Actor Osamu Mukai will star in WOWOW's "WOWOW Serial Drama W MR -Medical Representative-" (Sundays at 10 PM), which starts on October 4th. We spoke with Mukai, who plays Masaki Kionaka, an MR (Medical Representative) at a mid-sized pharmaceutical company, about his impressions after reading the script, the profession of an MR, what he emphasized in creating the character, and his own approach to work.
◇Entertainment built on realistic actions
The drama is based on the novel of the same name by physician and author Yo Kusakabe (published by Gentosha Bunko), and centers on a pharmaceutical sales representative (MR) who visits medical professionals such as doctors and pharmacists to provide and collect information on prescription drugs and promote their appropriate use. The drama depicts the realities of the medical industry, where many organizations and stakeholders, including pharmaceutical companies, university hospitals, doctors, academic societies, and guideline selection, are involved in the process of developing a single drug, and portrays the conflicts between the beliefs of people involved in a job that deals with lives, and the pressures of sales competition and medical ethics.
While medical dramas often feature doctors and nurses as the main characters, a work focusing on medical representatives (MRs) is unusual. Mukai, who plays the lead role, was intrigued by the offer to star in this drama, saying, "To dramatize MRs, what a challenging idea (laughs). I wondered what it would be about." As he read through the script, he realized, "It's entertainment."
"Those involved in healthcare work to save people, so there are no villains in the traditional sense. However, if it's portrayed with too much realism, it loses its entertainment value. The clash of ideals between oneself and the other, the clear conflict structure, and the exhilarating sense of solving a mystery that permeates the first episode—I felt that it made for an interesting story."
Mukai plays Kionaka, a medical representative (MR) who is torn between patients, doctors, and pharmaceutical companies, while trying to stick to his belief in "patients first." Mukai said, "It's a profession that doesn't often appear in public, but from the first episode there is a great deal of depiction of 'what an MR is'," and indeed, there are many mannerisms that are unique to an MR scattered throughout the show.
"Many of my university classmates happened to be medical representatives (MRs), so it felt like a familiar job to me. Actions like not walking in the middle of the hallway or using the emergency stairs instead of the elevator might seem surprising to viewers, but they represent the real lives of people working in the field. It was rewarding to build up the information by asking detailed questions to the pharmaceutical supervisors."
◇Attention to detail that goes beyond the "taken for granted"
"Memorizing lines isn't really preparation or anything like that. It's just the natural thing to do, so I don't really think about it much," says Mukai. "But what comes after that is more important. I pay attention to the details, like how fast I should say the lines," he adds, emphasizing the importance of further preparation. He recalls that in this film, where medical terminology is frequently used, the weight he could bring to those words was key to making his character seem like a veteran.
"The drugs that appear in the drama have fictional names, but I was familiar with the basic effects and side effects of these drugs because I researched them during my university days, and of course, there were some things I researched specifically for this project. If I speak words I don't know, it won't be convincing, and I wanted to understand the background of the words before being on set. Especially since I'm playing the branch manager, it was only natural that I studied before going to the set."
In this series, which is filled with complex medical terminology, Mukai says he decided to prioritize "conveying the situation at hand" over "making viewers understand the meaning of the words" in order to prevent them from drowning in a sea of information.
"The first episode starts with three pages of dialogue that includes technical jargon, and honestly, it's difficult to understand everything on first viewing. Even when I rewatched the video, it felt like a string of magical words (laughs). That's why it's important to act with an intensity that makes it clear what's happening. Whether they're in danger, have escaped danger, are about to face danger, or has the mystery been solved, I focused on conveying the situation while paying attention to the lines."
Mukai's ability to accept this situation stems from his experience on stage, where he learned that "sound is the only thing that can be reliably heard even by those in the back row of a 1200-seat venue."
"It's something intuitive, so I don't know if this is the right answer, but I think about how to communicate with people whose facial expressions I can't see every day. It's even more difficult when it comes to technical terms, and when I think about how to communicate effectively, I think it's about the way I speak, acting with my voice. That includes conveying emotions, and also the way I deliver important lines to explain the situation. This might be the first time I've consciously thought about that in a video production."
◇The sense of "giving back" that comes from a sense of responsibility
While Kionaka has a belief in putting patients first, when asked about the mindset that Mukai values when approaching her work, she said with a sincere expression, "It might sound vague, but it's the awareness of being a professional. As long as there is compensation for acting, there is a responsibility."
"Seeing a theater with a capacity of about 1200 people completely full made me acutely aware of the responsibility that comes with it. I receive a lot of energy from the audience, but I also feel a strong sense of responsibility to carry that energy with me. Everything has to be perfect, from the lines to the timing and tempo. And on top of that, I would be happy if the audience felt that it was worth seeing."
Mukai never forgets to show respect to those on set. He said he was deeply moved when he filmed at the Shima Kanko Hotel, where the actual desk used by the author, Toyoko Yamazaki, was located, for the WOWOW 30th Anniversary drama "Continuous Drama W: The Magnificent Family," in which he previously appeared.
"I'm grateful for the valuable experience I've been given, so when I'm called upon, I want to give back. Of course, it's not just that I'm happy to be called, but rather that a sense of responsibility arises from wanting to properly reciprocate. I believe that sense of responsibility is what professionalism is all about. I always keep that in mind and try not to forget it," he emphasized.
"WOWOW Drama Series MR -Medical Representative-" will air and stream every Sunday at 10 PM on WOWOW Prime and WOWOW On Demand starting October 4th. It will consist of 5 episodes. The first episode will be broadcast and streamed for free. (Interview, text, and photography by Masaki Endo)
