Keiko Kitagawa cast as heroine of "Something Like It" sequel

By kevin on October 16, 2014 at 11:34pm EDT

Actress Keiko Kitagawa will play the heroine of No Yona mono no Yona mono, a sequel to Yoshimitsu Morita’s 1981 directorial debut Something Like it.

Morita died of acute liver failure on December 19, 2011. Kitagawa considers Morita to have been one of her mentors in the movie industry, having made her silver screen debut in his 2006 comedy The Mamiya Brothers and later appearing in his 2007 film Southbound.

Kitagawa began her career as a successful fashion model before trying her hand at acting, and Morita offered her encouragement early on, telling her to never give up on acting.

The new film is directed by Morita’s longtime A.D. Yasukazu Sugiyama and features actors who have worked with Morita in the past. Kenichi Matsuyama stars as a rakugo performer named Shinden who’s sent on a mission by his master Shinkome (Isao Bito) to find one of his former students Shintoto. Kitagawa will play Shinkome’s daughter Yumi, whom Shinden is secretly in love with.

According to producer Kazuko Misawa, Kitagawa was the only person in mind to play Yumi from the very early planning stages and it’s very fortunate she was available for the role.

Filming of “No Yona mono no Yona mono” began on September 5 and wrapped on September 30. Sugiyama is aiming to have post-production done by the end of the year with the goal of creating a film that will be enjoyable even to people who have never seen “Something Like It”. A nation-wide release is slated for 2015.

Source: Eiga.com