On March 22nd, Abe Hiroshi and Ueto Aya attended a stage greeting for their upcoming movie, “Thermae Romae” at a cinema in Tokyo.

“Thermae Romae” depicts the story of Lucius (Abe), a bath design engineer who slips through time between Ancient Rome and modern Japan. It’s a comical portrayal of Lucius’ first experiences with the modern Japan bathing cultures and his struggles to introduce some of those habits in Ancient Rome.

The time slips are happening in the bathroom and the scenes required Abe to be naked. At the stage greeting, his co-star Ueto revealed that she made sure never to miss any of those scenes where he showed off his physical beauty.

“I got a really good look at his naked body and bare bottom,” she said. “The director even scolded me for staring at him too much.”

Abe was embarrassed and commented, “I always thought that she’s bothered by those scenes and so I tried to conceal myself as much as possible… Turns out she actually loved it?” Ueto just grinned in response, “It was very tasty. Thanks for the treat.”

Moreover, he revealed that he only learned about the original manga after accepting the offer. “I was careless. Who knew I’d have to play an actual ancient Roman person…” However, thanks to his appearance it seemed like this role was tailor-made for him. “I tried to get some help from the director on how to play this character, but he just told me that I’m already fine the way I am. That was a bit humiliating, actually,” he said with a bitter smile.

Meanwhile, Ueto remembered her first work together with Abe. She said, “The first time I worked together with Abe was 10 years ago. Back then I was still just a brat, calling him ‘Abe-chan! Abe-chan!’ all the time. Who would’ve thought that I would be able to see the naked body of this ‘Abe-chan’ right in front of my eyes some day… what a great sight it was.”

Ichimura Masachika, Takeuchi Riki, Shishido Kai, Katsuya, Ika Hachiro, Suga Tomio, and director Takeuchi Hideki also attended the event.

“Thermae Romae” is scheduled to open in Japan on April 28th.