| SAKURABA YUUICHIROU SPECIAL |
| Interview with Nagase Tomoya on his role as Sakuraba Yuuichirou in the hit "Muko Dono" (Wink up August Issue) By the time this aritcle is out, the drama will probably be over, right? At this point, I have about 3 or 4 more days till filming will end. I had the most scenes in this drama than I have ever had before and because we needed to keep things lively, it demanded a lot of physical energy from me as well, but it was really fun! I still can't believe how tiring this role was though! (laughs) I'm sure those who watched will understand why. But I tried my best, and in return I received a lot of positve feed-back. Everyone I met said, "I've been watching!" or "I taped it!" and each time someone told me "It was SO good!" or "I was so touched!" I was glad I did this drama and received so much power from everyone. Those words really meant a lot to me. Dramas, like concerts, get better and better as they progress, so I really wanted people to keep watching. This time, a lot of the other members in Tokio watched this drama too. They call me "Sakuraba!" regularly and Matsuoka-kun even told me, "My relatives want an autograph from Sakuraba Yuuichirou...can you get one for me?" (laughs) Since this drama, everyone has been calling me "Yu-chan" or "Sakuraba" now. (laughs) You know, Yu-chan is more popular than Sakuraba. Even at the autograph sessions, a majority would yell, "Good job, Yu-chan!" and when I was on "Hey! Hey! Hey!" everyone was screaming "Yu-chan!". (laughs) Do I feel any jealousy towards Yu-chan? No, no (laughs) In fact it makes me happy that he's so popular. It's really unbelievable to me, but I bet it's unbelieveable to the viewers as well that the situations in the drama are out in reality too. I even get confused sometimes. (laughs) But there's people even more confused than I am, those are the interviewers. Sometimes the theme of an artilce is "an interview with Sakuraba Yuuichirou" so they start out with "Sakuraba Yuuichirou is this and that, right?" and I try to go along with it but then they suddenly ask, "You've done such dramas as Ikebukuro West Gate Park..." so it's like, "That's Nagase Tomoya!" (laughs) There are so many scenes that I will never forget. You know how there was a scene about Sakuraba Yuuichirou's autograph session? I tried my best to act as cool as possible during that. As soon as they called "Cut!" I could feel my whole body relax. I went to go check the moniter and when I did, the air of coolness that I put out made me sick. I got goosebumps! (laughs) During the hand shakes my hand was all like this (...re-enacts the scene). I scared my own self! (laughs) Did you know that if you look closely, you can tell that my hand is shaking? Before taping, I was so nervous from all the screams I could hear backstage and since we didn't even have a rehersal it was all in one single take. I was SO nervous! I may have looked cool on the outside, but acutally on the inside I was terrified! A Report Given by a Lucky Girl at the Autograph Session I went to Sakuraba Yuuichirou's autograph session on May 30th. On this day, they were also taping some footage for episode 8 of "Muko Dono". It's hard for me to believe even now that I was among the 1000 lucky Tomoya fans there. It felt like an eternity before Tomoya-kun, I mean, Sakuraba Yuuichirou appeared! Yu-chan came walking in as cool as ever under the spotlight but as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, he was back to being the regular Tomoya and showed everyone his usual smile. After 4 hours of taping, there was supposed to be a 30-minute break for Tomoya-kun but because he felt bad for making us wait, he came right back out! I was very touched by his kindness! Even during the autograph session, although he should have been extremely tired, he smiled warmly as he shook hands with every each and single one of us. The words that Tomoya said to me were, "Thank you", but I would like to return those words straight back to him. "Thank you Tomoya-kun!" Interview with Nagase Tomoya and co-star Aiba Masaki on "Muko Dono" (Junon June Issue) Junon: I heard that Aiba-kun, you're a Tokio fanatic. Is this true? Aiba Masaki: Yes! Nagase Tomoya: Really? (blushes) Junon: So were you happy, the first time you met them? Aiba: Yup. (smiles) Nagase: When was the first time we met? Not when you were a Jr. right? After you became Arashi right? Aiba: No, I was still a Jr. and it was at a Tokio concert. You know when you did a concert at NHK hall during New Years? I had bumped into you during the live performance then. Nagase: Really? Aiba: I didn't see you running towards me so I accidently ran into you. I was going to apologize to you later on, but I forgot about it. (laughs) Junon: Now's your chance. (laughs) Aiba: I'm sorry. Nagase: Sure, don't worry about it. I remember you more as an Arashi member rather than a Jr. I was really surprised, the first time I saw you. You look a lot like one of my friends, that's why you never seemed like a stranger to me. Aiba: Really? That's cool! Junon: Aiba-kun, why are you such a Tokio fanatic? Aiba: Actually, it's not just only me. All the guys of Arashi like Tokio. I was just the first one that started it. You see, the first time Arashi was having a concert, we were discussing what songs to sing, so I said, "I want to sing a Tokio song". I played lots of Tokio music in our van and before long, everybody was saying, "Tokio has great songs!" Nagase: You did all that? Aiba: Yup. And even when we watch Tokio programs like "Gachinko", you can see how everyone in Tokio has very personalities, and you guys are so funny too. We figured since Arashi is a 5 member group too, we should idolize you guys. Nagase: I see...