Press conference of new NHK drama "Onna no naka ni iru tanin"

The press conference of new NHK drama "Onna no naka ni iru tanin" was held at NHK's headquarters in Tokyo on 8 December which was attended by cast members Seto Asaka, Omi Toshinori, Ishiguro Ken and Itaya Yuka. The drama which is based on the mystery novel "The Thin Line" by Edward Atiyah and made into a movie in 1966 by Naruse Mikio, has been rearranged with a modern era setting and consists of 7 episodes which will begin its run from 8 January 2017 in the Sundays 10pm timeslot.

Seto plays the role of an ordinary housewife Tanuma Yuriko who lives with her husband, two children and mother-in-law. One day, her peaceful life is shattered when her husband Kazuo (Omi Toshinori) confesses to her that he had an affair and killed his lover Saori (Nishiyama Mayuko) who was the wife of his friend Kusumoto Masafumi (Ishiguro Ken). In order to protect her family, Yuriko decides to help her husband conceal his crime and stops him from surrendering to the police. Yuriko's mother-in-law will be played by Kino Hana while Itaya Yuka will play Ito Michiko who had a grudge against Yuriko in the past and pesters her with the intention of destroying her. Kazuo's subordinate Kuroki will be played by Komoto Masahiro and Morioka Yutaka will play the police detective who wants to solve the murder case.

Being the mother of two children in real life and returning to acting for the first time in two years, Seto said that she had been so busy and happy with taking care of her children that she didn't have time to think about returning to work. However, once she resumed acting, she felt the happiness of being able to do so and would like to continue being an actress as she approaches 40 years old soon. When asked about her husband Inohara Yoshihiko's reaction to her return to work, Seto commented with a smile that he has been very supportive. Upon hearing this, her co-stars revealed that Inohara was so concerned that he came to visit Seto with their children during the filming and brought oranges for everyone.

Ishiguro and Itaya both commented that the filming process has been very enjoyable for them so far but in the case of Omi who has to play a murderer, he was hoping that the filming will end soon because he has to play an emotionally-unbalanced character due to loss of appetite and being unable to sleep and even lost 7kg to look convincing. As a result, he can't joke around while on set and doesn't even eat the bentos and snacks during the filming.

Sources: Oricon / Eiga.com