Monologue] Kumiko Endo on her breakthrough McDonald’s commercial: “My first stage performance made me think, ‘Acting is fun! Why “I was able to think, ‘Acting is fun!

Although there is no right answer

In the home, we can consult with each other and say, “How should I feel about saying the lines in this scene? Directors and actors usually only discuss this on the set.

Kumiko Endo, 48, is an actor. Endo’s husband is Hatsuki Yokoo, a film director whom she married in July 2004, and Endo also appears in Yokoo’s latest film, “Iroha,” which will be released sequentially throughout Japan beginning May 22. The film is a road movie about young sisters who reexamine themselves through their travels around Nagasaki Prefecture (Endo comments below).

My role is one of the landlady of a guest house that hosts the sisters. In fact, the two women who jointly run the guest house are also sisters (Endo plays the younger sister). When the young sisters, guests with spiky hearts, wake up late, I greet them with ‘osoyo’ and accept them warmly. But there is no right answer to the play. It’s hard to give a convincing performance.

From the always energetic “Enkumi,” Endo has grown into an actor who can take on a wide range of roles. Even as a child, he says, he had a strong yearning to act.

I was inspired by the voice actor Tarako from the anime “Chibi Maruko-chan. I thought it was amazing that he could express Maruko’s anger and sadness with just his voice. I thought.

Endo, who was passionate about basketball during her school years, had a turning point during her first year of high school.

I was working part-time at a fast food restaurant. One day, a friend of my sister’s, who was five years older than me, came to eat a hamburger. For some reason, she took a strong interest in me and said, ‘I’ll introduce you (to an office), why don’t you give it a try?’ I was scouted by her. He encouraged me to attend an audition, which I did with a light heart, and it just so happened that I ended up in a McDonald’s commercial.

What made Endo famous was the McDonald’s commercial “Certificate Photo” aired in 1995. Endo enters a private room to have his picture taken, and leaves fries and other items he bought at McDonald’s with his friends. The friends ask, “Can I have a shake? The short-cut beautiful girl Endo’s expression of confusion as she says “Sure” was well received by viewers.

At the time, I had no acting experience. I didn’t know how to say ‘okay. It didn’t go well, and I went home and cried after the shoot. But when I saw the finished commercial, I was hooked. The expression on my face when I said “OK,” confused and unsure of what to say, ended up being a perfect fit for the role of the confused girl.

In 2002, she took on her first stage role in “The Moldy Man with the Bells of Dublin. This play was the beginning of her career on the stage.

It was on this stage that I thought, ‘Theatre is really interesting! It was this play that made me think, “Theatre is really interesting! It was a fresh experience for me to see actors and directors sharing their opinions and working together to create a piece of work. It was also exciting to see the reactions of the audience directly in the theater. My performance made them cry and laugh right in front of me. …… Since then, I have been conscious of the audience on the other side of the camera in my dramas.

However, Endo is not satisfied with her acting even today, as she stated earlier.

Even the line “Thank you” can be said in different ways depending on what kind of person you are talking to and what kind of situation you are in. There is no one correct answer. I may never be satisfied with my acting. But I think that’s why I can keep acting.”

Enkumi’s career has not stopped growing, but her smile remains the same.

In the May 22 issue of “FRIDAY June 5 and 12” and the pay-per-view “FRIDAY GOLD,” she candidly confesses the golden words she received from Kenichi Hagiwara, with whom she acted in her first drama, as well as her struggles in variety shows. It also features many attractive photos of Enkumi.

For more details and multiple photos, click here↓.

From the June 5-12, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY