Nozomi Momoi Memorial Interview
Note: Momoi Nozomi was murdered by her high school sweetheart in an apparent suicide pact on Oct. 12, 2002. This is an interview that was published a few months before this sad event. We present this interview in the hopes that it will be interesting to our readers.
Interviewer: Sorry to bother you while you're still eating.
Nozomi: Oh, it's nothing.
Interviewer: It looks like your career is going well. All the staff around here is really impressed with your work.
Nozomi: (Looks happy) Really--? But I've done a 100 tapes now. I guess it should be natural for me by now.
Interviewer: Has it been a 100? It's still a lot of fun for us making the magazine to be able to follow your career as an actress though.
Nozomi: My "career as an actress"? I don't think it's really anything all that sophisticated (laughs)... well, I remember the first 30 or so tapes pretty well, but everything after that's a bit hazy. I was having so much fun at first that I didn't feel tired at all. It's gotten a lot harder recently though. I do as much as 10 tapes a month nowadays, although that doesn't change the fact that I enjoy the shoots.
Interviewer: Wouldn't that mean that you like sex? I noticed that you have a very satisfied look on your face at the end of your tapes.
Nozomi: I guess I do. I don't mind doing it everyday (laughs).
Interviewer: Everyday!? Then what kind of sex do you have outside of work?
Nozomi: Well, I like it when my partner is forceful on me, so I tend to be on the receiving side. I get the feeling that I've become less inhibited recently though. I sometimes get turned on by just the things we say to each other now (laughs). I think sex talk is very important. It helps set the mood for the actual thing.
Interviewer: So it's all about the mood for you...
Nozomi: Yes, I'd say so. I'm sure the reason I'm less inhibited now is because of all the AVs I've been doing. I remember when I debuted Director Tohjiro told me "You should be a bit more perverted". Maybe that's when it started...
Interviewer:
So that made you more aggressive?
Nozomi: Well, for example, if both me and my partner stop being so embarrassed during sex, there's a lot more things we can do together. Sort of like opening your heart to it.
Interviewer: I guess someone telling you to "Become perverted!" can be pretty effective. So I guess now in your private life you've become quite a...
Nozomi: Pervert, yes... (laughs).
Interviewer: Hahaha! So you admit it yourself! Well... how about we talk about before you became so perverted? You started because you got scouted?
Nozomi: Yes, right in Shinjuku.
Interviewer: Is the reason why you're doing this line of work the money you get from it?
Nozomi: That is a factor but I used to have a very normal job up until then. I used to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to get ready for work and I didn't have time to put on make-up or do my hair... It was the type of job where I was alone most of the time so I didn't bother with it.
Interviewer: And you wanted to change the way you lived?
Nozomi: I just wanted something to escape from my old lifestyle. I didn't know what I wanted do at the time, and I hated myself for that. That really made me stressed back then so it's not that I wanted to work on something different but to make more money. That was when I got scouted.
Interviewer: So, you had the feeling that you could do anything once you had more money. Did that feeling change after you started doing AVs?
Nozomi: People often tell me that I've lightened up a lot. The people I've known for a long time tell me that I've changed a lot. I'm not too sure myself though. I'm glad that I've entered this world (smiles).
Interviewer: Oh, that's good. So you've really gotten into the type of work and...
Nozomi:
Well... it was a lot of fun at first, but I'm really tired nowadays. To tell
you the truth, I think I'm over-exerting myself right now. So I want to take
a decent vacation rather than get paid.
Interviewer: You really do look like it.
Nozomi: I know. And doing so many tapes makes me get sick of doing them. The makers and the staff keep telling me that it's better to just do a whole bunch of them at once but... I didn't really understand what they meant until recently.
Interviewer: Until you did a 100 tapes (laughs).
Nozomi: Yes, finally (laughs). It was pretty hard going when I started out now that I think about it...
Interviewer: Oh yeah, I heard that you didn't like it when they film concentrated scenes of you.
