Nao: “I’m glad I had a place to be in my last 20s where I could really get down” – The obstacles and major changes faced by a cutting-edge actress.

Looking back on the year ’24, I feel that I was involved in some impressive dramas right from the start, and the scene of “Haru ni nara ni tara” (produced by Kansai Television) in January was what I had in mind as an ideal, with all the actors and staff looking in the same direction. It was my ideal.

In the subsequent productions of “I want to punch that bum” (TBS) and “Tokyo Salad Bowl” (NHK), the producer of both saw me playing the daughter of Noritake Kinashi (62), who played the father who had been told he did not have long to live in “Haru ni nara shita” and offered me a chance to appear in the drama. It was a great start to the year, and it led me to a new job.”

For Nao (29), 2012 was a year of breakthroughs. She starred in a total of four dramas and movies, the most in her career, and was cast in two new commercials. When asked why he was so successful, he replied, “Why is that? I was very surprised myself,” she continued.

I am very surprised myself. I feel happy and strange at the same time, because I think it’s an unstable job where you never know when the offers will stop coming in. My manager and I may not have analyzed it properly yet.

However, the experience of performing in “Medicine Medicine,” which ran from May to June of 2012, was significant. The story was difficult to follow, and even one week before the performance, I was still unable to give the performance required by the director. …… I remember crying in the car on the way home after rehearsals.

But it was a very happy experience for me to be able to suffer to the fullest with the wonderful members of the company, and my acting changed after that performance. Now I am glad that in my last year of my twenties, I had a place where I could properly fall in love (laughs).

Because he is a successful actor, he gets new jobs one after another, and each time he hits a wall. The way he copes with this has “evolved” as well.

I used to be the type of person who would hold onto my problems alone, but now I talk to other people about my problems. I have changed a lot in the past year. For example, Gaku Hamada (36), who I worked with on “Spring Comes,” listened to me when I said, ‘This is the kind of scene I’m going to work on next.

Mr. Hamada encouraged me by saying, “Nao, I think you will be fine just by being on the set with an open mind,” which gave me the courage to crank it out. Until now, I have not been good at relying on anyone, but now I have more people I can call if I have a moment when I feel like my heart is about to break. That gives me support.”

The January 10 issue of “FRIDAY January 24/31” and the pay-per-view “FRIDAY GOLD” report in detail on how Nao appeared in her latest film “Tokyo Salad Bowl” and the unexpected way she refreshes herself that she revealed to us.

For more details and multiple photos, click here↓.

Nao’s Thoughts on Entering Her 30s: “I want to choose what makes my heart flutter.

From the January 24 and 31 issue of “FRIDAY