Hidetoshi Nishijima
西島 秀俊
Nishijima at the 2018Tokyo International Film Festival
Born	(1971-03-29)March 29, 1971 (age 54) Hachiōji,Tokyo, Japan
Education	Yokohama National University
Occupation	Actor model
Years active	1992–present
Spouse	Ayaka Mori ​ (m. 2014)​
Children	2

Hidetoshi Nishijima (Japanese:西島 秀俊,Hepburn:Nishijima Hidetoshi; born March 29, 1971) is a Japanese actor and model. He is widely regarded as one of Japan's leading actors, having appeared in a wide range of films fromscience fiction films such asShin Ultraman (2022) to small-scaleart films such asDolls (2002). He gained international recognition for his critically acclaimed leading role in the 2021 filmDrive My Car, for which he received theJapan Academy Film Prize for Best Actor.^[1]

Nishijima became interested in watching films as a child, influenced by his father.^[2]He wanted to be a film crew member, but while in college, he passed the acting audition that an acquaintance encouraged him to take, and he became an actor.^{[3][citation needed]}

Nishijima made his debut in the contemporary detective television drama seriesHagure Keiji Junjōha in 1992.

In 1993, Nishijima gained public recognition for his portrayal of a gay character in the massive hit television seriesAsunaro Hakusho, which co-starredTakuya Kimura.^[4] Nishijima’s subtle performance and good looks in that series attracted attention.^[2] in 1994 as Man of the Month for November of1994 It was published in Playgirl magazine in November 1994 and was photographed naked by Naoko Yamamoto.^{[citation needed]}

In 1990s, Nishijima gained popularity as a young actor in television series, but left a major talent agency to become a film actor, and did not appear on commercial television from 1998 to 2002.^[5]

Nishijima played his first leading role inKiyoshi Kurosawa's 1998 filmLicense to Live, and co-starred withKōji Yakusho.^[6] He won the Best Actor award at theJapan Film Professional Awards for the film.^[7]

Nishijima attracted attention again later, being selected byTakeshi Kitano for the lead role inDolls in 2002.^[8] The film was a major turning point in his career.^[9]

In 2009, he was given the Best Supporting Actor award at theYokohama Film Festival for his portrayal of a strange death row inmate inVacation.^[10]

While establishing himself as a film actor, Nishijima also resumed appearing in television series.

In the 2010s, Nishijima became one of the most popular actors in Japan, for his performances in hit television series, such asGeneral Rouge no Gaisen,Strawberry Night,Yae's Sakura, andMOZU.^[11]

In 2011, Nishijima had his first starring role alongside Korean actressKim Tae-hee in the television seriesBoku to Star no 99 Nichi, a romantic comedy drama about the romance between an actress and her bodyguard.^[12]

InAmir Naderi's 2011 filmCut, Nishijima played the leading role, which was described by Chris Cabin ofSlant Magazine as "the most convincingly pretentious and frustrated cinephile to ever be portrayed on film".^[13] His performance in the film was praised by Dan Fainaru ofScreen International as "painfully memorable".^[14]

Nishijima has also appeared in films such asAkihiko Shiota'sCanary andKiyoshi Kurosawa'sLoft.^[15][16] He also played the role ofKiro Honjo inHayao Miyazaki's 2013 animated filmThe Wind Rises as a voice actor.^[17] His other voice work includes dubbingColin Farrell inDumbo^[18] and DetectivePikachu (Ryan Reynolds) inPokémon Detective Pikachu.^[19] He also portrayed the role of Kotaro Minami in the reimaging of the 1987Kamen Rider seriesKamen Rider Black titledKamen Rider Black Sun.

In 2017, Nishijima became the first Japanese man to model forGiorgio Armani's Made-to-Measure.^[20]

In 2019, Nishijima was nominated forBest Supporting Actor at the42nd Japan Academy Film Prize for his performance inSamurai's Promise.^[21] He also starred in the television seriesWhat Did You Eat Yesterday?, a drama about the daily lives of a middle-aged gay couple. The drama became very popular and was made into a hit film.^[22]

In 2021, Nishijima starred inRyusuke Hamaguchi's filmDrive My Car. His performance was highly acclaimed, withThe New York Times selecting him as one of the "Best Actors of 2021".^[23] The film also won him theNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor,^[24]Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor,^[25] andJapan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.^[1]

In June 2022, Nishijima was invited to become a member of theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[26]

• Dumbo (2019), Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell)^[76]
• Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019), DetectivePikachu (Ryan Reynolds)^[77]

• Hidetoshi Nishijima atIMDb
• Hidetoshi Nishijima at theJapanese Movie Database(in Japanese)
• Hidetoshi Nishijima, The Japan Times (in English)

• Living people
• 1971 births
• Japanese male film actors
• Japanese male television actors
• Japanese male voice actors
• Male actors from Tokyo
• People from Hachiōji, Tokyo
• 20th-century Japanese male actors
• 21st-century Japanese male actors

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