Akari Takaishi will play the heroine in the NHK Asadora drama "Bakebake" (Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times) which will be broadcast in the second half of 2025. Hashizume Kuniomi, who is the production manager for this work, and director Murahashi Naoki spoke about the reasons for casting Miharu Fukuchi, who will play the heroine's childhood, and what makes her so appealing.
◇Production Director explains why Fukuchi was chosen
Fukuchi was born on March 31, 2015, and is 10 years old and hails from Osaka Prefecture. She played one of the roles of Anya in the 2023 musical "SPY×FAMILY." This time, she won the role of Girls' Generation's Toki in an audition out of 674 applicants, and immediately after the first episode aired (September 29), her acting skills that rival those of adults and her adorable expressions became a hot topic among viewers.
The audition that Fukuchi participated in was recruited using the same method as the heroine audition, and was reportedly large-scale, which is rare for a child actor audition.
Hashizume explained the reason for casting her, saying, "Fukuchi's acting is truly amazing, and I think it's amazing that she can read the script so well at her age, and she has the ability to express that, so I decided on her."
"She has a polished acting style for her age, and she still has that cuteness about her. The part in the film where she drinks clam soup and says 'ahh' is really adorable. Takaishi also came to the set to watch Fukuchi's filming, and they seemed to be checking the flow of the acting, and discussing what they were going to do. Looking at the flow of the acting, she is similar to Takaishi, and is very cheerful and fun to work with. She was a mood maker on set, and I'm really glad that we asked Fukuchi to play the role."
◇Was your mother the focus of attention at the audition?
On the other hand, Murahashi recalls, "Takaishi is someone who can freely show a variety of expressions even when he doesn't have any lines, so I watched the auditions wondering if there was a child actor who could naturally connect with Takaishi."
"Mr. Fukuchi was able to act freely while memorizing his lines, and while watching the adults' performances, he responded accordingly. Parents are invited to audition, and while most parents were watching over their children and telling them to do their best, Mr. Fukuchi's mother was the only one who, as if unconcerned, turned her back to them and read a book. In other words, she left it up to the child's own initiative."
While many parents act as "shadow directors" in creating their children's plays, Fukuchi's mother allowed her child to act freely.
"Fukuchi-san has something in common with Takaishi-san in the way he comes to the set with a level head and transforms his reactions into acting, and I think that's what makes his acting so natural. On set, we didn't make too many decisions, we just let him do what he wanted freely. For the festival scene, we said, 'Just run, no matter what!' We wanted to give him so much freedom that the cameraman couldn't keep up, and he was a child actor who responded to that," he said with his stamp of approval.
