Riisa Naka stars in Yuya Ishii’s "Mitsuko Delivers"

By kevin on April 18, 2011 at 1:42am EDT

Over the weekend, it was announced that 21-year-old actress Riisa Naka will be starring in Yuya Ishii’s Mitsuko Delivers (Hara ga Kore Nande).

Naka will play a 24-year-old woman named Mitsuko who’s 9 months pregnant to an unknown father, but still puts aside her own problems to help others. Her character is described as having a deep sense of duty and humanity, traits which are getting less and less common in modern society. The hope is that Mitsuko’s disposition will tug at the heartstrings of Japanese audiences much like the Tora-san character did through the Showa era.

Although Naka admitted playing a pregnant woman was a particularly difficult challenge at this stage of her career, the belly prosthesis seems to have helped her get into character. “It’s heavy enough cause joint pain,” she said. “It makes the whole body feel heavy like a pregnant woman.”

Ryo Ishibashi has also been cast in the film, although that’s only evident because he’s sitting right there in the first promotional image.

Actor Aoi Nakamura will play Mitsuko’s childhood friend, Yoichi. “I couldn’t really visualize the uniqueness of the character by reading the script alone,” said Nakamura. “I put my faith in the director at first, and gradually got a handle on the role.”

Nakamura later added on a serious note, “In times like these, we may need more people like Mitsuko who are brimming over with humanity.”

“Mitsuko Delivers” will be released nationwide this fall.

Sources: Tokyograph, Eiga.com