What Hikaru Takahashi secretly studies by reading interviews with her peers!
Hikaru Takahashi's sharp, fast-talking voice has made her a popular guest on variety shows. FRIDAY conducted a special interview with this 21-year-old who is currently the center of attention.
Hikaru Takahashi makes her first gravure appearance in this magazine in a year. Over the past year, she has gained a lot of experience, including starring on stage, and her expression as she gazes into the camera has become much more mature.
She is currently in the middle of filming “Halation Love” (TV Asahi), a drama series in which she stars. It is a love suspense in which the heroine, Akari Miyama, meets two men and confronts the truth about an incident in her past that has been hidden from the public. Akari’s hobby is film cameras, and she and Miyayama share the same love of cameras.
I’ve never used a film camera before, so this is my first time working with one, and it’s very new for me,” she said. I think it’s wonderful to feel the softness and transience of light in a film camera photograph. I would like to take this opportunity to try using a film camera.
In gravure, she is on the receiving end of being photographed, but she has also wanted to photograph women herself.
I love taking pictures of girls! When I go out with my friends, if I see a moment when I think, ‘Oh, she’s so cute! I want to take pictures as soon as I see a moment when I go out with friends and think, ‘Oh, how cute! I prefer taking pictures of my friends to taking selfies. I also like the pages like Friday’s “Noki-shots” where the members take pictures of each other. I’m sure there are expressions that can be drawn out of close relationships.
The character played by Shuri is a female college student. She is a female university student and is often photographed on campus. Takahashi herself has been concentrating on her work since graduating from high school, but she says she has a yearning for campus life.
She says, “I have a yearning for campus life! I actually wondered until the last minute whether or not I would go to college, but I’m not the dexterous type, so I thought I wouldn’t be able to manage it well. If I did go to college, I would like to study psychology and learn about dealing with others and myself. I think that as long as you have the motivation, you can enroll at any age, so even if it is difficult now, I would like to make it happen someday.
Takahashi also makes a sharp point with his Kansai dialect in variety shows. Is there any difference in the way he feels when he is acting as an actor?
In my case, acting requires careful preparation for the role. On the other hand, variety requires reflexes, so I don’t have time to think much. Besides, the comedians around me are extremely quick-witted, and the MCs help me out. So I feel that it is more interesting if I don’t think too much about it and just let myself go with what I feel on the spot, intuitively.
When asked if there is a routine he follows when filming a drama in order to concentrate on his role…
I don’t have a routine at the moment, but I would like to make one. I would like to know what other actors do as a switch to get into their acting, but I haven’t had the courage to ask. I read interviews with people in my industry and secretly study them, thinking, “I didn’t know they had a routine like this! I secretly study them (laughs).
In fact, he also carefully checks the programs and magazines in which he has appeared.
Rather than checking, it is more like a reflection session, and I often find myself thinking, “I need to work harder. I often wonder if what I said in the variety show was used, or if I was able to express myself in the way I imagined. Some productions combine CG and other elements, so I also want to see how I feel as a viewer when I see the finished film.
In addition to cameras, he also enjoys a variety of other hobbies, including video games, fishing, and making smoked fish.
When asked about his latest hobby, he gave a surprising answer: “Meeting people. For the past three years, due to the influence of Corona, I have had few opportunities to meet people outside of work. So I’ve only been communicating with my friends online or through games. Recently, I finally got to go out to eat or have tea with them, and I realized how important it is to spend time talking about trivial things face to face. In addition to my friends from school, I now have people I can confidently say are my friends. Right now, I’m putting all my energy into filming the drama, but once things settle down, I want to enjoy the summer with my friends!
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Hikaru Takahashi, age 21
Born in Shiga Prefecture. In 2002, she won the Grand Prix at the 14th All Japan National Beauty Contest and made her debut. In 2005, she made her first appearance in an NHK historical drama “Onna Jôshu Naotora”. While building her career as an actress, she has also become popular for her sharp and quick talk on variety shows, and will play her first starring role in a TV Asahi drama, “Halation Love” (TV Asahi), starting at 23:30 on August 5 (Sat.). For more up-to-date information, please visit Oscar Promotion’s website and his official Instagram (@hikaru_takahashi_official).
Click here to see Hikaru Takahashi’s gravure and 21-minute movie on FRIDAY.
Photographed by: Kazutaka Nakamura Interview and text: Miho Otobe