Yuki Matsushita Interview: “What Hasn’t Changed Since My Teenage Years”

Countless Hits Such as “Until Memories Fade,” “Nurse’s Work,” and “The Ōoku”

“I was initially bewildered by the role of a ‘veteran manager who mentally torments a rookie actor’ because it was so shocking. When I first received the offer, I thought, ‘How am I supposed to play this?’ As the drama progresses, the affection my character shows toward Takuto, the rookie actor played by Kota Nomura (21), becomes increasingly distorted, and I kept thinking about how to express that,” she said.

In 1989, Yuki Matsushita (56) made her first leading role in the drama I Like It Tasty! (TBS), and went on to appear in numerous hit dramas such as Until Memories Fade (TBS) and The Summer I Was With You (Fuji TV), establishing herself as the “Queen of Trendy Dramas.”

Now, for the first time in about 20 years, she takes on a solo leading role in the drama Dear My Baby Until I Control You (TV Tokyo), which began airing on April 4.

“In Dear My Baby, the character I play isn’t an ordinary manager. That’s why I didn’t aim for realism at all and focused purely on the entertainment within the drama. This might be the first time I’ve approached a work in this way.”

So, what exactly was different from her past works?

“In a typical drama, I first study the profession of the character I’m playing and then try to balance that with the work itself. For example, in Nurse’s Work (Fuji TV), I learned about a nurse’s duties but had to perform injections at a faster pace than in real medical settings during filming. Strictly speaking, that wasn’t a realistic depiction of a nurse, but we balanced fiction and reality based on the flow and atmosphere of the story. However, this time, I didn’t incorporate any real-world elements at all. In that sense, Dear My Baby is a special work.”

Matsushita, who debuted at the age of 15 after passing an audition for the film Aiko, Sixteen, says, “The fun and difficulty of acting hasn’t changed since my teenage years.”

“When I was a teenager, I had to act out experiences I hadn’t lived through, things that weren’t in my own repertoire. As I built my career, I gathered more experiences into my repertoire, but if you just stick with what’s already there, you lose freshness. So I’ve constantly repeated the cycle of clearing out the old and bringing in the new. That’s why I can continue to feel the excitement and challenge of acting even now.”

 

Perhaps because she constantly keeps herself in a fresh state, when asked about the most memorable roles she has played, she gave a wry smile and said, “It’s hard to choose.”

“Every project holds special memories for me, so I could go on endlessly. Until Memories Fade and Nurse’s Work are still often mentioned in interviews even though it’s been 20 or 30 years since they aired. The Ōoku (Fuji TV) was a major project for me because I managed to see it through despite not even knowing the basics of period dramas. It really is hard to pick just one (laughs). Of course, Dear My Baby is also one of the important works for me.”

Now reaching the climax of filming, Matsushita is extremely busy. If she could take an extended break, she said with a bright smile, she would like to visit Germany.

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to enjoy beer and sausages from midday? I would also love to visit New York again. In my teens, I had the chance to go to New York and Los Angeles for dance lessons. At that time, I couldn’t drive yet, so I used to ride a bicycle from where I was staying, crossing the Hollywood Hills to get to the lesson studio. I would love to revisit those places filled with memories.”

From the April 18, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”