<h3>A talented actor starring in TV TOKYO&#8217;s drama series &#8220;Qros no Onna</h3>
<figure id="attachment_396973" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1814px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-396973"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="404c5017"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/86e1655a71e55b3b86e71b254ab80516.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-396973" class="wp-caption-text">When I handed him the camera, he held it up with a familiar hand. In the drama, he uses a camera planted in his phone or bag to get a series of scoops.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In response to the social situation, we are now in an age where we have no choice but to use information as a theme in our dramas,&#8221; he said. Information has become an inseparable part of daily life, so much so that we can say &#8216;food, clothing, shelter, and ″emotion″ instead of &#8220;food, clothing, and shelter.</span></p>
<p>In the October drama series &#8220;Qros no Onna: Scoop to dename no Kouzou&#8221; (TV TOKYO), Kenta Kiritani (44) plays Koji Kuriyama, a reporter in charge of entertainment for a weekly magazine.</p>
<p>As Kiritani says, he is getting more and more offers for roles in which &#8220;information&#8221; is his profession, such as playing an editor in &#8220;Serial Drama W: Akai Roof on the Hill&#8221; (WOWOW) this past March and an informant in &#8220;Informer&#8221; (Fuji TV) last year. However, this is her first role as a weekly journalist covering entertainment scoops. Speaking about her role, Kiritani says, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;I imagine the role to the point where it is not written in the script, and develop an image of the role</span>.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> In my imagination, Kuriyama has been a reporter since he was in elementary school. He would snoop on his teacher&#8217;s private life, put it in the class newspaper, and post it in the hallway (laughs). The teachers would get angry with me, but I was like a hero among my classmates.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When I first started as a reporter, I must have been very excited, and I would have been excited to be there on the train when an article I had written became the topic of conversation among passengers. I thought about the appeal of this job as if I were Kuriyama.&#8221;</span></p>
<p>Kuriyama was traumatized by a mistake he made in his job and once tried to leave the world of weekly newspapers, but decided to continue. Kiritani has this to say about the protagonist&#8217;s state of mind: &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what to do about the trauma.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I think he wanted to somehow make sense of the trauma. The editor-in-chief said to him, &#8216;You don&#8217;t even deserve to quit. One of the reasons he continued to work as a reporter was because he was convinced that continuing was the way to atone for his crime, but in the end, I think Kuriyama couldn&#8217;t quit because he loved his job.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He might make the same mistake again and hurt people. He is so stressed out that he throws up in the toilet. Still, he continues to work as a reporter despite his mental and physical ailments because this is the only job in which he can find meaning in his existence. As I played the role, I realized that the weekly magazine scene was the only place where Kuriyama could find meaning in his work.</span></p>
<h3>A certain &#8220;fateful relationship&#8221; with FRIDAY</h3>
<p>Kiritani says that she considered how it would feel to be on the receiving end of scoops for her role, but she is usually on the &#8220;receiving end&#8221; of being photographed. There have been no major scandals, and FRIDAY has never reported anything ugly about Kiritani, but she did recall, with gestures and hand gestures, a certain history with FRIDAY.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> I think it was about 14 or 15 years ago, when I was going home, there was a car in front of my house. It was a place with a fair amount of traffic, and it was not unusual to see a car parked on the street. But I immediately had a hunch that that car was suspicious. Then I saw a lens shining in the back seat.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I thought, &#8220;What is this?　I thought, and I knocked on the passenger window. At first he didn&#8217;t open the window at all, but I persisted and he lowered the window. But when I said to him, &#8220;There&#8217;s nothing more to do today, even if you wait here,&#8221; he didn&#8217;t even look at me.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I couldn&#8217;t have a conversation with him, but at the end I said, &#8216;Thank you very much. When I offered my hand, he gave me a firm handshake (laughs). (Laughs) I remember how happy I was when the photographer gave me a firm handshake. I looked at the business card he gave me at that time and saw that it was Friday.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="As for measures against the paparazzi... I didn't do anything at all (laughs)."></div>
<h3>Black and white exist at the same time.</h3>
<p>Many celebrities are wary of the paparazzi and refrain from going out, but Kiritani laughs unconcernedly, saying, &#8220;I don&#8217;t take any precautions at all,&#8221; and continues, &#8220;I really don&#8217;t think about it.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t really think about it. I like to be out, so there is not a day when I don&#8217;t go out. You can tell I have a fake mustache, can&#8217;t you? (Laughs). (Laughs.) I even wear sunglasses, which I like.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Is it possible that someone might have seen you or know where you live?　I think so. But I don&#8217;t go to the trouble of ego searching to find out. Well, it&#8217;s no use worrying about it, or rather, it&#8217;s more fun not to worry about it.</span></p>
<p>She is also not concerned about the ratings of the dramas and movies in which she has appeared.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> In terms of how I perceive things, I believe that black and white exist at the same time, just like the yin-yang symbol. There is a white light in a black gradient and a black spot in a white one. Which one you choose is also up to you. When I have a bad day, do I feel black, or do I feel bad, or does that mean I want to be like this? I&#8217;d like to take it as a positive thing.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I can make the fact that Mr. Friday came to my house 14 or 15 years ago into a bad memory. But for me, that firm handshake remains as a positive memory.</span><span class="strongInContent"> I would like to think that the fact that I am here now to do this interview was a result of that handshake.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The car left right after we shook hands, but I thought it would be fun if we could go out for a drink together. It would have been a chance to hear many stories. It is difficult to change the world, but you can change the way you perceive it.</span></p>
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<h3>Why he &#8220;dares to leave the choice of roles to the office</h3>
<p>His positive attitude toward everything is also reflected in his work as an actor.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When it comes to work, I don&#8217;t dare to ask for a job myself, but rather leave it up to the agency. When I was just starting out in the industry, the president always said, &#8216;I want to give you more and more roles that you can barely reach by looking at an angle and stretching out your hand. If I choose roles by myself, I will only choose roles that I am good at, so I want the office to throw the ball to me and I want to make that ball a home run.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> As was the case when I was offered the role in &#8220;The Woman in Qros,&#8221; I would like to continue to play roles that go beyond my imagination. I don&#8217;t care if the scale of the shoot is big or small, or whether I play a supporting or leading role. If it looks interesting, I want to try anything.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I started acting because it looked fun and exciting, and when I saw the adventure movie &#8220;The Goonies&#8221; when I was 5 years old, I saw kids my age playing happily and I wanted to be a part of that &#8220;square&#8221;.</span><span class="strongInContent"> I wanted to be a part of that &#8220;square.&#8221; I think my acting career is an extension of the &#8220;Fatty&#8221; games I used to play when I was a kid.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I would have been happy if I had received recognition, but when I was a child, I was always absorbed in what I wanted to do, even if I didn&#8217;t get praised for it. It was not about what others thought or said, but how I felt. I want to keep playing with that feeling in my acting career.</span></p>
<p>The sparkle in his eyes has probably not changed since he was five years old.</p>
<h3>I am sure that the sparkle in his eyes has not changed since he was five years old,<br>
But you can change the way you see yourself.</h3>
<figure id="attachment_396975" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-396975"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="72294801"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/eb3c170f5ed37f467108f10b6cf82aba.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-396975" class="wp-caption-text">Kenta Kiritani / Born in Osaka. He got his break in 2008 with the drama &#8220;ROOKIES,&#8221; and has since appeared in several films, including &#8220;Informer,&#8221; &#8220;Keiji to Kenji, Sometimes Hanzi,&#8221; and &#8220;In-Hospital Police. He has also worked as a singer. He is also active as a singer and participated in the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen in 2004 with the commercial song &#8220;Umi no Koe.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_396977" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-396977"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="04c2576f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/0384e502f999badb5cd19665f59c6ca7.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-396977" class="wp-caption-text">Kenta Kiritani plays a reporter for a weekly magazine, moving from the &#8220;taking pictures&#8221; side to the &#8220;filming&#8221; side.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_396976" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-396976"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="daeda0ea"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/a0083aee75ff05f4ba20b05c78575831.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-396976" class="wp-caption-text">Kenta Kiritani plays a reporter for a weekly magazine, from the side of being photographed to the side of being photographed.</figcaption></figure>
<p>From the November 1-8, 2024 issue of FRIDAY</p>


 Kazuhiko Nakamura

 Actor Kenta Kiritani plays the role of a reporter for a weekly magazine in the October drama series "Qros no Onna: Scoop to Hanza" (A Madness Named "Scoop"). In this SP interview, he talks about his role, his personal life, and even a certain "fateful relationship" with FRIDAY!

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