(laughs) Aiba: Oh yeah, and do you remember after the countdown concert, you looked at the jacket I was wearing, the one with two red circles, and you said, "It looks like there's a target on your back". (laughs) Also, when we went to visit the shrine, I was sitting upright next to you, and you told me that I could relax. Junon: How nice. Nagase: I'm not good about this kind of stuff. This is kinda embarassing. (laughs) I guess there's something in me that always wants to take care of someone else, but whenever someone praises me about it I really get flustered. Don't you think it's better just to be casual about things like regular friends? It's easier that way. Junon: Well, moving on...this character, "Sakuraba Yuuichrou" that you're currently playing, is he a caring person too? Nagase: Yup, he REALLY enjoys taking care of others. Junon: So would you guys enjoy living in a big family like the one in "Muko Dono"? Nagase: I would. Aiba: (pause) I would too. Nagase: What was that pause for? (laughs) Aiba: Well, wouldn't a smaller family be better? If you think about living with them... Nagase: You probably think so because we just met the other cast members. Think of it this way, isn't it really fun when you spend the night with the other guys from the Johnnys Agency? Aiba: Yes, it is fun, oh I see...if you think about it that way, the more the marrier! Junon: When you guys all get together to spend the night, do you have special rules and stuff like the "Muko Dono" family? Rules such as the last person who takes a bath has to clean it or something? Nagase: Before, when we had camps and stuff, there were some rules, but showering was always a first come first serve kind of thing. Junon: What about stuff like the drinks in the fridge? Nagase: Oh yeah, there were rules for that. We had to write our names on our own bottles and stuff. (laughs) Aiba: I've never experienced a Johnnys Camp, and I hardly spend a long time witht he other members of Arashi. Nagase: I see. I've lived with some of the members from Tokio for awhile before. Lots of things happened then. Aiba: Did you guys have fights and stuff? Nagase: No fights, but since I was the youngest there, I sought a lot of advice from the other guys. It was really fun when we used to live in Harajuku. Tokio's leader was the boss. (laughs) Aiba: boss? (laughs) Nagase: Whenever we were bored, Leader would suggest playing hide-and-go-seek, so we would all hide somewhere in the apartment. Before long, the levels of the plaes in which we would high got higer and higer... (Laughs) Aiba: What kind of places would you hide in? Nagase: It's really something else. Some times we would grab on to the veranda from the outside so we weren't visible from inside the house. It's soo crazy! I mean there's asphault 10 meters below! The apartment was right in the middle of Harajuku so all the other people could see us hanging onto the veranda with our dear life! Aiba: Pretty desperate, huh? Nagase: Some guys even hid inside the dishwasher. Aiba: They could fit?! What if someone had unknowingly turned on the switch...? (laughs) Nagase: Actually, that dishwashwer was designed to automatically start as soon as the door is closed, so when Leader tried once, water started pouring in and he nearly drowned! (laughs) Aiba: Hahahaha Nagase: Those kind of accidents are so hilarious! Junon: Like in "Muko Dono", would you guys mind getting married into your wife's family? Aiba: I wouldn't mind. Nagase: Yup, it doesn't matter as long as you love each other. Junon: You wouldn't mind changing your family name to your wife's family name? Nagase: I wouldn't mind at all. It might be good to change your name at least once during your life. (laughs) Aiba: I'm fine with it too. If you loved the person, a name would mean nothing. Junon: Well, do you guys think you can get along fine from now on along with the drama? Nagase: Sure. We've already talked about going fishing or going to play billiard. I hope we get to do it someday. Aiba: We will! I'll definitely make sure we will! Junon: Aiba-kun, do you think you can seek advice from Nagase-kun? Aiba: Yes. I'll make sure that I get his phone number. Nagase: Oh yeah, I haven't told you yet, have I? Aiba, do you e-mail? Aiba: Yes, but I use i-mode. Nagase: No prob. I use i-mode too. So your phone number and e-mail address are the same? Aiba: yup. Nagase: Okay, I'll start filling your mail box with e-mail from now on! Aiba: (very happily) okay! BACK |
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