Matsushima Nanako

Profile

Name: 松嶋菜々子
Name (romaji): Matsushima Nanako
Date of Birth: 1973-Oct-13
Place of Birth: Yokohama, Japan
Height: 172cm
Weight: 46kg
Star Sign: Libra
Blood Type: A
Hobbies: Driving, cooking
Family: Married to actor Sorimachi Takashi & has a daughter
Talent agency: Seventh Avenue

Biography

Many beautiful young actresses get their start as a 'campaign girl', or swimwear poster girl for a Japanese corporation. In this case of Matsushima, an 18-year old aspiring model, the company was Asahi Kasei - a pharmeceuticals company with no relation to swimwear whatsoever. A year later, in 1993, she got the more visible 'image girl' job with Asahi Beer. Another couple of years of slogging saw her make her TV debut in a forgettable TV drama. Her break came when she auditioned for and got the lead in the 1996 NHK morning drama series Himawari (Sunflower). Unlike the commercial TV stations, NHK has the reputation in Japan of producing 'quality' programs and successful exposure there often brings the prestige of being a 'real' actor.

The following year saw the job offers come flooding in. Suddenly Matsushima was everywhere, appearing in TV dramas, commercials and movies. She starred in the 1996 TV horror series Ringu (The Ring) which became a hugely popular movie a couple of years later. In 2000, she co-starred in the big action movie of the year, White Out alongside Oda Yuji. She also carried a major three-part, end-of-the-century series entitled Hyakunen no Monogatari (100-year Story) in which she played three different, but related, heroines over three generations. Her popularity is widespread and she regularly tops such polls as 'best jeanist' or 'favorite female star'. In February 2001, she hit the headlines again when she married the popular actor Sorimachi Takashi. The two starred together in the TV drama series GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka a couple of years earlier.

Source: Japan Zone

Dramas

Furuhata Ninzaburo Final as Oono Momiji (Fuji TV, 2006)
Hana Yori Dango as Domyoji Tsubaki (TBS, 2005)
Hotaru no Haka (NTV, 2005)
Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji 3 as Kojima Kaede (Fuji TV, 2005)
Bijo ka Yajuu as Tamiya Makoto (Fuji TV, 2003)
Toshiie to Matsu as Matsu (NHK, 2002)
Yamato Nadeshiko as Jinno Sakurako (Fuji TV, 2000)
Hyakunen no Monogatari as Togura Aya (TBS, 2000)
Koori no sekai as Egi Tohko (Fuji TV, 1999)
Majo no Jouken as Hirose Michi (TBS, 1999)
Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji as Kojima Kaede (Fuji TV, 1999)
Great Teacher Onizuka as Fuyutsuki Azusa (Fuji TV, 1998)
Sweet Season (TBS, 1998)
Midnight Express (1998)
Shinryonaikai Ryoko (NTV, 1997)
Konna Koi no Hanashi as Fujimura Kaori (Fuji TV, 1997)
Yonimo Kimyona Monogatari Kanrinin (Fuji TV, 1997)
Kimi ga Jinsei no Toki (TBS, 1997)
Himawari (NHK, 1996)
Heart ni S (Fuji TV, 1995)
Onegai Darling (Fuji TV, 1993)
Shacho ni natta Wakadaisho (1992)

Movies

Bizan (2007)
Inugamike no Ichizoku (2006)
Whiteout (2000)
Poppuguruupu Koroshiya (Pop Beat Killers) (2000)
Ringu 2 (The Ring 2) (1999)
Rasen (The Spiral) (Archive film footage only) (1998)
Ringu (The Ring) (1998)
Koi to Hanabi to Kanransha (Fireworks, Ferris Wheels and Love) (1997)

CM

Sumitomo Seimei (2005)

Recognitions

36th Television Academy Awards: Best Actress in Bijo ka Yajuu
36th Television Academy Awards: Best Outfit in Bijo ka Yajuu
35th Television Academy Awards: Best Actress in Toshiie to Matsu
27th Television Academy Awards: Best Actress in Yamato Nadeshiko
27th Television Academy Awards: Best Outfit in Yamato Nadeshiko
23th Television Academy Awards: Best Actress in Koori no Sekai

Trivia

2004 Income: 53,890,000 Yen (approx)
2004 Income: 53,760,000 Yen (approx)

External Links