Actor Seiyo Uchino appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on April 24th. He talked about his upbringing and his trust in Shinobu Terashima, his fellow member of Bungakuza.
After enrolling at Waseda University, he joined an English drama club. Although he had no interest in acting, he reveals, "There was something gloomy inside me from my youth, and I happened to be able to let it out by acting in English plays and other plays, which saved me."
He was born in a temple in Yokohama. "I was born and raised to become a monk. That was the most painful part of my youth. I couldn't escape the fact that my life had been decided by fate, and that's why I lived in a gloomy world during my youth," he said.
He attended a Buddhist school for middle and high school, but gradually his ego began to awaken, and he struggled to find what he wanted to do. By chance, he came across a theater performance in English. A senior in his club said, "Bungakuza has an entrance exam tomorrow, so go take it," and gave him an application. "I didn't know Bungakuza. (Bungakuza founding member and actor) Haruko Sugimura? What? I didn't know her, I didn't know her, and I was like that, but I got in. I studied acting there and gradually became a professional," he said, revealing how he ended up joining Bungakuza.
She is a classmate of the actor Terashima Shinobu from the 32nd class of Bungakuza. Although they often work together, she said, "I never thought I'd work with Shinobu back then," and expressed, "She's a pretty straightforward person. She's very forthright, so people think we're always fighting, but it's more like she's just telling me stuff one-sidedly. She gets angry at me, and..." "She's an incredible actress, so that's why I can trust her. We're like comrades in arms. We have a sense of trust."
