Former Japanese AV actress Emiri Okazaki, shared during an interview with Kei on his Asian Boss YouTube channel that she was paid up to £4,400 (S$7,472.33 according to today’s exchange rate) per shoot and made 28 movies in a month, which amounted to about S$209,000.
Couldn’t become model or actress
She revealed that she joined the industry after she realised that she would very unlikely become a model or TV actress, and she used to cry on set when the cameras stopped rolling.
Okazaki also added that her work in the industry was harmful for her relationships with her loved ones, with her mother cutting her off for 6 months, and her boyfriend’s mother was ashamed of her and tried to break them up.
Actresses cry at the end of shoots
The 27-year-old said that during her first shoot for her first AV movie, she cried at the end of the shoot because she felt many emotions hitting her; she also revealed that many girls also cried while filming.
Okazaki said she wasn’t even sure why she was crying, and that she was imagining it wasn’t the real her in the scene but just an actress playing a role in a movie.
She has since quit the industry and is not a beauty business owner.
She also added that there were girls from wealthy families who had graduated from well known universities in the industry as well, doing it because they are curious and not for the money.
Typical day at work
Okazaki made her first movie in 2011, and she described a typical shoot as either being spread over two 12-hour days, or filmed at one go in a single 21-hour session.
She would be picked up by her agent on the day of the shoot and talent for a meeting with the director to confirm what she can or cannot do.
Looked down on
On her relationship with her family, she said that her mother was so ashamed of her that she blocked her and refused to see her for half a year.
Eventually, they reconciled and her mother told her that she will never understand her career or support it, but “you are my daughter and that will never change, so from now on, I don’t want to hear about your work.”
Her boyfriend also threatened to kill her when she told him about her work, and there were times when he pointed a knife at her.
Money maker
As for the money that she makes, she said that for female actresses in the industry, there are two main types of contracts:
The first one is an annual contract of one movie a month, where the actress makes between S$12,000 and S$132,000 per month,.
The second one is a “pay per shoot’ contract, where the actress is paid depending on the work that is required on a movie, which amounts to about S$2,500 to S$7,400 per shoot.
Images source: Screengrab from Asian Boss on YouTube and @okaemiri on Twitter