Takeshi Kaneshiro

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Takeshi Kaneshiro
Born	金城 武 Kaneshiro Takeshi October 11, 1973 (1973-10-11) (age 34) Taipei, Taiwan
Occupation	Actor
Official website

Takeshi Kaneshiro (Japanese and Taiwanese: 金城 武, romaji: Kaneshiro Takeshi, Pinyin: Jīnchéng Wǔ), born October 11, 1973, is a male actor.

Contents 1 Name 2 Biography 3 Career 4 Filmography 4.1 Movies 4.2 Drama 4.2.1 Japan 4.2.2 Hong Kong 4.2.3 Taiwan 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Movie Soundtracks 6 Videogames 7 Misc 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Name

Kaneshiro is a popular Okinawan family name^[1]. In Kanji, 金城 is Kaneshiro and 武 is Takeshi (given name), with Japanese readings. He appears as 金城 武 (Kaneshiro Takeshi) on Japanese media. As for Chinese surname, it is read as 金城 (Jīnchéng), although double-character is rare in Chinese surname. In the credit shown in movies, his name often appears as 金城 武 Takeshi Kaneshiro^[2] (neither 金城武 nor 金 城武).

[edit] Biography

He is of Japanese and Taiwanese ancestry. With a mother from Taiwan and a father from Okinawa, Kaneshiro was born and raised in Taipei, and is a Japanese citizen (nationality).^[3]

He has two brothers (7 years older; 1 year older). In a recent interview in Hong Kong, 23 Dec 2007, Takeshi Kaneshiro mentioned that he has one elder brother.^[4] After being bullied at a regular Taiwanese high school, the Gaoxong Preparatory School, over his mixed heritage, he enrolled at English-based Taipei American School, which enabled him to converse in English, making him effectively multi-lingual considering his fluency in Mandarin, Taiwanese (his first-spoken language), and Japanese. As a result of his varied background, Kaneshiro can speak with varying degrees of fluency in English, Taiwanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese. It was while he was studying there that he began doing TV commercials, and he decided to quit school in order to pursue a singing and acting career.

[edit] Career

In 1992, Kaneshiro made his singing debut, entering the business with the nickname Aniki, meaning 'older brother' in Japanese. His debut album was Heartbreaking Night (1992). Contracted to EMI, he wrote many of his own Mandarin and Cantonese songs. The following year, his popularity propelled him into acting and he no longer produces any commercial music. He later stated that acting comes to him more naturally, while his singing capabilities are not up to scratch and best left to the "professionals,"^{[citation needed]}including his favorite singer Jacky Cheung.^{[citation needed]} Kaneshiro maintains that singing is only his hobby.^{[citation needed]}

His first movie was Executioners (1993) and this was followed by the critically acclaimed Wong Kar-Wai film Chungking Express (1994) and a string of other Hong Kong movies. Later, Kaneshiro starred in the highly successful Japanese TV mini-series God, Please Give Me More Time (1998), allowing him to branch into Japanese movies such as Returner (2002). Kaneshiro's work, however is more heavily concentrated in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. He also became well known in the video game industry portraying the samurai warrior, Samanosuke, in the Capcom hit, Onimusha. In a June 2007 article on the movie site Ain't It Cool News, it was revealed that Takeshi Kaneshiro will be in the Onimusha movie, reprising his role as Samanosuke.^[5]

Kaneshiro is often praised for having "chameleon-like" acting skills due to his ability to adapt to a wide variety of roles.^{[citation needed]} He became a superstar playing oddball and forlorn characters and has proven impossible to typecast. Director Peter Chan, of the Chinese musical Perhaps Love, which Kaneshiro starred in, has been quoted as saying "I am willing to exchange my 11 nominations for the nomination of Takeshi for Best Actor award. My greatest regret is Takeshi Kaneshiro wasn't nominated."^{[citation needed]}Despite this, he continued to receive rave reviews for a spectacular performance of a vulnerable yet angry and ultimately maturing character.^{[citation needed]}

Outside of the entertainment business, Kaneshiro has acted as a spokesperson and model for Prada in Asia (1998) as well as Lifecard credit card company, Honda, Sundiro Motorcycles, Lipice lips moisturizer, SonyEricsson, Pocari Sweat soft drink, Morinaga chocolate, Volvic, GEOS language school, Petronas oil company, Mitsubishi, Rice Burger, One2Free (HK), and Kiwi cold drink.

