Actor Shida Mirai will star in the TBS Tuesday drama "Mirai no Musuko" (Tuesdays at 10pm) which will begin airing on January 13th. Nearly 20 years have passed since her 2006 drama "14-sai no Haha ~ Ai no Tame ni Umarekita ~" (14-sai no Haha ~ Ai no Tame ni Umarekita ~), and Shida will once again be a mother. We spoke to her about her thoughts when she received the offer and an episode with Amano Yu, who plays her son.
◇ "I'm worried about whether I can do my job as a mother."
The drama is based on the popular manga "My Future Son: A Son Came Down From Heaven, Even Though I've Been Single for 10 Years!" by Kumiko Aso and Hajime Kuromugi. It's a timeless love story that begins when a boy named Sota Shiokawa (Amano-kun) who claims to be "My Future Son" appears before Mirai Shiokawa (Shida-san), a woman in her late twenties who is on the brink of failure in love, work, and dreams. Sota has come from the future of 2036 to reconcile Mirai and her father, "Ma-kun."
The three "Ma-kun candidates" will be played by Shiono Akihisa as Akihisa Shiono Masaki, Kotaki Nozomu from the popular group "WEST." as Matsuoka Yuta, and Hyodo Kokai as Yano Makoto.
This is Shida's first starring role in a TV drama series in about 20 years, playing the role of a mother. In "14-Year-Old Mother," she had many scenes in which she was pregnant, but this time she will suddenly meet her 5-year-old son. "I thought it would be a completely different feeling (from 14-Year-Old Mother). I wondered how I could get along with Yu-kun. I was looking forward to it, but I also felt a little anxious about whether I would be able to play the role of a mother properly," she recalled.
After reading the original manga, Shida felt that all the characters were filled with warmth and kindness. She said she hoped to be able to reflect that warmth in the drama, saying, "The fantasy elements that are well-received in the manga may feel unnatural when performed in the real world, so I wanted to portray those parts with a sense of realism."
◇ Future lines are easy to remember. "The characters themselves are similar in many ways."
Shida plays Mirai, a 28-year-old woman in her late twenties who is on the brink of collapse with no permanent job, no savings, and no boyfriend. She has been pursuing her dream of becoming an actor for many years, but has yet to see the light of day and is living off part-time work. As she approaches 30, she is torn between continuing to pursue her dreams and accepting reality.
She felt that the lines were easy to remember and very easy to act out. "I'm sure she's very similar to me, and she says things that I would say. I think the characters themselves are similar in many ways," she said, revealing the similarities between her and Mirai.
Amano, who plays Souta, is a 5-year-old child actor who was selected from around 200 people in an audition. This is his first time appearing as a regular in a TV drama series.
Perhaps because Shida was nervous at first, Amano would call her "Yay!" from afar, but recently he has started calling her "Mi-chan." "When the staff say, 'Do it like this,' (Amano) says, 'Okay,' and acts properly so that he gets the OK on the actual show. I feel he's a professional at just five years old. It's amazing that he doesn't try too hard!" she said in amazement.
Shida, who was also a former child actor, recalled, "When I first started out, my mother would accompany me to the set, and we would work hard together. She would scold me, saying, 'You should do this better here,' and praise my good points. It reminded me of how I feel about my mother."
Finally, he addressed the viewers, saying, "This is a story about how Mirai's half-hearted life changes and she grows as she meets Souta, so I hope you will also pay attention to the relationship between the two of them. I think it's a heartwarming work that will make you want to work hard starting tomorrow, so please look forward to the first episode."
