The TBS Tuesday drama "Mirai no Musuko" (Tuesdays at 10 PM), starring actress Mirai Shida, features child actor Yu Amano (5 years old) playing Souta, Mirai's son who has traveled from 2036. Yu's charming and honest emotional expressions, and his powerful crying scene that brought viewers to tears, earned him the role in an audition with approximately 200 participants. We spoke to producer Saeko Amamiya, who is working on this project, about Yu's appeal and why she chose him for the role of Souta.
◇For the role of Sota, emphasis was placed on "being natural and having a childlike quality."
Yu-kun was born on April 24, 2020. He regularly watched his older sister, who was already active in the entertainment industry, practice acting, and was invited to join the industry by her agency. Last year, he appeared as a child in the TBS Sunday drama "The 19th medical record." This was his first time taking on a role with long lines in a TV drama series.
When auditioning for the role of Sota, Amamiya said she wanted to find a child who was as natural and childlike as possible. "Those with experience as child actors are able to act very well. But for this role, I prioritized being as natural and endearing as possible, so I chose Amano-kun," she said.
Yu-kun's carefree smile is striking, whether he's flashing a big smile towards the future and happily pouring ketchup on his omelet rice, calling out "Mommy!" Amano points out, "His face is cute even when he's not doing anything. The way his mouth is slightly open, which is typical of children, and the expressions he makes naturally are charming. I also think his slight lisp is cute."
On the other hand, I was amazed by Yu's ability to switch between roles. "What's incredible about him is that he retains his childlike innocence, but he can also switch to doing things properly when necessary. In this production, Sota has a lot of crying scenes and emotional acting, and he can do those kinds of scenes well. But when he's told, 'You can do whatever you want here,' he can really let loose, and that ability to switch is amazing," I said, full of admiration.
From the audition onwards, she switched gears instantly and performed flawlessly, making the audience wonder, "Is she really only five years old? She doesn't seem like a five-year-old."
◇After the audition, she practiced three times a week, promising "I won't do the same thing twice."
After the audition, I met with Yu-kun about three times a week and we practiced together. Rather than having him act, I wanted him to "be Sota," so I explained Sota's feelings for each scene. We thought together, with the director, about how to express emotions such as "fun," "happy," "angry," and "sad." We hardly practiced lines or movements at all.
"Yu-kun is very conscientious and tends to do things exactly as he's practiced, so I made him promise, 'Sota, don't do the same thing twice.' I told him that he shouldn't do the same thing twice, but instead do whatever he feels like doing at the time."
His ability to draw others in was far beyond what the adults on the scene had imagined.
Yu-kun has shown some amusing behavior that wasn't in the script. In the scene where he puts ketchup on omurice (episode 2), Yu-kun got carried away and became "uncontrollable," so Shida-san responded almost entirely through ad-libbing. "Yu-kun does things that weren't anticipated in the script, so the actors responded to that in an ad-lib-like way. I think we've been able to film some interesting scenes that weren't in the script," she said, expressing her satisfaction.
