| Best known for his
role as Shohei Sugiyama in Shall
We Dance? (1996), Yakusho's interest
in acting started in 1976 after watching Maxim
Gorky's version of The Lower Depths.
Two years later, Yakusho got his first break by
being one of four applicants accepted into the
Mumei-juku acting school, which is run by the
legendary actor Tatsuya
Nakadai. While there, Nakadai gave him his
stage name of Yakusho, his birth name was Koji
Hashimoto, and he also met actress Kawatsu Saeko,
who he would marry in 1982. In 1979, Yakusho appeared
in his first film, alongside mentor Nakadai, titled
Hunter in the Dark. In 1983, he made
his first big impression on the Japanese public
with his role as a main character for the popular
TV show Tokugawa Ieyasu. Yakusho netted
several memorable roles in the years to come,
including his work in the internationally renowned
Tampopo
(1985), until his performance in Shall
We Dance? in 1996. The film was a gigantic
success in its home country, leading the box office
that year, while also landing Yakusho even more
notice overseas where the film played tremendously
well with critics. Since that role, Yakusho has
enjoyed being at the forefront of numerous, often
high profile, films in Japan, while his international
success also landed him a role in the US film
Memoirs of a Geisha in 2005.
|
Hunter in the Dark (1979) - Kuwano
