VIVANT Casts Azerbaijani Coordinator as Steel Lady Firza
The casting of a non-actor who works as an interpreter and holds a doctorate in Japanese literature gives the Steel Lady a specific texture that dubbed foreign cast members do not carry.
Reporting from 1 source: Magmix.
Episode 18 of VIVANT Season 2 brings in Firza Hasanova, an agent nicknamed the Steel Lady, played by Gulnar Yunusova. Yunusova is a local coordinator in Azerbaijan, not a professional actor, and had been working as a Japanese interpreter and guide. Director Katsuo Fukuzawa chose her for the part, and she performs in her own voice rather than being dubbed.
Yunusova's day job is local coordination in Azerbaijan. She holds a doctorate from the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, where she researched Japanese literature with Haruki Murakami's After Dark as her main subject, and has published on Murakami and on Japanese literature tied to the atomic bombings. According to the making-of video, director Katsuo Fukuzawa picked her on the spot for the Steel Lady, and she was ultimately selected through an audition.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.