Meet Haruka Igarashi | Actress / Performer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Haruka Igarashi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Haruka, why did you pursue a creative career?
At the beginning, I thought an artistic career, for me, working in the entertainment industry is something normal to pursue for everyone. It is because of my background. My father and my aunt are professional musicians, and that affected my younger life listening to various types of music; additionally, I had lots of opportunities to watch theatre plays, musical performances and other live artistic events thanks to the influence of my mother. I started learning classical ballet when I was around 4 years old, since then I expressed my feelings and emotions through any kind of performance. I really loved performing in front of people, especially to my family. I created toy-tickets for my show which I choreographed some dances with my friends and played little shows for my family and my friend’s family. Although my little 4 year-old performance was far from a professional quality, they were always entertained by my show. I thought how wonderful my life would be if I could make not only my family smile, but also people all over the world. I was always encouraged by entertainment, because sometimes life can be tough and that breaks my heart. But entertainment gives me a reason to live my life positively and I also saw from a young age that so many people are encouraged by entertainment. I genuinely believe entertainment can give a power that helps people to live their lives more powerfully and positively.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
It’s been almost 10 years since I started my acting career. I have been through so many things in both private and career life which helped me to grow as a person and especially as an actress. Although I changed a lot during this 10 years, l always keep a super sensitive 4 years-old girl inside of me who creates deep emotion because I believe my inner life is one of my strengths to make the audience feel someting through my acting. It would be my honor if I could help people with my acting especially who have a lot going on in their life. I had been in an interview TV show called “Creative World” on KXLA, where I met lots of successful people in various industries. They told us about their tough times which accrued to them during their path, but they always found hope inside of them and changed their weakness into their strengths to live their life positively while achieving their goals. Their unique successful stories encouraged me to keep pursuing my dream acting career.  I would love to be a person who is able to encourage other people to go their path.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
One of my favorite places where I recommend visiting is Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. This beautiful and historical place is perfect for having a memory or harmonious conversation with your family and friends, instead of taking photos or videos for social medias. For eating, I would say a restaurant called Moonshadows Malibu. It is located in Malibu; you could enjoy tasty lunch / dinner and a beautiful ocean view. They have delicious seafoods and Farmers Market Risotto as my recommendation. For cute desserts with your girlfriends, I love The IVY Restaurants in Beverly Hills. My best friend and I went there, and we enjoyed the cute decorated outside seating and the sweets. We met tourists from another country and enjoyed having a conversation with them at the restaurant. You can’t forget watching NBA to enjoy LA’s entertainment. We were impressed by basketball players that have super strong concentration skills and mentalities, and we also had fun watching entertainments performed by cheer leaders and band musicians.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This is a hard question to answer because I have so many people in my mind whom I really appreciate that I was able to meet in my life. An actor – Mr. Tomoru Akazawa is one of the most responsible actors everyone can count on. The reason why I introduce him comes from an episode that happened a few years ago with him when I worked in a big commercial theater play. I was more young and a less experienced actress than I am now, and I had a moment when I felt like as if I was about to be crushed by pressure during the run of the play. He immediately realized how I was and comforted me by sitting next to me until I calmed down after the show. I was one of the many ensembles and he was the lead of the entire company; it is obvious how much heavy pressure he had at that time. But he was so professional and never ignored anyone, he took care of everyone in the company so that the performance could continue successfully. Now I am almost the same age as he was back then, I feel even more that not all actors can be responsible like him. I always keep in my mind his work is something I admire as an actor who is in the professional entertainment industry and a person who leads a team. 

Instagram: @haruka_sunny_igarashi

Twitter: @Haruka_S_I

Image Credits
DEIDFRA FAHEY PHOTOGRAPHY