Hitomi Kuroki Opens Up About Her Unwavering Passion for Acting and the Joke She Shares with Her Husband

“I need to talk to you — I’m thinking of quitting acting.”

One day, before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, she told her husband that. After about ten seconds of silence, his response was a simple, “Sounds good.”

“And the way he says it is so nonchalant. But then, as I’m asking, ‘You think so too?’ and start reading the script I was offered, my heart starts to stir. Before I know it, I’m standing on set again. It’s strange, isn’t it?”

Spoken with a hint of amusement — these are the words of actress Hitomi Kuroki (64).

In 1982, she became the fastest in history to reach the top musumeyaku (female role) position in the Takarazuka Revue at the age of 22. In 1997, she sparked a social phenomenon with the film Lost Paradise. Ever since, she has continued taking on challenges in both film and stage as an actress and director, her career now spanning over 40 years. Even so, she remains on the front lines of entertainment, always seeking new challenges.

“As I kept going back and forth between ‘I’ll quit’ and ‘I won’t quit,’ my husband started calling it my ‘I’m quitting, I’m quitting scam’ (laughs). Maybe for me, it’s like when people casually say, ‘I’m done drinking.’ But whenever I get an offer for the next project, without fail, I end up thinking, ‘I still want to act!’ I really do love acting after all.

Even when COVID hit and all my work disappeared, I had moments where I thought it was okay to let go of it myself, so I wasn’t that scared. Of course I felt anxious, but I wasn’t in a panicked rush — I was able to properly stay home and spend my days normally.”

She neither forces herself to quit nor to continue. And yet before she realizes it, the desire to return to set wells up again. She says it’s the countless encounters she’s had along the way that became the “soil” to nurture who Hitomi Kuroki is today.

“This is the only work I’ve ever done. So both as an actress and as a person, it’s the ‘encounters’ that raised me, without a doubt.”

With just the way you stand

The origin of it all was the Takarazuka Revue. She looks back on seeing the pride of a stage performer in the figure of Mao Daichi (69).

“The first time I shared the stage with Daichi-san, I felt — ah, so this is what it means to be a pro. What it means to accept money from an audience. From how to stand, how to move — the senior performers showed me everything.”

In the April 11 issue of FRIDAY (April 25–May 2 combined issue) and the paid edition FRIDAY GOLD, she speaks candidly about the many encounters that shaped actress Hitomi Kuroki, and her thoughts on today’s entertainment world.

For more details and multiple photos, click here↓.

From the April 25 and May 2, 2025 combined issue of “FRIDAY”