Isshiki Keiko Kitagawa plays Nakagoshi Miu/Yuki Moeko in the drama series "Since I Took You Away" (Kantele/Fuji TV, Mondays at 10pm) starring Kitagawa Keiko. In the 10th episode, which aired on June 23rd, she showed a realistic tearful performance as Miu, who is deeply upset after learning that she is not Hiromi(Kitagawa)'s daughter. We spoke to Isshiki, who said, "The scene itself was heavy, but it was a lot of fun acting."
◇ The role of Miumi, a train enthusiast: "I just memorized the names of the trains and the colors of their stripes"
The drama is a suspenseful tale of love between a parent and child, starring a mother who is filled with grief and hatred after losing her child in a food accident.
Isshiki, who will be making her full appearance in the fourth episode airing on May 12, is 14 years old and was born on October 3, 2010. She says she got the role through an audition, and from the start, she had the impression that her character, Miumi, was "a bright, energetic, carefree girl."
Miumi has also been a fan of trains since she was a child. "Miumi's single-minded personality about the things she loves is something that overlaps with me, so I really sympathized with her," she said, adding that she "enjoyed the process of creating the character, which aimed for the right balance, saying, "I wanted to convey the feeling of a train nerd, but I didn't want to try too hard and turn off the viewers."
Still, a girl who loves trains is an "unusual type" for Isshiki-san in his normal life, so he had some difficulties playing the role.
"There are many scenes where I talk about trains, and because it's something I love, I get excited and speak fast. It was very difficult to speak all the complicated train names so quickly, so I did my best (laughs). Also, apart from the train names, there are all kinds of colours for the train stripes, like Imperial Blue, Azure Blue, Royal Blue, and so on, and sometimes I got them all mixed up, so I just memorised them."
Isshiki has a naturally cheerful personality, but the roles she has played up until now have been "mostly characters with a bit of a dark side, or who were sensitive," so expressing Miumi's innocent cheerfulness was a challenge for her.
"In the acting lessons at my agency, I sometimes play cheerful characters, but I get shy and end up being a bit reserved, which has been a challenge for me. So this time, the character is very cheerful, and that cheerfulness is an important element, so playing this kind of character was a new challenge in itself."
◇One episode left: "Watch over each of their decisions with kindness until the very end"
Miumi is a cheerful girl who loves trains, but from the end of episode 9, which aired on June 16th, to episode 10, she is shown to be deeply shaken when she finds out that she is actually Moeko, the second daughter of Yuki Asahi (Nao Omori), who went missing when he was three years old.
Regarding the scene where Hiromi found out that Hiromi was not his real mother, Isshiki said, "I felt a lot of energy" from Kitagawa, who expressed intense emotions.
"Of course, I had a plan in mind of 'I want to play this kind of scene,' but when I actually got to act with Kitagawa-san, I can't really put it into words, but I really felt the energy that Kitagawa-san has, and I was surprised and cried more than I had imagined. It was like we were both bringing something to the table, and it felt like I was experiencing that kind of moment for the first time, so although the scene itself was heavy, it was a lot of fun acting."
The only episode left for the drama is the final episode, which will air on June 30th.
"I think the viewers are curious to see how it all ends, but I was moved when I read the script by the 'feelings of caring for others,' not just for Miumi-chan and Hiromi, but for each and every character, so I hope you will be kind enough to watch over each of their decisions until the very end."
Isshiki, who has been gaining attention for her role in "Since I Took You Away," reveals that she has "two goals" for the future.
"I admire Ayase Haruka, and in 'Caution,' she did some action scenes, and I was really drawn in by how cool they looked, so I would like to become an actor who can do action scenes as well. Also, I've loved watching dramas and movies since I was little, and I really enjoy imagining what the characters are feeling after watching them, so I started aiming to become an actress in the hope that I would one day be able to act, and I would like to be involved in a production that makes people who watch it want to try something new."
