Actor Ryoma Takeuchi attended a press conference for the drama "The Prison Guard's Way" (June 21, 9pm) in which he plays the lead role, held at TV Asahi (Minato Ward, Tokyo) on June 11th. He revealed that during the filming period in Kyoto, he "scouted" a local trainer.
Filming took place at a studio in Kyoto about two years ago. Takeuchi said with a smile, "It's already been two years, so I thought the people at TV Asahi had forgotten about it (laughs). I'm happy that it will be broadcast on June 21st."
He said that he "fell in love with Kyoto" during the roughly one month filming period, and was apparently touched by the kindness of the Kyoto staff, saying, "When we would leave for location shooting in the car (from the studio), everyone would wave at me! It just made my heart flutter! I wish they'd do that at all the studios."
Speaking of Takeuchi, he often posts photos of his workouts on social media, which have become a hot topic, but during the filming period, he revealed with a laugh, "I found that trainer on Instagram and asked him to DM me. I would go see him during breaks and after filming. He's about 27 years old, and he told me, 'At first I thought you were scamming me'. I'm really grateful to him."
The drama is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name (Takarajimasha, 2019) by Shinichi Shiroyama, winner of the "This Mystery is Amazing!" Grand Prize, set in Kaga Prison in Ishikawa Prefecture. A passionate prison officer's "small kindness" towards one inmate leads to a major incident that could shake the prison system, and a detailed and ingenious mystery is solved, along with a rich human drama.
This is Takeuchi's first time playing a prison officer. He plays Akihiro Munakata, who is close to the inmates and tries his best to help them rehabilitate. Fumino Kimura and Kazuki Kitamura also attended the press conference.
