Two board down incidents, the legendary stage in ’13, meeting and parting… Etcetera about “Miyazawa Rie and Revenge”.

However, Rie Miyazawa did not die, and her talent blossomed as she entered the 21st century.

She won the Best Leading Actress Award at the Moscow International Film Festival for the Hong Kong film “Hana no Ai: Amusement Park Dreams” in 2001, followed by the Best Leading Actress Award at the Japan Academy Prize for “Twilight Samurai” (2002), and the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for “Living with the Father” (2004). She won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for “The Twilight Samurai” (’02). She won the Yomiuri Theatre Award for Best Actress for “Invisible Steam” (’04), the Kinokuniya Theatre Award for “Rope” (’06), and the second Yomiuri Theatre Award for Best Actress for “Ningyo no Ie” (’08)…. …. The actress was no longer the one who used to read the lines of the drama “Swan’s Tears” (Fuji Television) with a faltering voice, but was steadily building up her credentials as a genuine actress, mainly in movies and on stage.

And then there was the understudy of the year 2001.

It was Hideki Noda, the star of the show, who recommended Rie Miyazawa as the understudy for Yuki Amami, who regretfully decided to withdraw from the show in the final stage of its long run. It is not difficult to imagine that Noda, who had seen and worked with Rie Miyazawa several times and had a good idea of her skills, thought that Rie Miyazawa could do the role. It is no wonder that when Hideki Noda asked her if she would be interested in working with him, she had bitter memories of the two rejections in 1995 and thought, “Why not give it a shot? There has never been a better time to take revenge.

From this point on, Rie Miyazawa moved swiftly. She received the script from the organizers before dawn on August 8, the day Yuki Amami announced her withdrawal from the show, worked on the script all night long, attended a production announcement at 11:00 a.m. on August 9 for a play to be staged after fall, and then rehearsed the entire play until early morning on August 10. The reading and rehearsals together lasted a mere 25 hours. Even if you didn’t read the Nikkan Sports, you would have to say that he was a godlike person to appear at the soiree on the 10th.

Then came the curtain call. The audience, some of whom were standing, applauded her for completing the two-hour and 20-minute performance without intermission. （For Rie, whose reputation as an actress continues to grow, this substitution was a high-risk gamble. The performance, which was met with curious looks, was indeed a night of legends.

The word “actress” is becoming less and less used these days from a genderless perspective, but just as we respect female singers by calling them “diva” (diva), I define “actress” as a title of respect. I sincerely hope that Rie Miyazawa will carry the title of “actress” for the rest of her life. (Honorifics omitted)