Moeka Hoshi is now the world’s hottest actress: “I was in Canada for 8 months and witnessed a legend on the set”.

He is now working as a freelance actor in Japan, but recently he has been working for an office in the United States. I’m currently working as a freelancer in Japan, but I recently decided on an agency in the U.S. (laughs).

(laugh),” said actress Moeka Hoshi, 29, with a slightly bemused expression on her face.
On September 15 (local time), the 76th Emmy Awards, also known as the Academy Awards of the American TV industry, were held, and the drama “Shogun Shogun” produced by and starring Hiroyuki Sanada, 63, swept all the major categories including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress, winning a record number of 18 awards.

In the film, based on the eve of the Battle of Sekigahara at the end of the Warring States Period, Hoshi received both domestic and international acclaim for her portrayal of Usami Fuji, the wife of John Blackthorne (Anjin Miura), an English seaman who drifts ashore in Japan.

She received accolades both at home and abroad. “I had less than 30,000 followers on Instagram before the release of ‘Shogun,’ but now I have more than 140,000. Most of them are overseas fans who saw the film. Once again, I felt the huge impact this drama has had on the world.

After winning the grand prix at “Miss iD 2016” in 2004, Hoshi began his career as an actor in earnest, and this year marks the seventh anniversary of his acting career.

This year marks the seventh anniversary of his acting career. If I had to say, I would say that director Rikiya Imaizumi (43) has cast me in “What’s Love” (’19), “On the Street” (’21), and “At the Window” (’22) in succession. I like moments that exist in everyday life but that no one pays attention to, such as when a vending machine is being refilled. I think that resonates with Imaizumi-san’s sensibility, or perhaps there is a sense of similarity.

It was in 2008 that Hoshi was given the opportunity to be a main cast member of “SHOGUN”.

The creator team was in the U.S., so the audition was by video. Usually, after sending one video, the directors would send me a request like, ‘Show me another pattern next time,’ and I would send it back and repeat the process like ……, but I got the part in one shot. I don’t know why, but I guess I fit the production team’s image of Wisteria.

For Hoshi, who had spent almost her entire career in Japan, the eight months of filming in Vancouver, Canada, was a big challenge.

The filming began in the summer of 2009. I was in the COVID-19 crisis at the time, and I took part in this film with a great deal of determination, so I did not return to Japan even once during the filming. Even so, life in Vancouver was comfortable. Each cast member was provided with a car and a locally hired driver. My English is not very good, but he was very kind, so I had no trouble communicating with him. On my days off, I practiced naginata (halberd), tea ceremony, and abacus so that I would not be overwhelmed by the role of a woman living in the Warring States period.

The filming location was very different from Japan. The crew would leave in the middle of a shoot. I’ve already finished my shift, so another crew member will take over. See you later! Like that (laughs). I was surprised because in Japan, hair, makeup, and stylists are supposed to arrive before the actors and leave after the actors.

The care for the actors was also very generous. Once, I got sick during a shoot. When I told the staff that, “If I had to say, the way I dressed her might have been different from usual,” the department in charge of kimono said, “Eka must have gotten sick! The department in charge of kimonos took the blame for this, and I am really sorry about that.

Also, since name recognition in Japan was almost never accepted, there was no such thing as “this person is a star” or “this person has a short career, so ……”. Everyone was equal and focused only on making good films.”

Unrequited Love for the Japanese Film Industry

Fuji, played by Hoshi, loses her samurai husband and newborn son at the beginning of the film, and within a few months is forced to remarry to Anjin, an Englishman who has become a bannerman at the behest of his lord, which she accepts. Although the character is often described in the context of a strong woman who survives the turbulence of the Warring States period, Hoshi says, “Actually, Fuji is a weak woman.

“Indeed, everyone who watches the movie asks me, ‘How did Fuji become such a strong woman? But that’s not true at all. When her first husband and child died, she tried to die herself, and when she was asked to marry an Englishman with whom she did not speak the language, she begged to be ordained and become a nun. I was conscious of her fragility and weakness as a person rather than her strength as a woman.

She felt a special bond with English actor Cozmo Jarvis (35), who played her husband Anjin, during the filming.

My character doesn’t speak English, and his character doesn’t speak Japanese. Even so, we were able to catch each other’s energy outside of words in the play. On the all-up day, Kozmo gave me a letter. It was just a scribble on a piece of paper torn from a notebook, saying something like, ‘Your performance was great,’ but that kind of clumsiness was also very Kozmo-like.”

It seems that “SHOGUN” was enough to open Hoshi’s eyes to the world.

I was happy to be able to act in an environment where I could give my 120%. I don’t think I was the only one who felt that. Tokuma Nishioka, 77, who played Toda Hiromatsu (Hosokawa Fujitaka), the grandfather of Fuji’s character Toranaga Yoshii (Tokugawa Ieyasu), who was played by Sanada, had a shocking scene in which he committed seppuku. I thought to myself, “Tokuma-san, you have created a legend.

Hoshi is currently working freelance in Japan, but with “Shogun” as an opportunity to expand overseas, he signed a contract with an agent in the U.S. “I have been learning English and watching movies now.

I’m learning English and watching Hollywood blockbusters like “The Avengers,” which I had never seen before. I also want to try my hand at action movies where I have to beat up my enemies.

Of course, my main battlefield is Japan, so I would like to act in films directed by Shuichi Okita (47), Ryosuke Hashiguchi (62), Shinzo Katayama (43), Ryusuke Hamaguchi (45), and Yukiko Saihate (41). The directors I would like to work with are too numerous to name. But sadly, I have always had a crush on the Japanese film industry. Even though I keep saying I want to do it, I can’t get turned around, or I can’t pull on the heartstrings of directors. ……

So I want to make something good in a place that needs me. I don’t know if that will be in America or Japan.”

Hoshi may be on her way to becoming a Hollywood actress.

From the October 11, 2024 issue of FRIDAY