by Julie Uyeno-Pidot

Created on: January 31, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Actor Biography: Takeshi Kaneshiro

While Takeshi Kaneshiro has been a major celebrity in China since the early 1990s, he's still relatively unknown in the US. In fact, his popularity has spread throughout the rest of Asia, a remarkable feat considering the vast cultural and political differences between each country in the region. Kaneshiro's unprecedented popularity isn't just due to his good looks or his unusual choice in movie roles (he's been called the "Johnny Depp of Asia" in the press), but also his formidable intelligence and ever-increasing range as an actor. Surely, he's a force to be reckoned with, and it's only a matter of time before he's as well-known here as he is in Asia. That said, it's time to learn a little bit more about this notoriously private actor.

Kaneshiro was born on October 11, 1973 in Taipei to a Taiwanese mother and Japanese father. In several of the rare interviews that he has given, Kaneshiro has stated that in school, he suffered ridicule from his classmates because of his mixed-race background. Nevertheless, as a teenager, he found work as a model, doing print ads and TV commercials. In 1992, he released his first album, Heartbreaking Night. The album's success enabled Kaneshiro to make his film debut the very next year in 1993's Heroic Trio 2: Executioners, a sequel to 1992's Heroic Trio, starring Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, and Anita Mui.

From there, Kaneshiro's acting career took off, allowing him to work with such acclaimed directors as Wong Kar-Wai and Zhang Yimou. He has made films in Cantonese, English, Japanese, and Mandarin (each of which he speaks fluently) and virtually every genre, from quirky romantic comedies to hardboiled crime dramas. His versatility as an actor and early professional experience with singing came in handy for 2005's Perhaps Love, a musical which garnered 12 Golden Horse nominations (the Asian equivalent to the Academy Awards). Kaneshiro's next movie, This Violent Landan action-filled period piece co-starring Andy Lau and Jet Lifinds him reteaming with Peter Chan, the director of Perhaps Love.

What does the future have in store for Kaneshiro? Continued success, certainly. But a move to American films will require better roles for Asian characters. After all, he's proven his range as an actor. Now it's up to the screenwriters of this country to demonstrate the breadth of their imaginations.

Selected filmography:
Chungking Express (1994)
Fallen Angels (1995)
Lost and Found (1996)
Tempting Heart (1999)
Returner (2002)
The House of Flying Daggers (2005)
Perhaps Love (2005)
Confession of Pain (2006)

Learn more about this author, Julie Uyeno-Pidot.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.