Even today's most popular stars and artists have their own "firsts," such as their first appearance, first event, or first live performance. "My Firsts" asks them to look back on those thrilling moments that only the inexperienced can experience. In this issue, actress Noriko Eguchi, who voices the new beaver character Nibbles in the Japanese version of Disney Animation's "Zootopia 2" (directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, currently in theaters), shares an episode from the set of her first two-hour drama when she was 20 years old.
◇
I appeared in my first TV drama when I was 20. Since it was my first time, I didn't really understand the rules on set...
I played the role of a woman working at a somen noodle factory, in a two-hour suspense drama. I think Teruhiko Saigo played a detective, and I was the one who was interrogating her, asking her things like, "What kind of person was she?" and she would answer, "This is the kind of person she was." After that, I returned to work at the factory, and appeared in a scene where I was repeatedly doing the task of bundling somen noodles.
At the time, I didn't know anything about the set, and the assistant director didn't know me either, so when filming went for lunch break, no one came over to say, "It's lunchtime." I just spent the whole time tying up somen noodles (laughs).
It was an assembly line in the factory, and the somen noodles were flowing by, so I couldn't stop working. So I kept doing that work. Thinking about it now, it was a terrible story (laughs). As it was a "first time" story, it reminded me of that time.
I recently worked as a voice actor for Disney Animation for the first time in "Zootopia 2." I have no idea why I was chosen. Why Disney? It's still a mystery to me (laughs).
The highlight of this film is that Judy and Nick have completely different personalities, but in the first film they become friends and team up. In the sequel, one of the main themes is whether these two completely different people can get along.
The message is that there's no need to bridge the gap between people, and that it's okay to just accept each other's differences, so I think that's something that children will definitely feel, and adults, whether they're in a friendship or a romantic relationship, will also be able to relate to it.
<Profile>
Noriko Eguchi was born on April 28, 1980, in Hyogo Prefecture. She is 170 cm tall. She made her film debut in 2002 in "People of Shangri-La" (directed by Takashi Miike). She subsequently appeared in the TV Tokyo series "Recommendations for Solo Live Girls" and the NHK morning drama "Anpan." In 2026, Extremely Inappropriate!~Can't We Talk Seriously?~" (TBS) and "Reunion ~Silent Truth~" (TV Asahi). In 2024, she won the 75th Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists in the Drama category.
"Zootopia 2" (currently in theaters)... The latest installment in the Disney film series "Zootopia," which sparked a social phenomenon with its "fluffy yet profound message." Zootopia is a dream city where animals live like humans. Judy, a hardworking rabbit police officer, and Nick, a sarcastic but kind-hearted fox, are the investigators they aspire to be, tackling cases together as a buddy team. One day, Gary, a snake who shouldn't be in Zootopia, appears, and the shocking secret behind his creation is revealed. Why are there only mammals in this city? What caused the snakes to disappear? The bond between Judy and Nick, polar opposites, is put to the test as they face Zootopia's greatest mystery...
