Actor Kanna Hashimoto will be starring in the drama series " Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective " (TV Asahi, Tuesdays at 9pm, with the first episode extended by 6 minutes) which will start on April 22nd. This will be her first drama since her role as the heroine in the NHK Asadora drama "Omusubi", and she will play a genius diagnostician for autism spectrum disorders. We spoke to Hashimoto about her role, who said that this is her first role as a doctor and that it is "the heaviest role I've played in recent years."
The drama is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Mikito Chinen, which has sold over 3.6 million copies in total and was also made into a TV anime. It is a medical mystery in which the buddy team of Takao Ameku (played by Hashimoto), a diagnostician with a transcendental brain and overwhelming knowledge and insight as a doctor, and Yu Takanashi (played by Shohei Miura), an internist, brilliantly solve mysterious illnesses, murder cases, and even paranormal phenomena.
Hashimoto-san was a fan of the original novel even before she was offered the role in the drama. She first encountered it when she was in middle and high school, and said, "I still have the novel at home, so I was happy when I was offered the role! But at the same time, I was excited, and I thought it was going to be tough (laughs). Even before it started, I imagined it would be 'deep dialogue hell.'"
Her hunch turned out to be correct. "Each scene could easily be more than 10 pages long. There were so many lines, so before we started, Shohei and I had a meeting where we agreed that 'even if either of us got it wrong, let's do our best and not let it get too tense' (laughs)."
Not only are the lines long, they also contain medical terminology. "If you don't understand the meaning of the lines, they won't come out easily. There are a lot of organ names like pancreas, liver, and spleen, but there are a lot of things you can't say unless you have a rough understanding of what each organ does. It's not just about memorizing and speaking, so that's really the tricky part right now," he said, revealing the difficulties unique to medical dramas with their many technical terms.
Takao has an autism spectrum disorder, which means he is unable to read other people's feelings and he tends to get into trouble with those around him. "Takao doesn't look people in the eye when he talks, but it's really difficult not to look people in the eye when you're acting. He tends to look down a little and blink a lot. In normal dramas, I'm careful not to blink... but this time it's the opposite."
Takao is also set to be bad at sports. In preparing for the role, he referred to popular variety shows. "After watching the 'Bad Athletics Comedians' segment on 'Ame Talk!', I practiced skipping as if I was bad at sports with director Hisashi Kimura. It's difficult to act bad at sports. I'm careful not to look forced when I'm acting."
She is engrossed in preparing for the role, with its enormous amount of lines and unique character. "I feel like I'm doing the heaviest thing I've done in years; I sleep like I'm going to pass out when I get home from filming. This might be the first time I've felt like no matter how much time I have to prepare, it's just not enough. Shohei and I were saying we wanted to all go out to eat, but everyone has so many lines that we're all giving it our all on set and there's no time to go out to eat!"
"I'm not shy and I'm good at making friends," she said. She's the complete opposite of Takao, but there are some similarities between them. "I think Takao and I have the drive to push forward when it comes to things that interest me. I'm also the type of person who likes to move forward," she said with a smile.
This is also attracting attention as her first drama after the Asadora"Omusubi". After experiencing the Asadora, she said, "By facing one character for a long period of time, I was able to see a new landscape. I think my understanding of the role is different before and after doing the Asadora." We are looking forward to seeing Hashimoto's acting, which has improved.
