Masahiro Motoki (本木雅弘 ''Motoki Masahiro'', born December 21, 1965) is a Japanese actor. He portrayed protagonist Daigo Kobayashi in '' Departures'', which won the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. His performance earned him the Award for Best Actor at the 2009

Asia Pacific Screen Awards The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative overseen by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and headquartered in Australia, sometimes called "Asia-Pacific Oscars". In order to realise UNESCO's goals of promoting a ...

, at the 3rd Asian Film Awards and at the 32nd Japan Academy Prize.

Career

Motoki started his entertainment career as a member of

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

(the name of the band contains a portmanteau of and , a homonym of ). The band made its debut in 1982 under the management of Johnny & Associates and was popular for a good part of the 1980s. After the band broke up Motoki turned to acting. His first main role in a film was as a Zen monk in the comedy directed by

Masayuki Suo is a Japanese people, Japanese film director. He is best known for his two Japan Academy Prize (film), Japan Academy Prize-winning films, ''Sumo Do, Sumo Don't'' (1992) and ''Shall We Dance? (1996 film), Shall We Dance?'' (1996). Life and caree ...

. Motoki also starred in Suo's next film, , which practically introduced him to audiences outside Japan. He then worked with directors such as

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over 100 feature film, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films span a variety of different genres, ranging from violent and surrealism, b ...

() and

Shinya Tsukamoto is a Japanese filmmaker and actor. With a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad, Tsukamoto is best known for his body horror/Japanese cyberpunk, cyberpunk film ''Tetsuo: The Iron Man'' (1989), which is considered the defining ...

(). Motoki's breakthrough to international fame came with the 2008 film directed by Yōjirō Takita, in which he plays a cellist turned mortician. The film received the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 81st Academy Awards, as well as six acting awards for Motoki. The film project started from an idea of Motoki's after he read a book written by a professional mortician.

Family

He married essayist and musician Yayako Uchida, the daughter of actress

Kirin Kiki was a Japanese actress for Japanese cinema and television. Biography Kiki was born on January 15, 1943, in Kanda, Tokyo. Her father was a master of the ''biwa'' lute and a former police officer. Her mother owned a cafe in Jinbōchō, Tokyo an ...

and rock'n roll singer Yuya Uchida, in 1995. As a mukoyōshi, he took his wife's surname, which is thus his legal surname. The couple have three children.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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Asian Film Awards The Asian Film Awards are presented annually by the Asian Film Awards Academy to recognise the excellence of the film professionals in the film industries of Asian cinema. History On January 29, 2007, Wilfred Wong, the Chairman of Hong Kon ...

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Motoki, Masahiro 1965 births Japanese male actors Johnny & Associates Living people Musicians from Saitama Prefecture Taiga drama lead actors Best Actor Asian Film Award winners Asia Pacific Screen Award winners