We were lucky to catch up with Haruka Igarashi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Haruka thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

I was seventeen when I got my first dollar as an actress. I took an audition for a theatre play which was booked by the agent I signed with at that time, and I was lucky enough to be selected for one of the lead characters.
In Japan, usually, the very first thing people do to become professional actors is to have signed with agents. There are also some audition resources websites, but its structure is different from the US entertainment industry where you have an account for actors  access or casting networks.

Most of the auditions on Japanese audition resource websites are agent auditions, which often have age limitation for the qualification. So, I started taking agent auditions when I was 16. I couldn’t have any audition for a while after I got my agent, so I thought in my 17 was really late to start my acting career when I was taking the theater play audition. After signing with the agent, the manager at the agency provided me with the necessary documents so I could audition for this play, and I was able to do so. I remember that the audition room was filled with tension.

That was my very first professional theatre play, and it’s called “Gekidan 14-sai” in Japan. Gekidan means Theater group, and 14-sai means fourteen years old. As you can tell, all the casts were teenagers, and I was the oldest actress in that theatrical company. We were so young and had almost no proper acting skills or professional experiences, but we did rehearse very hard for a month. It was played at BASE THEATER/ Theater Green in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. This theater has around 50〜70 seats. The cast and crew became like one big family, and the site was full of laughter. We were professional but it was like an all-girls high school-like feel at the same time. After the performance on the closing date, we just couldn’t stop crying. The audience liked us for how we were so passionate and genuine. As a result, the production decided to present one more play with the same cast.
I received a small portion of the money as a guarantee based on the number of tickets sold. But more than the money I received, this first performance was a wonderful first experience for me to continue my career as an actress.

Haruka, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi, I’m Haruka Igarashi, a performer/actress based in Los Angeles. I’m originally from Tokyo, Japan. I started my acting career in Japan, I did about 25 theatrical plays including Shakespeare and  2.5-dimensional stages that the stories are based on Japanese manga. I moved to the US about two years ago for pursuing my acting career. I graduated from Los Angeles Performing Arts Conservatory, where I got my associate degree in acting.

I work in the entertainment industry doing acting, some writing, and playing drums.
I work for lots of commercials, music videos, and TV shows. And hopefully, I would be cast in feature films internationally as many as I could join in my entire life.

Currently, I’m on a TV show called “Creative World” which is aired on KXLA every Sunday from 6 pm to 6:30pm. This show introduces many incredible guests from various industries, and other reporters and I interview them and hear their stories that inspire and motivate the audience to achieve their dreams.

I met so many respectful guests who have put incredible amount of work and effort that led them to achieve their dreams. Listening their stories definitely help us to keep the motivation to pursue our dreams in the US.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

As an actress, I believe there are no goals but lots of passing points in life. Because when I do my acting, I always find something that I should improve which is either my acting skills or even my life itself as a human being. Never be satisfied with my acting performance, and perhaps, that is why I can continue to strive for further improvement.
If I were to name a specific role that I would like to play as one of the “mission driving” roles mentioned in the question, I would love to play a role that involves activities such as sword fighting or martial  arts, a role as a girl drummer, or Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

But at the same time, some achievements could make a good influence on people. For example, Ms. Michelle Yeoh won her Oscar as the first Asian Lead Actress recently. Many Asian people were encouraged by her, especially those who are in the same industry. One of my favorite points of working as a performer/actress is that we can give the audience dreams. I remember that I was always motivated by TV shows, theatre plays, films, and actors in those stories when I was a child. I would like to achieve my first Oscar in 10 years as a Japanese actress, and I hope that could give dreams and hopes to the audience, especially to children.

In the future, I would like to support many people with my acting, like all the actors whom I admired during my childhood. I want to be an actress with such solid skills that my co-stars, the staff, and the audience can look forward to watching my work and say whenever this actress appears in a film, it is always interesting.

I would like to make the audience feel something every time they see my acting. And I think it is important for others to feel that I am an easy person to work with as this creative job is all about teamwork. I would always like to improve myself to entertain people through my work.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I feel so happy when the audience smiles while watching my performance. One of the things that inspired me to become an actress was performing a kind of theatrical play in front of my family when I was little. They loved my performance and gave me applause. That memory became my interest in being an actress in real life. I used to watch movies, TV shows or other entertainment performances when I felt alone, depressed, or sad. But every time I watched great performances, I forgot those negative feelings. I believe that’s why people never stop watching great entertainment. So, if my performance could help to make the audience’s life better, even for a tiny bit, that would be my best reward as a performer/actress.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm11696604/
• Instagram: @haruka_sunny_igarashi
• Twitter: @Haruka_S_I
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CreativeWorldkxla

Image Credits
David Muller, Ayumi Logan, Kyo Kasumi, Creative World