Child actress Aoi Ikemura stars in the TBS Friday drama "Fake Mummy" (Fridays at 10pm), co-starring actors Haru and Rina Kawaei. She won an audition with around 400 participants and plays Iroha, Hidaka Mamie's (Kawaei) undisclosed only daughter. We asked Aoi about her preparations for the role of Iroha and some stories she shared with her co-stars.
◇ Chosen for the role of Iroha: "I was so happy I kept jumping around."
The drama is a serial adaptation of the winning work by Sonomura Mitsuru, who won the grand prize at the first TBS NEXT WRITERS CHALLENGE screenplay competition. Hanamura Kaoru (Haru), who is struggling to find a new job, meets Hidaka Makie, the company's president and single mother, at an interview with the venture company RAINBOWLAB. Makie asks Hanamura to act as a substitute for her daughter Iroha, who is applying to a prestigious private elementary school...
Aoi is 9 years old and was born in May 2016. She made her drama debut in the NHK Asadora"Okaeri Mone" (General) broadcast in 2021, and has since appeared in the NHK Taiga drama "What Will Ieyasu Do?" (General) broadcast in 2023. She has also been active in the musical "Musical SPY×FAMILY" (2023), based on the popular manga "SPY×FAMILY," and has been selected to play Anya Forger in that role.
-What did you think when you heard you would be appearing in this film?
At first I was so happy that I kept jumping around, but when I calmed down a bit, I felt like, "I can really become Iroha-chan! I'm so happy. I'll do my best in the shoot!"
--What did you do for the audition?
We did a variety of things, such as "Eat your rice balls," "Run a lot," and "I'll give you some water!"
--What kind of role is Iroha?
Iroha is a strong-willed girl, just like her mother. But she's also a little like me, she cries easily and sheds tears of frustration. Hmm, how can I describe her... she's a real genius.
-Did you do any preparation to play Iroha?
Iroha can sometimes be a bit foul-mouthed, so when there are difficult parts in her acting, I write down in a notebook what the difficult parts were and how I felt at the time before performing each time.
-Are you able to memorize your lines quickly?
When I receive a script, I read the lines for an hour, then take a one-hour break, and repeat this process until I can memorize an entire episode's worth of lines in about a night.
--Please tell us what you find fun on set.
It's still fun, but everyone talks to Ao-chan and plays with her during breaks in filming. I'm happy that everyone plays with Haru-chan and Rina-chan.
-What was difficult about filming?
The first scene we shot was the futsal scene in episode 1. I'm not very good at sports myself, and it was a bit of a hot day, so everyone helped Ao-chan cool down and spoke to her kindly, and it's a very memorable scene.
◇What is your impression of your co-stars?
--What kind of people are Haru and Kawaei?
This is true for both of you, but when I watch your acting during a show, I think it's really amazing and I always learn from it.
What I particularly like about Haru is that I feel at ease just by having her by my side. Even when there are scenes that make me nervous, I feel very relieved just knowing that Haru is sitting nearby.
Rina laughs a lot when she talks, and her smiling face makes everyone smile, which makes Ao very happy.
--What about Koji Mukai from the popular group Snow Man, who plays Kuroki Ryuma, who also becomes Iroha's "fake dad"?
He always talks to me kindly and plays with me with a smile. When I was talking about curry, he said, "Okay, I'll bring you some next time!" and he actually brought me curry, so I was really happy that he kept his promise.
I was also taught the dance to Snow Man's "Charismax" and we danced together, but my hand movements always ended up looking like "Sushizanmai" (laughs).
--What about Nakamura Aoi, who plays Iroha's teacher, Sasaki Tomoya?
Recently, Ao-chan invented something called "Ao-chan Language," and even when I tell her lots of things like "What does the cup say?", she always listens kindly with a "uh-huh," and when I talk to her I feel very calm. She's fun to talk to, so just talking to her makes me feel like I'm playing.
--I heard that you play games like "Look That Way," "Rock, Paper, Scissors," and "Picture Shiritori," but what other games do you play?
Together with Haru-chan and Rina-chan, they greet each other, play "finger games" and "staring contests," and play all sorts of games!
◇ He loves pictures and books, but is just an ordinary elementary school student.
-What is your everyday school life like, Ikemura-san?
I'm just an ordinary elementary school student, but if I had to say, I'm said to be one of the people in my class who is pretty good at drawing.
--What's popular at school?
Drawing pictures is currently popular in the class. We've even decided on a song to sing when drawing. One rule is that anyone who draws during recess has to sing the song, "Let's play, let's play. The little goat is crying on the mountain."
--If Iroha were a student at the same school, how would you become friends with her?
I think we could become friends because we have some similarities, but I'm a little worried about whether Iroha would allow me to be her friend.
--What kind of game should we invite Iroha to play?
Iroha-chan, you're good at math, aren't you? I'm also good at math, so I invite you to have a math challenge.
--If you win the game, he might recognize you as his friend.
Ah! Maybe so!
--Iroha also likes space, but is there anything else you like besides drawing?
I like reading books. When I read a book, I can enter that world even at home or school, and I have time to myself, so I feel very secure when I read a book.
-Do you get into the role with the same feeling when you read the script?
That's right. When I read the script, I think about Kaoru-chan and Mamie-san's movements.
-Finally, please give a message to the viewers.
For those of you watching the drama, you probably didn't expect things to turn out like this, right? I think the theme of "Fake Mummy" is excitement and suspense, but it gets even more exciting from here on out, so be sure to watch until the end!
