American actress Charlotte Kate Fox was tapped Tuesday to play a lead role in NHK¡¯s upcoming morning drama series ¡°Massan,¡± based on the true story of Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of Japan¡¯s whiskey industry.
With the selection, Fox becomes the first non-Japanese actress to play one of the main characters in the public broadcaster¡¯s perennial, limited-run ¡°Morning Drama.¡±
Fox will play Taketsuru¡¯s Scottish wife, Rita, in the series, whose 150 15-minute episodes will begin airing in September, according to NHK.
¡°I am very honored, and still can¡¯t believe I am standing in front of you now,¡± Fox said during a news conference in Tokyo.
The 28-year-old won out over more than 500 actresses who also auditioned for the role. According to NHK, this is the New Mexico native¡¯s first appearance in a Japanese TV drama.
¡°I did mainly theater and some independent films in the United States,¡± Fox said.
It was also revealed that actor Tetsuji Tamayama would play Taketsuru in the series.
¡°Massan¡± will be the 91st installment in NHK¡¯s Renzoku Terebi Shosetsu (serial TV novel) series, which began airing in 1961 and typically runs for six months on weekday and Saturday mornings.
According to NHK, ¡°Massan¡± will kick off in the Taisho Era (1912-1926) as Taketsuru, the son of a local sake brewer in Osaka, leaves Japan to study whiskey-making in Scotland. There, he meets his future wife and the two return to Japan as the country enters a turbulent time following the end of World War I.
The first part of the series will be loosely based on the early years of Taketsuru and Rita¡¯s relationship, but the names of some of the characters will be altered. Fox¡¯s character will go by the name Ellie.
The second half traces the couple¡¯s challenges building whiskey distilleries in Hokkaido and facing the Pacific War.
Series writer Daisuke Habara, winner of the Japan Academy Award for best screenplay in 2006 for his work on ¡°Hula Girls,¡± has said that though ¡°Massan¡± will be based on true events, it will include fictional, humorous plot twists.
NHK¡¯s morning drama slot has aired some of the most popular television programs in Japan, including ¡°Oshin¡± in 1983 and last year¡¯s hit, ¡°Amachan.¡±
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.