71-year-old actress Midori Hagio appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on March 31st. She talked about an episode involving senior actress Keiko Kishida, who intervened in an argument with a makeup artist on set, and also discussed her own personality.
He made his debut in 1974 at the age of 20 while still a student at Chiba University. He says that he "studied biology in the Faculty of Science" at university and "aimed to become a scholar," but for some reason became an actor. He says, "You never know what life will bring."
I was once helped out by senior actress Keiko Kishida at the film studio. When I was 22 or 23, I got an offer to be in a film by director Kon Ichikawa. On the first day of filming, I was told to be in the makeup room at the studio at 7 a.m., so I opened the door at 6:50 a.m. and said "Good morning," but the makeup artist was standing there and said, "What time do you think it is?!" I explained, "I was so surprised. It's 6:50 a.m. Ten minutes early. I'm not late," but she replied, "Don't say things like that!"
She thought it was strange because she hadn't been late. "I'm a newcomer, so normally I wouldn't say anything (or talk back). But I'm a science major and I'm very logical, so if I think I'm right, I absolutely won't back down," she said, describing her personality.
The makeup artist said, "A big-name actress is already here, and you're a newcomer, right? This is your first time, isn't it? How dare you arrive later than these two!" That annoyed me again. As we were arguing with the door between us, "someone stood up gracefully in the back..." It was Ms. Kishi. Her posture was so wonderful, and her beauty and dignified presence were "captivating." Ms. Kishi tried to mediate, saying, "Isn't it okay now?" "I sincerely thought that I wanted to be like her someday. But I couldn't," she said.
"I like to get my point across logically, and I can't rest until I've told the other person exactly what I think. I think that's a bad trait of people with a science background," he said, analyzing his own personality. He then admitted that he had several disagreements on set, but he would quickly retort, "I would find a flaw in the other person's logic. It's really not very endearing, is it?" He added that he's come to understand this as he's gotten older and done more different jobs. "I've come to realize that it's very important to let things go even if you think you're not on the same page with other people. It took me a while, but I kind of understand it now," he said.
Her hobby is knitting. Knitting involves a fixed number of stitches and rows. She believes it suits her scientific mind because it's so precise with numbers. When she concentrates on knitting, she says, "I can't think about anything else." Even if she has worries, she says with a smile, "I just concentrate on knitting for an hour or two," and "I feel like I can go to sleep, so I can stay free from my worries." She uses very expensive yarn from Scandinavia for her knitting. Even if she gets bored halfway through, she reveals, "I put it aside for a while, and then I think, 'It's a waste to throw it away, so I'll continue knitting,' and I end up finishing it."
