Asian Film Awards Rising Star Winner Koki Talks Global Film Career Path, International Co-Productions
Japanese actor Koki is swiftly building an international profile that spans continents and genres, from dual roles in a Japanese horror film to sword fighting in 18th-century Britain.
The model-turned-musician-turned-actor recently added the Asian Film Awards Rising Star Award to her growing resume, marking her first recognition outside her home country as she prepares to announce a new project based in Hong Kong.
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'It means so much to be able to receive an award outside Japan,' Koki tells Variety. 'The Rising Star Award gives me so much courage and recognition. I feel like I want to do my all my best to be able to go up to the award.'
The daughter of Japanese entertainment royalty — her father is megastar Takuya Kimura ('Grand Maison Paris') and her mother is singer Kudo Shizuka — Koki has been carving her own path since showing musical talent at age seven, composing hit songs for her mother and singer Miura Daichi, before making her model debut at 15 on the cover of Elle Jappan.
While successful in both music and fashion, Koki expresses her deep commitment to acting. 'I feel really privileged and lucky to be able to do something that I'm truly passionate about, and acting is one of them. It's something I'm truly in love with.'
Koki made her acting debut in 2022 with Shimizu Takashi's horror film 'Ox Head Village,' where she played dual roles, earning Japan's Blue Ribbon Award for best newcomer. 'It was my first movie, and I learned everything from scratch. I felt really lucky that I got to experience two characters at one time because I felt like I was able to learn twice as much.'
She has since starred in Baltasar Kormakur's 'Touch,' an international co-production between Iceland and the U.K. where a Reykjavik restaurateur closes shop just as his memory begins to falter. But when a message from a long-lost love from his student days in 1960s London, lands out of nowhere, he is thrust into a past that never let go. As COVID-19 lockdowns loom, he embarks on a journey spanning London and Japan, chasing the truth behind her abrupt disappearance decades earlier, even as time – and the virus – conspire against him. The film is based on Olaf Olafsson's novel.
'I loved how the two different cultures and even three, like English and Japanese and Icelandic, really blended into each other,' Koki says. 'I really loved how pure and strong the story was, and I feel like nowadays it's hard, in a way, to find a very powerful love story. And I loved how Miko, the main character, she has a very complex personality, but I love how she's really strong and really delicate in the same time. So that really drew me into the story.'
Koki more recently took on her first action role in John Maclean's British film 'Tornado,' set in 18th-century Britain. 'It was physically really difficult,' says Koki of her sword-fighting scenes, 'but I learned that sword fighting is not only physical, but also mental. It really helped me become a strong person.'
The film, which follows a young Japanese woman who finds herself in peril when her father's traveling puppet show crosses paths with a criminal gang, premiered as the opening gala at the Glasgow Film Festival in February.
Koki is also starring in the upcoming Japanese film 'True Beauty,' an adaptation of the popular South Korean webtoon. In this role, she portrays a high school student who transforms from an insecure 'ugly duckling' into a confident young woman after being bullied for her appearance. The actor acknowledges the fan pressure of adapting such beloved material. 'There is a really big pressure. I mean, in high school, I was one of them, and I loved the manga, and I was reading the webtoon,' she says. 'There is a huge pressure to be able to go up to the standards of the fans. But I really personally loved the story, and I loved the characters inside. So I felt like I really wanted to challenge myself, and it was my first time doing comedy as well, like comedy, love, romance.'
When asked about her next project, Koki says: 'There will be an announcement in a few days, but I'll be working on a very special project in Hong Kong.'
The 18th Asian Film Awards ceremony takes place March 16, at the Grand Theatre, Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong.
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