It was announced that Kusakari Tamiyo will star in NHK's new drama "Nemureru Mori no Jukujo", which will begin airing in September. �After retiring as a ballerina in 2009, Kusakari started a new career path as an actress. �She made her drama debut in NHK's Taiga drama "Ryomaden" (2010), and this will be the first time for her to take a lead role in a drama.

This drama will be a love comedy between the heroine 'Aizawa Chinami' (Kusakari), 46-year-old housewife, who is under divorce mediation, and �'Takaoka Yusuke', a son of the owner of a global hotel chain. The role of Takaoka will be played by Seto Koji who is over 20 years younger than the heroine.

One day, 'Chinami' is given divorce papers by her husband (Haba Yuichi) as he wants to re-marry with his old classmate and first love from junior high school (Moriguchi Yoko). In order to keep the�parental�custody over her son, she starts working at a luxury hotel, and�meets 'Yusuke' who is commonly called as 'prince' because of his perfect character in public, however, behind closed doors he as very terrible and mean personality.

On her role, Kusakari commented, "I never thought I would be able to play this kind of role, so I am truly happy, and it feels rewarding. �I think this story has the message of 'you can overcome difficulties' brightly and positively, but I can't even imagine a love with a young man with big age gap like Seto-kun." �On the other hand, Seto said, "Although I've never thought of being in love with someone with such a huge age gap, I still remember the feeling of getting swayed by the sexiness and atmosphere from a mature woman who has been through both good and bad things in life (Recalling his first meeting with Kusakari)." �He also commented about his role, "I would like to cherish the negative image, carefully exercising human traits of beastliness and craftiness while acting in this role. �Since this will be a new challenge for me, I want to prepare for the role sincerely."

"Nemureru Mori no Jukujo" will air from September 4th to October 30th with a total 9 episodes.

Source & Image: Oricon + Cinematoday

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