Early life

Kikuchi was born on January 6, 1981, in Hadano, Kanagawa, the youngest of three children. She was discovered by a talent agent on the street at the age of 15.

Career

Kikuchi made her debut in 1999, under her birth name, Yuriko Kikuchi, with the Kaneto Shindo film Will to Live. Soon after, in 2001, she starred in the celebrated Kazuyoshi Komuri film Sora no Ana (空の穴?), which was featured at several international festivals, including the Rotterdam Film Festival. In 2004, Kikuchi appeared in the well-received Katsuhito Ishii film The Taste of Tea, which was selected for the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2006, Kikuchi was chosen by Japanese film producer Yoko Narahashi for the Alejandro González Iñárritu film Babel, where she played Chieko Wataya, a deaf-mute teenage girl, for which she received international attention including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She won several awards, such as the National Board of Review Award for Best Breakthrough Female Performance (tying with Jennifer Hudson) and the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor.

Kikuchi is the fifth actress in Academy Award history to be nominated for an award for a role in which she does not speak. She has appeared in two of Mamoru Oshii's films: The Sky Crawlers (2008) and Assault Girls (2009). Kikuchi starred in Rian Johnson's second film, The Brothers Bloom (2009), which was her first full English-language feature. Though she plays a main character, she only speaks three words; her character is said to only know three words of English.

In 2010, Kikuchi was cast as Naoko in Tran Anh Hung's adaptation of Haruki Murakami's novel Norwegian Wood. In March 2011, she was added to the cast of 47 Ronin, the first English-language adaptation of the Chushingura legend, Japan's most famous tale of samurai loyalty and revenge. Kikuchi described her villain character to the American version of Glamour as "a real bitch." In 2013, she starred in the Guillermo del Toro film Pacific Rim, having improved her English by watching the American television series The Voice. In 2014, Kikuchi starred in Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, directed by David Zellner.

Personal life

Kikuchi married Shōta Sometani on December 31, 2014.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	School of ghost stories f
1999	Will to Live
2000	By Player
2000	Akai Shibafu
2001	Paradise
2001	Hole in the Sky	Taeko
2001	Drug	Mai
2002	Mike Yokohama: A Forest with No Name	Number 51
2002	Hachigatsu no Maboroshi
2003	Age 17 : 17-sai	Hitomi
2004	Tori
2004	The Taste of Tea
2004	69
2004	Survive Style 5+
2004	Riyū
2005	Tagatameni: Portrait of the Wind
2006	Funky Forest The First Contact	Hataru
2006	Arch Angels	Nobuko Sakurai
2006	Babel	Chieko Wataya	Austin Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Capri Exploit Award Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast Gotham Award for Breakthrough Performance National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance — Female Palm Springs International Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Cast San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast San Francisco Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Performer Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
2006	Umi de no hanashi	Kaori
2007	Zukan ni Nottenai Mushi	Sayoko
2007	Genius Party		Voice
2007	Tokyo Serendipity	Junda Atsuko
2008	The Brothers Bloom	Bang Bang
2008	The Sky Crawlers	Suito Kusanagi	Voice
2008	Kiru - KILL
2009	Map of the Sounds of Tokyo	Ryu
2009	Strawberry Seminar
2009	Sideways	Mina Parker
2009	Assault Girls	Lucifer
2009	42 One Dream Rush
2010	Shanghai	Sumiko	Uncredited
2010	Norwegian Wood	Naoko	Nominated—Asian Film Awards for Best Actress Nominated—Asian Film People Choice Award for Favorite Actress
2011	At River's Edge	Tazu
2011	Love Strikes!	Naoko Hayashida
2011	The Warped Forest
2013	Pacific Rim	Mako Mori
2013	47 Ronin	Witch
2014	Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter	Kumiko	Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress
2014	Last Summer	Naomi
2015	Nobody Wants the Night	Allaka
2015	Dear Deer		Cameo
2016	Terra Formars	Asuka Moriki

Television

Year	Title	Role
1999	Bakayaro! Special 2
1999	Kawaii dakeja Dame kashira
2001	Chura-san
2001	kokiku
2002	The Private Detective Mike Hama
2003	Uchu ni Ichiban Chikai basho
2003	Ai to Shihonshugi
2004	Ryu
2009-10	Liar Game 2	Ryo Katsuragi
2010	Moteki	Naoko Hayashida
2014	Gu-Gu Datte Neko de Aru	Chikako
2015	To Give a Dream	Mikiko Abe

Awards and nominations

Year	Group	Award	Result	Film
2006	Gotham Awards	Breakthrough Award	Won	Babel
		Best Ensemble Cast	Won
	National Board of Review	Best Breakthrough Performance - Female	Won
	Austin Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	Won
	Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Most Promising Performer	Nominated
2007	Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
	Online Film Critics Society Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role	Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Nominated
	Golden Globes	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture	Nominated
	Academy Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role	Nominated
2011	Asian Film Awards	Best Actress	Nominated	Norwegian Wood
2014	Independent Spirit Awards	Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead	Nominated	Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter

[ Source: Wikipedia ]