47-year-old actor Hiroyuki Hirayama appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) broadcast on April 22. He talked about how, at the age of 23, he overslept and was two hours late to the set despite being a newcomer, and the scolding and encouragement he received from his big-name co-stars.
Hirayama passed the audition on his first try, and got the chance to appear as a regular in the drama. The show also stars Koichi Sato, Bunta Sugawara, and Nobuyo Oyama, and he said, "The people I'd only seen on TV until yesterday were suddenly in front of me. I've never acted before, so it was tough."
When he woke up that day and saw the time, he thought, "Oh, it's over." The alarm clock had stopped. He had received about 20 calls from the producer, who called him back immediately and instructed him, "There's no point in rushing right now, and it would be a problem if something happened, so take a taxi," and he rushed to the recording location.
I ran over to the star, Sato-san, and when I apologized, he scolded me, saying, "What are you doing?" Sugawara-san was sitting on a folding chair in a dark place to the side of the set. I apologized, saying, "I'm sorry. I overslept," and he looked at me for about five seconds and said, "Everyone's waiting for you."
Furthermore, when I went to see Oyama, he scolded me, saying, "What are you doing? Newcomers are supposed to be the first to arrive and wait in the studio. Why did you oversleep?", and finally said to me, "I know it's hard, but do your best." Hirayama said, "Really, at that time, when I remember this story, I really start to cry."
Regarding the filming that day, he said, "They couldn't have filmed it without me, and the lines were long, on that particular day. I felt like I was not alive." He recalled, "I still treasure the fact that I was able to work on this project with all those people at the time of my debut. I can't say it's a good memory, and it's a sad one, but it made me feel strict. I reflected on the fact that they had so much support for me, and that I had to work harder."
