Actor Takashi Naito attended a fan meeting for the special drama "Kasouken no Onna Final" (TV Asahi, January 23rd, 8pm) held in Tokyo on January 14th. There, he was astonished by the "coming out" of Yasuko Sawaguchi, with whom he has been friends for over 30 years.
"Kasouken no Onna," starring Sawaguchi, which began airing in October 1999 and has continued to break records for the longest running ongoing drama series, will now draw its curtains on its 26-year history with this latest installment. On this day, familiar cast members from the series, including Sawaguchi, Naito, Koike Teppei, Wakamura Mayumi, Kazama Tooru, Saito Akira, Kato Ryo, Yamamoto Hikaru, and Ishii Kazuaki, appeared in front of approximately 200 fans who were invited by lottery and interacted with them through talk sessions and other activities.
In a segment titled "What's so great about her?", Yamamoto praised Sawaguchi, who plays the main character, forensic researcher Sakaki Mariko, saying, "She's straightforward in everything she does, cool as a scientist, and beautiful in every way." To this, Sawaguchi responded delightedly, "Thank you! In terms of Western movies, I admire Jodie Foster in 'Contact,' and I'm glad you said that about her."
On the other hand, it was an unexpected answer for Naito, who couldn't hide his surprise, saying, "There's so much I don't know... I've never talked about Jodie Foster. I've been doing this for 26 years, and yet that's the case!?" Wakamura added, "Naito thinks he knows everything about 'Yacchan' (Sawaguchi), but there's actually more to her than that (laughs)."
Afterwards, Naito mentioned Jodie Foster's masterpiece, asking, "Do you also like 'Silence of the Lambs'?" Sawaguchi nodded, and seemed convinced, saying, "I see. She's also the type of actress whose gaze leaves a lasting impression."
Naito, who had been acting with Sawaguchi since before the start of "Kasouken no Onna," said with a wry smile, "I've known her since I was about 20 years old. The first time we met, we were playing brother and sister on NHK. We've been friends for a long time since then..."
