Takehiro Hira

Takehiro Hira (平 岳大, Hira, Takehiro, born July 27, 1974) is a Japanese theatre, film, and television actor. He was born in Japan and raised there until he was 15 years old. He went to high school in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, and then attended Brown University. Prior to becoming an actor, he held a few different kinds of jobs including care provider for autistic children, financial analyst, project manager at an internet start-up and tempura chief at a Japanese restaurant.

He made his theatrical debut in 2002 with Rokumeikan which was written by Yukio Mishima. He worked closely with his father Mikijiro Hira, who is also a Japanese actor. Takehiro played the role of Iago in the production of Othello with his father playing Othello. He received major recognition when he played the last shogun Yoshinobu Tokugawa in the NHK taiga drama Atsuhime. He has appeared in several films of Takashi Miike, including Harakiri, Ace Attorney and Aku no Kyoten. He plays Natsuka Masaie in the big-budget film Nobou's Castle.

International experience

He played the role of the Player Queen in the English production of Hamlet in 2005, in which the title role was played by Michael Maloney. This three-month tour was received well at many places in the UK.

His father is Mikijirō Hira and his mother is Yoshiko Sakuma, a Japanese actress.

• Rokumeikan (2002)
• King Lear, Edmund (2003)
• And Then There Were None, Philip Lombart (2004)
• Hamlet, Player Queen (2005)
• Korikoribanashi (2006)
• Othello, Iago (2007)
• Genghis Khan, Title role (2008)
• Gabrielle Chanel (2009)
• The Film of the Nation, Gustav Friedrich (2011)

• Billington, Michael (November 12, 2004). ""Hamlet review Guardian" Guardian". The Guardian. London.