Nozomi: It's more of not being comfortable than not liking it. In a way it's nice since there's no one else on the screen, but that puts more pressure on me. That and this one time I was doing it was with a director that I didn't get along with... I mean, all he'd do would make me do blow jobs. I like to use vibrators and things like that but all I think was suck and suck. I think it was that experience that made me not want to do them.
Interviewer: Even now?
Nozomi: Yep. In a normal shoot it's okay if I'm with an actor I don't like because it's just a temporary thing, and having other people around you is relaxing. It's mentally tougher when it's just you and one other person.
Interviewer: You seem to have a lot of tapes that do exactly that though. What about if it's with someone really cool? I hear you're a big fan of Kimutaku (SMAP member Takuya Kimura).
Nozomi: Then it's okay (laughs).
Interviewer: I thought so (laughs). Have your tastes in men changed at all? Are you still all about looks?
Nozomi: Well... cool looking men are still the best. You know, those guys that even other guys think that they're manly?
Interviewer: You seem to be rather keen when it comes to talking about guys (laughs). By the way, you told me that you didn't have a hobby the last time we talked but have you found one?
Nozomi:
I guess it would be cooking. That and going shopping once a week. I go to a
lot of places like Shinjuku and shop. I went and got a whole set of house wares
a couple of weeks ago and replaced everything I have at home, in fact.
Interviewer: Didn't you live in a small single apartment?
Nozomi: Yeah---, I know I have to save up my money but I can't help myself when I see clothes and other stuff I want. Oh, I also go out and eat often because I like to drink.
Interviewer: You like alcohol? That's a bit unexpected. You got out with your friends?
Nozomi: I go drinking with my friends at times, and other times with my boyfriend.
Interviewer: What!? Boyfriend?
Nozomi: ...I do have one you know...
Interviewer: I see... I thought you might have one but it's a bit of a shock for you to just come out and say it like that. So you're completely in love right now.
Nozomi: Well... something like that (laughs). I didn't have one until really recently though. I was thinking about picking up a couple guys a little while ago though. I was going to try for the first cool looking guy I saw. Of course, in the end I didn't.
Interviewer: You picking up a guy! I want to see that! (laughs).
Nozomi: Some of my friends do it all the time.
Interviewer: But that's not really related to you doing it. You have some really nice friends...
Nozomi: (suddenly) Speaking about friends, one of mine called me a little while ago!
Interviewer: Huh? Is that a problem?
Nozomi: From my hometown! A classmate of mine from my high school days called me and asked "Aren't you Momoi Nozomi?" I think they have rumors about me now.
Interviewer: Do you have a problem with that?
Nozomi: I told her that I'm busy with work and she laughed and asked if I was in the middle of a shoot. I think a good portion of them know.
Interviewer: It's not like you did only 1 or 2 tapes.
Nozomi: That's true. I did think that they would find out sooner or later but it's not long enough for me to think "Wow, that took them a while to figure out". Then again, it's a bit too late to be worried about this type of stuff isn't it?
Interviewer: Exactly! I'm glad you think of it that way. One last question. I'm sure you're giving your best in your shoots right now, but is there a genre that you want to do?
Nozomi: I guess I'm a bit tired of the costume scenes I've been doing. But there are some companies that are letting me take the seductress role nowadays. It was a lot of fun when I tried it (laughs). Making men play along to me is something new so it's fun to do. I think that's the type of thing I want to do more of.
Interviewer: So you've gotten tired of costumes. But I think your fans will be expecting more of them.
Nozomi: Then I don't mind doing more of them. I just want to do all that I can while I'm still getting work. Like I said before, I enjoy the shoots a lot. There are times when I think it's hard and tiring, but the fun part is a lot greater!
Interviewer: Well, thank you for your time. Good luck on your 200 and 300 tape milestones!
Nozomi: I'm not sure if I want to (laughs).