Kana Hanazawa Literally Ate Her Script to Land the Role of Tohko Amano in Book Girl
That is what true dedication looks like. In a surprising revelation shared on May 24 during TBS Network’s television program Weekly Sanma and Matsuko, popular voice actress Kana Hanazawa revealed that she literally ate her audition script in an effort to fully understand and portray the character Tohko Amano in the 2010 anime film Book Girl.
And yes, the story came directly from Kana Hanazawa herself.
Kana Hanazawa Literally Ate Her Script to Land the Role of Tohko Amano in Book Girl
But what exactly is Book Girl, and why did Hanazawa go to such extremes for the role?
The anime film is based on the light novel series of the same name and follows the story of Konoha Inoue, a second-year high school student who joins a literature club after discovering a very unusual secret about its president, Tohko Amano.
Tohko is the club’s only member, and she has a bizarre habit: she literally eats stories — meaning the paper on which they are written.
As the story progresses, Konoha begins writing countless short stories for Tohko, gradually learning more about her mysterious personality and emotional world.
According to Kana Hanazawa, Tohko Amano was a role she “absolutely had to get.” In order to better understand the character and immerse herself in Tohko’s strange relationship with books and paper, the actress decided to take an extreme method approach.
Hanazawa explained that she had never eaten paper before in her life. During the audition preparation, she tore pieces of the script and put them in her mouth.
“It tasted salty, so I spat it out immediately, but I ended up thinking, ‘So this is what it’s like to live eating paper.’”
The voice actress later confirmed that her unusual commitment ultimately helped her secure the role.
For anime fans unfamiliar with Kana Hanazawa, she is one of Japan’s most famous and beloved voice actresses. Over the years, she has voiced several iconic anime characters, including Ichika Nakano from The Quintessential Quintuplets, Mitsuri Kanroji from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and Rize Kamishiro from Tokyo Ghoul.
Her story quickly caught the attention of anime fans online, with many praising her dedication and passion for voice acting.
Source: Automaton