Minae Noji

Qs

1) What have we seen you in (TV, movies, men’s magazines, etc.)? 
Films: Be Cool, God’s Waiting List, Instant Trauma. Upcoming: Memoirs of a Geisha. TV: Spin City, Bold and the Beautiful.

2) What was your big break?
Being cast for the First National Touring Company of Miss Saigon. The first time I set foot on that stage, I found my wings.

3) Do you drink wine? If so, how often?
I love red wine. I drink it about three times a week with dinner and candles, pretending I’m in Paris with a cute French boy.

4) How’s your love life?
I just exited a long-term relationship, so I’m a little rusty in the dating department. Dating LA boys has been bizarre and colorful, to say the least. I went on a blind date recently where the guy talked about fruits and vegetables all night.

5) Ever use wine or food to lure someone into bed? (Details, details!)
Once I had personalized fortune cookies made for a sexy scavenger hunt. Each cookie had a tantalizing clue describing what I was going to do to him when he found me. By the time he saw me waiting for him in bed, he was so revved up all I had to do was call his name.

6) What’s the most embarrassing food/drink-related experience you’ve had (and why)?
I’m very clumsy and once spilled wine on a date three times in ONE night. I thought there was no chance I’d get a second date. Later that evening, I tripped, fell on my skirt-clad butt, and accidentally revealed my pink panties. Not only did I get a second date, we ended up dating for three years!

7) Would you be turned off by a screw cap on an expensive bottle of wine?
Opening a bottle of wine with a screw cap is like having sex without the foreplay. It works, but it’s just not the same.

8) You were on Star Search. Do you regret not saving yourself for American Idol?
When I did Star Search as a kid, I had a huge crush on Ed McMahon. I was convinced we were going to fall in love, marry and move to Hawaii. No way I would trade Star Search for American Idol. Plus, Simon Cowell isn’t my type.

9) You list toe tricks and animal sounds on your resume. Please elaborate. 
I was an only child, so I had a lot of time on my hands. I had really strong toes from ballet dancing, so my mother would sit in a chair and I’d practice unzipping and zipping, unbuttoning and buttoning shirts and untying and tying shoelaces all with my toes. Growing up, I was also into animal sounds. I’d mimic and match, and eventually I created my own audio animal farm! It’s pretty entertaining. Get me to a party, give me a few glasses of wine and I’m a party animal. Literally.

10) You’ve got great hair. D’ya ever wash it in beer? Light, dark or wheat? 
My mother told me sake works miracles on hair. I tried washing it with hot sake once and my hair looked so good I could’ve booked a Pantene commercial. Unfortunately, washing your hair in sake is pretty pricey. I should try beer instead…much more cost-effective.