Wakana Matsumoto: “I am the person I am today thanks to a word from my mother” – A Turning Point at the Age of 32

Age 32 was the turning point. ……
After more than 15 years of working under the radar, she was selected to star in a series of dramas one after another!
This season, she plays a super emergency doctor!

I honestly don’t feel like I’ve had a breakthrough, but last year was an intense year.

I don’t really feel like I’ve had a breakthrough, but last year was an intense year for me,’ said actor Wakana Matsumoto, 41, with a look of contentment on his face. Her outrageous performance in the drama “Yangonokake no Kazoku” (Fuji TV), which aired in 2010, attracted so much attention that the phrase “Matsumoto Gekijo” was coined, and she quickly rose to stardom.

She was also selected to play the lead role in the drama “Dr. Ashera” (Fuji TV), which will start airing in April. She plays the role of Shura Anno, a super emergency doctor who never turns down any urgent patient and uses every means at her disposal to save the patient in front of her.

This time, the setting is an emergency department where people face life on the front lines, and I had the opportunity to learn under the supervision of a medical supervisor,” she said. I heard that professional doctors can tell when an amateur or inexperienced doctor is performing a single cardiac massage. So I learned the techniques in detail and observed actual lifesaving situations so that I could reflect the tension in the film as much as possible.

Matsumoto’s role in the film is not limited to what is seen on screen, but also extends to what is not seen.

In some of the surgery scenes, you can see my hands, and I was concerned if my fingernails were even slightly long,” he said. In the surgery scene, I wear a sterile glove, so you don’t see my fingernails, but I try to keep them short so that I can show my “doctor-like” appearance. Actually, after playing this role, I started to feel uncomfortable with my long nails in real life as well (laughs).

This is the third time for me to play the lead role in a GP drama. He recalled that he also developed a sense of responsibility as the chairperson.

Thankfully, I have been blessed by the people around me, and I hope to repay that favor little by little on the set. I have met many respectable chairpersons. I would like to inherit what they have done for me.

A Reward for Myself

Last year, she was ranked No. 1 in the “Breakthrough Actor Ranking (Female),” and this year she won the “33rd Hashida Award” for newcomer of the year, and her success knows no bounds.

She is still going strong, winning the “Hashida Award for Best Newcomer” this year, and is still going strong! I thought, “This is destiny! I got the biggest reward for all the hard work I’ve put in so far, as well as a shout-out to myself for the future!

Although Matsumoto is now in great demand, it has not always been smooth sailing for him. He spent more than 15 years as an underachiever, working part-time at sushi restaurants, Okinawan restaurants, and other eateries until the age of 34, in parallel with his acting career. His efforts did not bear fruit, and he recalls, “There were times when I seriously considered quitting acting.

When I was 32 years old,” he recalls, “I almost gave up because of a number of mental and physical challenges. I had no personality and no distinctive voice. I had so little presence that people didn’t even notice that I was in the productions, and I almost lost my confidence. I felt that there was no place for me in the entertainment industry, and I was thinking of returning to my hometown of Tottori.

What made her decide to stay was a comment from her mother.

I called my mother and told her that I was quitting, and all she said was, ‘Okay. I honestly thought she was going to ask me why, but she didn’t. I really appreciated her reaction at the time. I was really grateful for that response, and it gave me the courage to go back to my roots and do my best.

I changed my mind and worked hard, and the following year I won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 39th Yokohama Film Festival. At that time, I felt for the first time that I had been recognized by someone, and I thought, “Maybe I can still be a part of this world. I am the person I am today because of what my mother said to me at that time.

When asked what his parents thought of their son’s success, he replied with a wry smile, “My father and mother are both in the entertainment business.

My father and mother are not very knowledgeable about the world of show business. When I call them, they don’t talk about work at all, and the only question they ask is, ‘When are you coming home? (laughs). But I was happy when my father said to me about two years ago, ‘I’m rooting for you.

With a solid presence, Matsumoto is steadily on her way to becoming a top actress.

From the May 9, 16, and 23, 2025 issue of FRIDAY