ICYMI Naomi Matsuda Interview

Naomi Matsuda was born to be an entertainer. When she was five years old, her mother moved the aspiring star and her brother from her native Japan to San Diego, and Matsuda’s life would never be the same. “That was an incredible journey and I’m so privileged to have this life I’m living now, thanks to my mother,” relays the actress. “Life as a girl there is very different than life as a girl here in America, so that was the beginning. It was such a wonderful opportunity for myself and my mother and my brother to have a different life.”

Matsuda didn’t know how to speak English, but the family soon found a valuable resource. “I started kindergarten and I was a year late, and I had to learn English, so every day when I came home from school, I watched soap operas,” she recalls. “I saw Susan Lucci [ex-Erica, ALL MY CHILDREN] every day. The soap operas helped me speak English.”

Matsuda hadn’t realized it yet, but she had inherited the family entertainment bug, engaging in dancing and childhood skits. “My grandmother on my father’s side performed traditional Japanese dance, with the wig and the white makeup and the beautiful kimonos, into her 80s,” she shares. “When I was 19, she was still performing in Kyoto. I believe I take after her. She was the powerhouse of the grandparents.”

In her late teens, Matsuda and her gal pals took in the L.A. scene, which presented its challenges. “I’ve been so incredibly lucky,” she reflects. “I was 17, coming up to L.A. I was always much older and more mature — and a little bit crazy. We would go to clubs with fake IDs then. When you’re a teenager, you want to grow up fast and live your life. Your dreams are just so big and anything is possible. You just kind of go with it. I was going to these nightclubs, underage, and meeting these producers. I was very lucky that nothing happened to me in a negative way. Very lucky. I was pretty head-smart and so I did catch onto things. I knew that my intuition in my gut would always get me out of trouble. I remember I got a script and an invitation to read, and he turned out to be some cheesy, sleazy wannabe producer. He made advances and I declined them, and I remember driving home to San Diego in tears and thought, ‘Well, okay, that’s not for me.’ I’m sure there are many stories like that for young girls.”

Despite the failed foray into Hollywood, Matsuda remained determined to make her mark. Several years later, she returned to Tinseltown, took a job at the House of Blues, and with the encouragement of friends, found acting and booked her first national commercial. “I remember the competition,” Matsuda says. “I remember walking into the room seeing all the girls there and I was like, ‘I’m looking in a mirror.’ We all looked the same. All I could think of was, ‘How am I going to stand out?’ Coming from a dance background, we don’t speak, we move. We give our expressions through movement. For me then, it was like, ‘I’m going into acting. I have to speak now.’ I wasn’t even trained in acting but after my first audition, I had my long hair and then when I decided to chop it off, I booked my first national commercial [for Toyota]. And then I started booking like crazy so I had to keep the short hair.” Commercials led to her first official acting gig, though her hair was again an issue. “My first theatrical role was for THE X-FILES [in 1999] and they put a wig on me,” she laughs. “It was great, and the wig matched my hairstyle before I cut it.”

While auditioning for roles, Matsuda had a number of soap opportunities, which all eluded her grasp. “In my 20s, I went out for a lot, like GH, but I was anxious and still trying to figure out who I was,” she notes. “I was like, ‘I know soap operas. I’ve watched them my whole life so I’m just going to go in and perform.’ Clearly that wasn’t what they wanted. I used to get so excited auditioning for soaps because I was like, ‘Maybe, maybe!’ ”

Matsuda’s first foray into daytime — as John Black’s ex, Tori, on DAYS was short-lived — but when Matsuda landed the role of B&B’s Li, it was a dream come true. “I am still pinching myself,” the actress beams. “Even now, I’m thinking, ‘Is this really happening? It’s happening!’ ” Matsuda admits that she wasn’t prepared for the pace of daytime. “My first day, I was a mess,” she chuckles. “Thank goodness for Ted King [Jack]. He was so calm and he kept me grounded. We ran lines. We talked about our characters. He was so wonderful, and I was so thrilled that he won an Emmy for his work! I hope we get to do more scenes together in the future but yes, that first day, he was like, ‘Just breathe.’ ”

Matsuda, who was originally tapped for three days, didn’t expect the gig to be long-term. In fact, after her extended storyline with saving Finn’s life and battling demonic Sheila, Matsuda read in the script that her car was going into the ocean and assumed that was the end of her run. “Ed Scott [supervising producer] came down and said, ‘Naomi, just so you know, you’re going to be in this car and you’re going to go over the pier and into the water,’ and I said, ‘Thank you, Ed. I had such an amazing time here at BOLD.’ I was thanking him and thanking him and he said, ‘Oh, no, Naomi. You’re staying. You’re alive.’ I said, ‘I don’t understand.’ I didn’t know how they do things, and he said, ‘Naomi, you are staying,’ and I started jumping up and down.”

The development also sparked a soapy conversation with her TV son, Tanner Novlan (Finn), who also believed he was being killed off, thanks to Sheila. “We did have a couple of words,” Matsuda muses. “Our conversations were pretty much, ‘Did you know?’ ‘No.’ ‘Did you know?’ ‘No.’ I said, ‘You’ve been here a year before me. You know more than I do!’ It was awesome. We were both so thankful and now, I am just happy for every second I get to be here.”

Matsuda is excited to see what’s next for her character, including a possible love match with Bill or Jack. “I think that’d be wonderful,” she smiles. “If the fans are up for it, then I’m sure it’s going to be great. They love triangles, right? That’s where the drama is. Remember, I grew up watching soaps so I know.” Since Li is a renowned doctor, Matsuda would also relish the opportunity to do a medical story. “I would love to play that,” she enthuses. “I actually feel that in my past life, I was a surgeon. I love stuff like that. I can watch open heart surgery. I am fascinated. Blood does not scare me at all. I should have been a surgeon in this lifetime, and maybe I still can be on B&B.”

Which would be a continuation of her dream come true. “I am over the moon,” she declares. “My heart is exploding in appreciation. How else am I supposed to feel? I am truly grateful that I have been received so warmly by the fans. That is everything for a performer, to be received that way, because that’s the whole reason why I do this. Li has strength and power, and if Li can hold her own against Sheila, then anything is possible.”

Meeting The Queen

When Matsuda met her idol, Susan Lucci (ex-Erica, ALL MY CHILDREN), at the June Daytime Emmys, she couldn’t contain herself. “Talk about starstruck!” she begins. “I cried. I actually cried. I saw her and I gasped. My heart was racing. I saw her in the bathroom and I tapped her on the shoulder and I was shaking as I said, ‘Susan Lucci…?’ She probably felt sorry for me because I was such a mess, but she was so lovely and so gracious. She was like, ‘Oh, sweetheart!’ and I just went on like, ‘You were the first person I ever watched on soaps!’ I was just crying my eyes out in the bathroom and I told her my story and she asked me, ‘Did you speak any English then?’ And I said no, I learned English from soap opera. It was so hilarious. We took a picture, and I’m crying in the picture. It was really a dream come true. I will never forget it. She is radiant.”

Just The Facts:

Birthday: March 14

Hails From: Nagasaki, Japan

Recognition Station: Matsuda was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Performer in 2022.

The Name Game: “Naomi comes from the Bible. It’s Hebrew. My mother wanted to give me a different kind of name. She did not want to give me a traditional Japanese name. I love that.”

Memories Of San Diego: “I went to private schools since 4th grade. I made lifelong friends, and I learned to cook Italian food.”

Favorite TV Show As A Kid: “SOUL TRAIN. What can I say? I love to dance.”