MO: When I was little, being an actress was nothing but a dream to me because I wasn't beautiful or cute. I was bullied a lot at school for this. I was good at science and math and so planned to be a teacher. But that all changed when I performed in a school play at the age of twelve. Since nobody wanted to play the part of an old shrine maiden, I had to take it. But I wanted to do my best so I tried very hard. After my long monologue in the play, I received a big applause. When I came out for the curtain call, I heard another loud applause and calls for an encore. I was so delighted. I was praised by a lot of people, and even the students that bullied me started to respect me, and later I became friends with everyone. Because I used to be bullied, being respected and making friends were very important things for me. It was then that I started to have an interest in acting.

MO: "em:ou" is my artist name that I have started using recently. "Megumi Ogata" is my real name, but it shares a connotation with my actress identity. I changed my name not because I wanted to wipe off that kind of image, but I wanted to go back to a simple and pure starting point to create my work as a solo musician, which puts me closer to myself. "em:ou" is a pronunciation symbol for the initials of my name, "Megumi Ogata." I wonder what can be created from scratch, a clean slate on which there's nothing but a symbol.

MO: It's a difficult question. My first priority is to express myself. Next, I care about how people look at me. I don't do work just to please the sponsors and creators, and I don't mind fighting with the crew about doing something exploitative just to entertain the viewers. Would American people be surprised if I say such a thing? In Japan, the sponsors and broadcasting companies' opinions have a major influence. We have to give into some things because of their money. I think it is better to exchange opinions and hold meetings to produce good works, but we are not given enough time for that. Because of that, people are annoyed when someone proposes something that is not planned in advance. Since I'm not even a Hollywood star, it puts me in a worse situation when I do such things, but even so, I think it worth the risk if the quality of the work improves and the viewers enjoy it. Frankly, I'm not a clever type of person [laugh]. However, the fans know very well about my struggle, and they believe that there are works that can only be done by me. In that sense, I may be closer to fans than many other well-known people.

MO: Compared to American entertainment, which has a broader audience and targets the world market, Japanese entertainment is made under very harsh conditions. It is partly because of the problems of Japan's union. Even when Japanese anime is aired abroad, the Japanese seiyuus receive no pay, not even a single yen. Still, we are proud of our shows and all the people involved with them. Because I want more people to be aware of the situation of actors, writers and directors in the Japanese animation industry, I have included some unpleasant things in my comments. I apologize for this, but I was very happy that you asked me about it so that it can get to the public. Please take a look at Japanese anime. If you find a bit of enjoyment in it, I would be delighted. I will still continue to do my best work.

Neon Genesis Evangelion © Gainax / Project Eva / TV Tokyo / ADV Films.