The premiere screening of the drama series "PJ ~Aviation Rescue Team~" (TV Asahi, Thursdays 9pm), starring actor Seiyo Uchino and set to begin on April 24th, was held on the 17th at TV Asahi (Minato-ku, Tokyo). After the screening, General Producer Nobuyuki Hattori gave an interview and spoke about the casting of the film.
The drama is an original story that focuses on the Air Self-Defense Force's Aviation Rescue Wing, commonly known as PJ (Pararescue Jumpers), who carry out rescue operations under harsh conditions during accidents and disasters. The trainees, who passed the difficult selection test to become PJ members, face rigorous training under the strict and unconventional chief instructor Usami Seiji (Uchino). The trainees are played by Fuju Kamio, Anna Ishii, Kentaro Maeda, Aoto Watanabe, Kusama Richard Keita from "Ae! group", Atsuhiro Inukai, and Maeda Oshiro.
This series depicts trainees aiming to become an elite rescue unit, and from the first episode, the trainees are shown undergoing harsh training, such as being sprayed with water from a large hose and practicing descents from high places using ropes. Hattori revealed that "almost all of the training scenes... 90% are done by the trainees themselves."
When asked about the criteria for selecting the trainee actors, he replied, "I interviewed a few people, and some of them I had contacted through a project I worked on last year. The only thing I can say is that since there was preparation such as physical training before filming began, my first priority was choosing people who were able to devote six months to eight months to the role."
"Even though it's just acting, the training is rigorous, and in this production the viewers need to be able to see how serious they are through the screen, so ultimately that was the main focus of our choice. We filmed the running scene from 4 a.m. to catch the sunrise, which feels like real training. In "Umizaru" the sea and the Mountain Rescue Team the mountains, but (the locations where pararescue jumpers carry out their rescue operations) are all over the place, so the range of training is incredibly wide, but I'm truly grateful to the cast members who tackle it head-on."
There are also training scenes in a pool, but he said, "In fact, more than half of the cast members couldn't swim at first.It was amazing, since we all started from the point where we couldn't swim."
