Hiro Mizushima talks about what really happened after he left his agency about a decade ago.
Hiro Mizushima, known for playing Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, talked about what happened when he left his agency and why he doesn’t appear in shows or movies anymore in an interview with Yahoo!
Marriage
Mizushima announced that he was getting married to singer and songwriter Ayaka back in 2009, shortly after the film he starred in titled Drop was released in theaters. Many thought it was unusual that he decided to get married despite having established himself as an ikemen actor who has garnered fame throughout Japan.
Why was this unusual? What’s so wrong about getting married?
That’s because getting married or even being in a relationship is prohibited by the agency. In fact, Takaya Aoyagi, who is know for portraying Jugglus Juggler in the Ultraman series, announced his marriage shortly after he left his agency. It’s possible he left his agency before getting married so he wouldn’t break any existing contracts.
Many of Mizushima’s friends and co-stars knew what would happen if he got married and shared their thoughts with the actor.
I was told many things, like “you’re out of your mind” and “you’ll regret it.” Even my closest friends told me how grand the position I was about to take was. At that time, I was 24 years old. I was still a child, and maybe it was considered impulsive and a passing fancy. But I had confidence in myself.
He and Ayaka both left Ken-On (their former agency) in 2014.
Disappearance
There’s a rumor going around that Hiro Mizushima was blacklisted from the media because he started his own agency. That’s not true. Just recently Takeru Satoh, who appeared in a couple of films with Mizushima, started his own agency and still continues to get roles.
The year after their marriage, he became independent from his office and started his first company to support his wife. He kept his distance from the public stage for a while and devoted himself to management.
At first, my wife concentrated on treatment for her chronic illness (Graves’ disease), and to tell the truth, we weren’t sure when she would ever make a comeback. In other words, we were both pretty much unemployed. I couldn’t leave my wife in a state of anxiety, so the first thing I did was to desperately study about money related to asset management. It was probably the most important kind of studying I did in my entire life. Also I was preparing myself so I could find employment immediately (laughs). Fortunately, my wife was able to resume her singing career after a two-year hiatus, but at that time it was like going through a maze with no way out.
In 2010, Mizushima created an agency called A stAtion to manage his wife’s musical activities to ensure she would be able to resume her career when she recovered. And she did a year later in 2011.
Retirement Rumors
Mizushima released his first novel titled Kagerou under his pen name Satoshi Saitō. The novel became a best-seller in 2010 and won the 5th Popular Publishing Grand Prize for Fiction.
Around this time, rumors of his retirement from acting surfaced.
To me, writing a novel is just something I wanted to do back then. It didn’t mean I was going to pursue becoming a novelist… It wasn’t as common as it is now for celebrities to express their opinions through social networking sites, and it’s almost impossible to override information and images that have been released to the world. It was impossible to address the rumors and speculation that have already appeared in the world. I felt frustrated because it was like the four corners of Othello had been taken away.
Mizushima co-produced and starred in the live action film adaptation of Black Butler in 2014, and also appeared in the HBO series Girls in 2016.
In that same year he appeared in Girls, he started his second company titled 3rd i Connections and became its representative. He also became appointed CLO (Chief Lifestyle Officer) of ZIGExN Co. Lastly, he also became the Branding Director of the travel agency Magellan Resorts and Trust.
Just recently, he appeared in 2018’s Tokyo BTH -TOKYO BLOOD TYPE HOUSE on Amazon Prime Video. His first drama appearance since Tokyo Dogs that was released about nine years ago.
He’s just busy
Mizushima had dedicated his life to his family. He left his agency for love and put many hours into studying business and started a company that focused on Ayaka’s career. He also has a YouTube Channel dedicated to learning how to cook although he hasn’t updated in a year.
While he doesn’t appear in many shows or movies anymore, that doesn’t mean he quit acting. He’s just busy supporting his family.
Source: Yahoo!
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