World champion figure skater Miki Ando to make her acting debut in "Coach"

Slated for release right before the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Kitaro Muro‘s figure skating movie Coach: 40-sai no Figure Skater will tell the story of a 40-year-old figure skater trying to quality for the games.

It was previously known that figure skaters Minoru Sano and Chika Suguri would have roles, but it was recently announced that 2007 World Champion Miki Ando will appear in the film along with 1989 World Champion Midori Ito and 2006 Olympic Champion Shizuka Arakawa. Ando’s scene will reportedly only last about 2 minutes and will consist of her cheering on the main character, played by professional figure skater Miwa Nishida. The scene is significant because Nishida actually coached Ando before the 2006 Torino Olympics. Although not a true story, the script was largely inspired by Nishida’s life and professional career.

Morning Musume producer Tsunku will handle the music for the film, including the closing theme song “Map ~Mirai no Chizu~” by Mana Ogawa.

“Coach: 40-sai no Figure Skater” will be released by Astaire on February 6, 2010 at Shinjuku K’s Cinema with more theaters to follow. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to figure skating-related organizations in Japan.