Year-End Special Interview] Hiromi Nagasaku, in her natural state: “Now, I don’t think anything of being called a baby face.

It was a memory-making experience, but ……

When I was young, I hated being called “childish face. I used to wear heavy makeup on purpose because I didn’t want to look like an adult (laughs).”

Actress Hiromi Nagasaku (55) smiled a cute smile as she reminisced about those days.

But now, I don’t think anything of it when people say I have a baby face. I’m just being my natural self, so if everyone thinks so, that’s fine with me.

She began her career in 1989 as a member of the idol group “ribbon,” and made her debut as the lead in a series of TV dramas in 1995 with the TV drama “Sankaku Haato” (TV Asahi). The famous actor, nicknamed “Eternal Child Face,” celebrated the 37th year of his career in ’25. She passionately played the role of the mother of Minami Hamabe (25), who plays a rookie funeral planner in the movie “Soon, It’s Farewell,” which was released on February 6, 2014. She is also scheduled to star in her own movie, “I Won’t Give Up! which she also stars in, is scheduled to be released in theaters.

Her origin story is, surprisingly, a bit of a random story.

During the summer vacation of my sophomore year of high school, I heard an announcement on the TV at home about an “All Night Fuji High School Girls Special” (Fuji Television). I really wanted to participate in ‘High School Quiz’ (on Nippon Television), but none of my friends would go with me (laughs). (laughs) I applied for this contest because I could participate by myself. It was just a way to make memories.

It was supposed to be a one-time appearance, but after that, I continued to receive calls from TV stations.

I was often contacted by the TV station, asking, ‘How about a new show? I tried it, and I got another call from the TV station. I tried it, and then the next, and the next ……, and the next thing I knew, I had graduated from high school and was in “Otome Juku” (laughs). (Laughs.) It was more like I was carried along by the flow of things rather than having chosen it on my own.

Otome Juku was a talent development project that emerged from a variety show on Fuji Television at the time. She was selected to be a member of the idol group “ribbon.

I was happy to be able to sing,” she said. But at the same time, I was aware that at 19 years old, it was too late to be an idol ……. I thought, “This is the best memory! I thought, “This is the best memory!

Temperature difference and repulsion

I don’t mean to be a pussy, but I’m not obsessed either. Naturally, there were times when those around him saw Nagasaku as “a kid who wasn’t serious.

People thought and said, ‘Nagasaku is going to quit anyway. But it was the best I could do at that time. People around me were like, ‘I want to do it (idol)!　I want to do it! But I just couldn’t keep up with that temperature. I wasn’t interested in makeup or clothes, and I didn’t know what the right answer was. I really don’t know what people want in return. So I just said what I liked (laughs).

This “gap” was her clumsiness, but at the same time, it was also her greatest charm.

Looking back, I think, ‘You should have tried harder,’ but at the time, that was all I could do. I would get a job, do it, and move on to the next one. I didn’t think about anything big, like continuing or quitting.”

He spent his days working frantically on the jobs he was given. The turning point for her was an encounter with the stage. It was in the rehearsal hall of the “Gekidan Shinkansen” that she was standing.

In 1993, when I did my first play, TIMESLIP Kogane Maru, all I could think about was how I was going to get away with it (laughs). I was told by the office that I had to do it, but I didn’t know anything about acting at all, so I was more in rebellion against …….”

The rehearsal hall is one of the most intense in the theater world. Nagasaku was thrown into the rehearsal room, where he was trained despite his rebelliousness.

He says, “To put it nicely, they took good care of me, and to put it badly, they were extremely strict. But by the end, I had such a sense of accomplishment that I thought, ‘Maybe acting is fun.

Nagasaku, who first discovered the “joy of acting,” took his first step toward becoming a great actor.

In the January 2, 9, and 16 issues of “FRIDAY” and the paid version of “FRIDAY GOLD,” both of which will be on sale on December 19, Nagasaku talks candidly about the films that marked turning points in his career, his “Nagasaku way” of dealing with life, and other “true feelings” that are rarely discussed.

For more details and multiple photos, click here↓.

From the January 2, 9, and 16, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY