being the main anchor is quite a heavy responsibility." He also smiled and said, "I was worried about how I should act, and whether I was playing a role that seemed appropriate for someone chosen for the role, but after watching it today I feel a bit relieved."
The drama is a social entertainment drama set in a TV news program, where the truth buried in the darkness is pursued and evil is punished. Shindo Soichi, a man who believes that "the truth moves the world!", works as a social affairs reporter and newscaster at a public broadcasting station, but is poached by the president of the commercial TV station JBN to become the main newscaster of "Newsgate," a news program suffering from low ratings. In order to "communicate the truth," he will use any means necessary, conducting interviews and investigations according to his own rules, and ignoring existing rules. His overwhelming presence draws everyone around him in.
Also attending the event were Naniwa Danshi's Michieda Shunsuke, Emma Miyazawa, Takashi Okabe, Otoo Takuma, and Takahashi Hideki.
