Byplayers: If Six Supporting Actors Lived in a Share House
Byplayers: If Six Supporting Actors Lived in a Share House (Japanese: バイプレイヤーズ～もしも6人の名脇役がシェアハウスで暮らしたら～) is a Japanese television drama series that aired on TV Tokyo in 2017. The series features six well-known Japanese supporting actors playing fictionalized versions of themselves.
Premise
The plot follows six veteran supporting actors—Kenichi Endo, Ren Osugi, Tomorowo Taguchi, Susumu Terajima, Yutaka Matsushige, and Ken Mitsuishi—who are invited to participate in a high-budget drama project. To prepare for their roles and build rapport, the director requires them to live together in a share house for three months. The arrangement is complicated by a past incident from ten years prior that left the actors harboring lingering resentment toward one another.
Cast
The six main actors portray themselves in the series:
- Kenichi Endo
- Ren Osugi
- Tomorowo Taguchi
- Susumu Terajima
- Yutaka Matsushige
- Ken Mitsuishi
Production and Broadcast
The series was directed by Satoko Yokohama and Kentaro Takemura, with screenplays written by Mitsuhiko Fujiki and Takeshi Miyamoto. It consisted of 12 episodes and aired on TV Tokyo's Friday 24:12 time slot from January 13 to March 31, 2017.