One of the most sought-after male leads in Asia, half-Taiwanese, half-Japanese Takeshi Kaneshiro began his rise to stardom at age 15 when he was talent spotted and recruited to be a Taiwanese pop idol. A string of successful music hits followed, from 1992’s ‘Heart Breaking Night’ to 1996’s ‘Painful Love’. Fluent in five languages, Takeshi Kaneshiro quickly captured the hearts of fans in throughout Asia.

Mr. Kaneshiro’s silver screen debut came in Tony CHING and Johnnie TO’s ‘Executioners’ (1993) where his turn as a quasi-religious villain made such a deep impression that this became his only supporting role to date. Takeshi Kaneshiro has since played the male lead in all of his subsequent 27 films, which include the Golden Horse Award and Hong Kong Film Award winning ‘Chungking Express’ (1994) and ‘Fallen Angels’ (1995).

Well known for his quirky character acting, Takeshi Kaneshiro made his mark on world cinema working with Hong Kong directing heavyweights including WONG Kar Wai (‘Chungking Express’, 1994, and ‘Fallen Angels’, 1995) Sylvia CHANG (‘Tempting Heart’, 1998) and LEE Chi Ngai (‘Lost and Found’, 1996, and ‘Sleepless Town’ (1997).

Mr. Kaneshiro’s extensive filmography is testament to his versatile acting skills. While he is known worldwide for his high-profile work with Wong, Chang and Lee, he is an even bigger star in his native Taiwan and Japan, where he continues to earn accolades from critics and audiences for his nuanced performances in films including Johnnie To and WAI Ka-Fai’s ‘Turn Left, Turn Right’ (2003) - an adaptation of the much-loved illustrated love story by Taiwanese artist Jimmy LIAO and Takashi YAMAZAKI’s Japanese science fiction hit ‘The Returner’ (2002).