Takeshi Kaneshiro



Takeshi Kaneshiro is an actor of mixed Japanese-Taiwanese heritage (his father is from Ryukyu and his mother from Taiwan). He is known to international audiences by his Japanese name, and to Chinese-speaking ones as Jin Chengwu (his name spells the same way in either language: 金城武). He is also multi-lingual, as you might expect, and known for being a very handsome guy.

Born in Taipei in 1973, he started a career as a pop singer in 1992, which he gave up later on in order to become a full-time actor. His first appearance on film was in Heroic Trio 2: Executioners, but his breakthrough role was in the critically acclaimed Chungking Express by Wong Kar Wai. He collaborated again with Wong on Fallen Angels in 1995.

Similarly to that of other Hong Kong actors, his career has been prolific, with over 30 films since 1995. The more notable ones include House of Flying Daggers, Perhaps Love, The Warlords and Red Cliff.

In the gaming field, he featured as the protagonist of Onimusha 1 and 3.