Tim Kano is a New Zealand actor, known for playing Leo Tanaka in the Australian television soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'' from 2016. He also stars in the 2021 horror film ''

Great White Great White is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The band is named after both the shark with the same name, and guitarist Mark Kendall's former stage nickname. In August 2008, Great White estimated they had sold aroun ...

''.

Early life

Kano's mother Sue is from New Zealand with Irish heritage, and his father Fujio, was Japanese. Kano was born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and grew up between

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand and Japan with his sister Maya. Upon returning to New Zealand after spending his primary school years in Japan, Kano took modelling and acting jobs and completed a media and film studies course. Kano returned to Japan to study Political Science at university in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Working in politics was a goal for Kano, who worked for MP Chris Carter for a year.

Career

Beginning his career in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, Kano played an extra in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' and had some other small parts in TV and movies from 2001. In 2009, he starred in the interactive online drama series ''Reservoir Hill''. Kano's big break came when he joined Australian soap opera, ''

'' in 2016 as entrepreneur Leo Tanaka. He obtained the role after auditioning for both Leo and his twin brother David Tanaka, which eventually went to Takaya Honda. Kano said he grew up watching ''Neighbours'' in New Zealand and found meeting the actors "amazing but a bit confronting". With the goal of making a life in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, Kano left ''Neighbours'' in 2019, but made a return in 2021. In 2019, Kano filmed the movie ''

'' in which he plays Joji, a Japanese businessman. In 2021, Kano played Ian in the TV comedy series, ''The Power of the Dream''. He also featured in the Paramount+ comedy series ''

Spreadsheet A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in c ...

''.

Personal life

Kano resides in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

with his dog and is a fan of 1950s American men's style. Once a singer in a punk band, Kano can also play guitar. Franklin Fisher of the band

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, is Kano's brother in-law. In 2018, Kano was nominated as a ''Cosmopolitan'' Bachelor of the Year.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kano, Tim New Zealand male film actors New Zealand male television actors 1986 births New Zealand male soap opera actors New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand people of Japanese descent Actors from Christchurch Living people