About his personal life Kaneshiro has been quoted as saying “If one day I get married and have kids, I will probably be one of those men who really care for the family. I will eat at home everyday, and help with the chores and take care of the children.”^[6]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Movies

• Onimusha (2009) Samanosuke Akechi
• Waiting (2009) as Kong Lin
• K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces (2009)
• The Battle of Red Cliff (2008) as Zhuge Liang
• Sweet Rain (2008) as Jing Yip - The Death God
• The Warlords (2007) as Jiang Wuyang
• Confession of Pain (2006) as Bong
• Perhaps Love (2005) (Titled Winter Song for the Japanese release)
• House of Flying Daggers (2004) (Titled Lovers for the Japanese release)
• Onimusha 3: Demon Siege (2004) - (VG) (voice: Japanese version) Samanosuke Akechi
• Turn Left, Turn Right (2003)
• Returner (2002)
• Onimusha: Warlords (2001) (VG) (voice: Japanese version) Samanosuke Akechi
• Lavender (2000)
• Space Travelers (2000)
• Tarzan (1999) as Tarzan (Voice for Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese versions)
• Tempting Heart (1999)
• Misty (1998)
• Sleepless Town (1998)
• Anna Magdalena (1998)
• Too Tired to Die (1998)
• First Love: The Litter on the Breeze (1997)
• The Odd One Dies (1997)
• Downtown Torpedoes (1997)
• Hero - The Legend (1997)
• Dr. Wai and the Scripture Without Words (1996)
• Lost and Found (1996)
• The Jail In Burning Island (1996)
• The Feeling of Love (1996)
• Trouble Maker (1995)
• School Days (1995)
• China Dragon (1995)
• Forever Friends (1995)
• Fallen Angels (1995) - as He Zhiwu
• Young Policemen in Love (1995)
• No Sir (1994)
• The Wrath of Silence (1994)
• Don't Give a Damn (1994)
• Mermaid Got Married (1994)
• Chungking Express (1994) - as He Zhiwu, Cop 223
• Heroic Trio 2: Executioners (1993)

[edit] Drama

[edit] Japan

• The Golden Bowl (2002) (Japanese: ゴールデンボウル)
• Love 2000 (2000) (Japanese: 二千年の恋)
• God, Please Give Me More Time (1998) (Japanese: 神様、もう少しだけ)
• The Miracle on a Christmas Night (1995) (Japanese: 聖夜の奇跡)

[edit] Hong Kong

• Colour Of Armour (1995)

[edit] Taiwan

• Grass Scholar (1992)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year	Title	Label	Notes
1992	Heartbreaking Night (分手的夜裡)	Philips, Polygram	Mandarin album (Release date: September 1992)
1993	Just You and Me (只要你和我)	Philips, Polygram	Mandarin album (Release date: June 1993)
1993	Reliable Best Friend (可依靠的好朋友)	Unknown	Mandarin album (Best of 1992-1993) (Release date: 1993)
1994	Tender Superman (溫柔超人)	Philips, Polygram	Mandarin album (Release date: February 1994)
1994	Ideal Lover (標準情人)	EMI	Mandarin album (Release date: December 1994)
1994	Missed Date (失約)	EMI	Cantonese album (Release date: December 1994)
1995	For My Beloved (給我心愛的人)	EMI	Cantonese album (Release date: June 1995)
1995	Secretly Drunk (偷偷的醉)	EMI	Mandarin album (Release date: October 1995)
1996	No Matter How Hard (多苦都願意)	EMI	Mandarin album (Release date: October 1996)
1996	Memories (精選集 Memories)	Unknown	Mandarin album (Release date: 1996)
1998	Best Collection (金城武的精選歌集)	Unknown	Mandarin album (Release date: 1998)

[edit] Movie Soundtracks

Year	Title	Track Featuring Takeshi	Notes
2005	Perhaps Love (如果愛)	No.4 Forgot Who I am (忘了我是誰) (duet with Zhou Xun 周迅), No.6 Beautiful Story (美麗故事) (duet with Ji Jin Hee 池珍熙), No.10 Crossroad (十字街頭) (duet with Zhou Xun 周迅), No.11 What If (假如) (Solo)	Mandarin album (Release date: 2005)

[edit] Videogames

• Onimusha (2001) (VG)
• Onimusha 3 (2004) (VG)

[edit] Misc

• Smap X Smap September (2002) TV Episode
• Smap X Smap October (2002) TV Episode

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Takeshi Kaneshiro at the Internet Movie Database
• Takeshi Kaneshiro at LoveHKFilm.com
• Takeshi Kaneshiro International forum