<figure id="attachment_438496" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-438496" style="width: 1667px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f5dd520e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/09/2dd40516ceeb5832cc94f248d72b2c9b-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-438496" class="wp-caption-text">His reputation was so high that it is said there is no one in the industry who does not know his name (February &#8217;23).</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> A Glimpse of Talent at the Age of 14</span></h3>
<p> On September 3, actor Hiroya Shimizu, 26, was arrested for violating the Narcotics Control Law. As a result of a search of his house by the police, dried marijuana was found, and he confessed to using it habitually.</p>
<p> Shimizu was appearing in the Sunday theater program &#8220;The 19th Chart&#8221; (TBS), which was airing at the time of his arrest, and all of his scenes were cut from the program. He was also appearing in a key role in the &#8220;Tokyo Revengers&#8221; movie series (&#8217;21 and &#8217;23), which was a huge hit and is expected to be made into a sequel. For this reason, the industry is in an uproar of surprise and confusion.</p>
<p> However, he is still young and has no prominent leading roles to his credit. He is not an actor who is widely known to the public, so many may wonder, &#8220;Is he really that big of a deal?&#8221; However, the fact is that this Hiroya Shimizu is a young actor who has not yet starred in any prominent films. In fact, however, it is no exaggeration to say that there is no one in the industry who does not know this actor, Hiroya Shimizu. This is because he is a &#8220;genius. A film writer says as follows: &#8220;Mr. Shimizu first attracted attention because he was a genius.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> Shimizu first attracted attention when he appeared in Tetsuya Nakajima&#8217;s film &#8220;Thirst&#8221; (&#8217;14) at the age of 14. (2002), in which she appeared at the age of 14. She won the role of &#8220;Boku&#8221; (me), a young girl who is being bullied severely, at an audition, and left a strong impact on the audience. This film is well known as a success story for Nana Komatsu (29), who played the lead role, but I personally feel that Ms. Shimizu, who played the opposite role of &#8220;Boku,&#8221; was wonderful and made Ms. Komatsu&#8217;s attractiveness shine even brighter.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> At the same time, he gave a great performance as a ruthless delinquent, the opposite of the character in the popular film &#8220;Solomon&#8217;s Perjury&#8221; (2003), based on Miyabe Miyuki&#8217;s novel. As a chameleon actor, he quickly gained the attention of industry insiders.</span></p>
<p> A women&#8217;s magazine editor recalls her impression of Shimizu, who appeared like a comet.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> I first heard about him in &#8220;Thirst. I first learned of him in &#8220;Thirst. I was impressed by his incredible presence and his insane acting ability, and I thought, &#8216;He is a genius!　He is a once-in-a-decade talent! I was shocked. He was not well known yet, but I took the plunge and arranged a big interview with him.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He seemed to sense his own momentum when I interviewed him at that time. With a twinkle in his eye, he happily talked about how he wanted to catch up with and surpass his older brother. It was just like he had a great future ahead of him, but where on earth did he stumble &#8230;&#8230;? It&#8217;s a shame.</span></p>
<p> On the other hand, a writer who has been paying attention to Shimizu since he was a teenager and has regularly interviewed him says, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;I don&#8217;t feel any discomfort with his drug use, since he has a sharp difference between irritable days and calm days.</span> He talked about a curious change in his impression of him over the past few years.</p>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent">I thought, &#8220;Now I can finally play an active role&#8230;&#8221;</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When he first attracted attention with films such as &#8220;Thirst&#8221;, Hiroya was a member of a small agency. When he first attracted attention for his work in &#8220;Thirst&#8221; and other films, Hiroya was a member of a small agency. That is why he won major roles one after another at auditions, and he was probably the biggest promotion of his career. I got the impression that he was very much valued by the office and that he himself was motivated by the high expectations he received.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> However, perhaps it was the policy of the office, but at that time he rarely appeared in TV dramas. I felt frustrated because he had not been able to make a breakthrough. So when he moved to the current firm, which had a good track record, I was happy that he would finally be able to play an active role.</span></p>
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<p> However, my expectations unexpectedly changed to &#8220;What? However, his expectations unexpectedly changed to &#8220;What?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> As expected, I was immediately selected for the much-talked-about &#8220;one&#8221; (Nihon TV series, 2006) starring Suzu Hirose. However, she was more subdued than I had expected, and I didn&#8217;t feel the spark that she had in the movie.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> With her unquestionable acting ability, she continued to get prominent roles in high-profile productions such as NHK&#8217;s morning dramas and TBS&#8217;s Sunday Gekijo. I think I had a breakthrough in my own right, but I just couldn&#8217;t get the same sense of the devilish intensity that I had on TV.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I wonder if he became somewhat impatient and turned to drugs, or if he lost his luster when he started taking drugs. &#8230;&#8230; I don&#8217;t know which came first, but in any case, given his genius, this self-destruction is regrettable.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> Media critic Takahiko Kageyama, a professor at Doshisha Women&#8217;s University, had the following to say about Shimizu.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> He is a great actor when he plays the role of a madman. The role of a serial killer he played in the 2010 film &#8220;Sasasu&#8221; (directed by Shinzo Katayama) left a strong impression on me. It had a &#8220;reality&#8221; that made me tremble when I saw it. I don&#8217;t think many people have ever met a real serial killer, but even so, it was a reality that made him look like a serial killer.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Shingo Yamashiro once said, &#8220;In the modern age, it is reason that plays the role of madness. That is probably why he was able to play a wide range of roles, such as the thin young man in &#8220;one&#8221; and the weather forecaster who suddenly transforms from a shady character into a handsome man in the morning drama &#8220;Okaeri Monet&#8221;.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> However, I think that Shimizu&#8217;s wide range of roles is also due to the fact that he has been giving his all in each and every job. So, when he was inundated with work as he has been recently, he may have been over capacity, in my imagination. Because Shimizu is a clever person who values a sense of balance, I think he was afraid of losing his own balance due to too much work.</span><span class="strongInContent"> When he atones for his sins, I would love to see him again.</span></p>
<p> How will Shimizu listen to these voices that regret his talent? The mistake he has made is a big one.</p>
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 Kazuhiko Nakamura

 Actor Hiroya Shimizu was arrested for marijuana possession. Although he is not a well-known actor to the general public, he was highly regarded in the industry. How did this "genius" fall into the "dark mentality"?

Genius! I thought he was a genius! The suspect, Hiroya Shimizu, who was arrested for marijuana, is on the road to &#8220;falling into a dark mentality,&#8221; according to a person concerned.

Genius! I thought he was a genius! The suspect, Hiroya Shimizu, who was arrested for marijuana, is on the road to “falling into a dark mentality,” according to a person concerned.

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