76-year-old actor Hiroshi Katsuno appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on April 6th. He talked about an incident that he described as his "biggest mistake ever" during his debut in the police drama "Taiyo ni Hoero!" at the age of 24, as well as how he joined a theater troupe and his relationship with his wife, talent Cathy Nakajima.
Being three hours late for the filming of "Taiyo ni Hoero!" because I overslept was "the biggest mistake of my life." The filming was based on the 300 million yen robbery case, and nearly 100 people, including those playing riot police, were waiting in a large area at Toho Studios. I was late for that. The producer instructed me to "go and apologize to Yujiro (Ishihara)," so I went to apologize to Ishihara.
He recalls deciding to take responsibility and quit the show, and knocking on the door, "Yujiro-san said, 'Come in.' 'It's Katsuno.' 'What's wrong?' 'Yes, I fell asleep,' and then there was silence, and he said, 'Okay, go!' and that was the end of it." When he later wondered why he was forgiven, he said, "I didn't make any excuses. I was asleep. (That) seemed to be a good thing. I learned a little lesson there. You can't make excuses. I really was asleep."
Through an introduction from an actor, I auditioned for the training school of the Contemporary Theatre Association. I somehow passed both the first and second rounds of the audition and was accepted into the training school. At the time, I was a student at Aoyama Gakuin University, so when I told them that "due to scheduling conflicts, I wouldn't be able to attend the theater company," they gave me a very displeased look. I promised, "I understand. I'll just attend for one year," and after attending the training school for a year, I auditioned for "Taiyo ni Hoero!" (a popular Japanese police drama) as I was about to return to university, and I landed the role of Detective Texas.
His appearance was initially planned for one year, but the Texas detective was so popular that he was asked to stay for another year. He stayed for two years because he "didn't want to quit halfway through." After that, he stayed for seven years and graduated from university. Thinking his work was done, he went on a trip to San Francisco and other places in the US, when he received a telegram saying, "Come back immediately." His next role was in the youth drama "Our Morning" (1976).
He played the son of the main character, played by Junko Ikeuchi, in the drama "Himawari no Ie" (Sunflower House) (1977-1978), which starred Ikeuchi. "There was a scene where I was playing around with a little child actor named Taro. My wife apparently saw that scene. From what I heard, she said, 'I thought I wanted to be with this person' after seeing that scene. If I hadn't been in 'Himawari no Ie,' I wouldn't be married. It's strange, isn't it? You never know what kind of trap... or fate...will lead to it," he revealed, describing his connection to his wife.
