Early life

Tomita was born in Okinawa, the daughter of Shiro and Asako Tomita, and she is 1/4 Filipino on her mother's side of the family. Her father was a distinguished Japanese-American man who was interned at Manzanar, California, during part of World War II, then later became a Los Angeles police officer, rising to the rank of sergeant and helping to form the first Asian Task force in that Department. Her father died of cancer in 1990. Tomita graduated from Granada Hills High School in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.

Before becoming an actress, Tomita won the title of Queen at the Nisei Week Pageant in Los Angeles in 1984, and Miss Nikkei International in 1985. In 1987, Tomita made her Japanese singing debut on the label Polydor. She released a single and an album.

Career

Film

In 1984, Tomita got her big break by traveling as Queen of Nisei Week to Hawaii, where she was selected as part of a casting call by director John G. Avildsen to make her acting debut in The Karate Kid, Part II. She later had major roles in a number of independent movies. Her biggest role was in the 1990 drama film Come See the Paradise. In 1993, she co-starred opposite Ming-Na Wen in the ensemble cast drama The Joy Luck Club and the next year she had a role in the 1994 independent film Picture Bride. In 1995 Tomita appeared alongside Antonio Banderas in the Robert Rodriguez-directed segment of the vignette anthology comedy Four Rooms.

In the 21st Century, Tomita has had roles in other independent films and co-starred in several major Hollywood productions, including playing Janet Tokada in The Day After Tomorrow. In 2005, she starred in the Brazilian drama film Gaijin 2: Love Me as I Am and also had leading roles in the independent films Robot Stories in 2003 and Only the Brave in 2006. Tomita also appeared in The Eye and Tekken.

Television

Tomita was regular cast member on the NBC daytime soap opera, Santa Barbara from 1987 to 1989. In 2008, she made her return to daytime soaps with recurring role on the ABC's General Hospital. In 2012 she had another recurring role on NBC's Days of Our Lives.

From 1996 to 1997, Tomita was regular cast member in the short-lived UPN drama series, The Burning Zone as well as the pilot movie for Babylon 5. During her career she guest starred on Seven Days, Quantum Leap, Living Single, Murder, She Wrote, Chicago Hope, Will & Grace, Nash Bridges, The Shield, Strong Medicine, Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, The Mentalist, Private Practice, True Blood, Zoo, Tour of Duty, and many other dramas and comedies. She had recurring roles on Crossing Jordan, JAG, 24, Eureka, Heroes, Law & Order: Los Angeles, Glee, Teen Wolf, Resurrection, How to Get Away with Murder, and Chasing Life.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	The Karate Kid, Part II	Kumiko
1987	Hawaiian Dream	Karren Saito
1990	Vietnam, Texas	Lan
1990	Come See the Paradise	Lily Yuriko Kawamura / McGann
1993	Babylon 5: The Gathering	Lt. Cmdr. Laurel Takashima
1993	The Joy Luck Club	Waverly
1994	Picture Bride	Kana
1995	Notes on a Scale
1995	Four Rooms	Wife	Segment "The Misbehavers"
1997	The Killing Jar	Diane Sanford
1997	Touch	Prosecutor
1998	Hundred Percent	Thaise
1998	Soundman	Butch's Wife
1998	Living Out Loud	Bob's Wife
1999	Life Tastes Good	Julie Sado
2003	Robot Stories	Marcia
2004	The Perfect Party	Mother
2004	The Day After Tomorrow	Janet Tokada
2005	Gaijin 2: Love Me as I Am	Maria Yamashita Salinas
2006	Only the Brave	Mary Takata
2008	The Eye	Mrs. Cheung
2008	Finding Madison	Beth
2009	Why Am I Doing This?	Donna
2009	Tekken	Jun Kazama
2010	The Mikado Project	Viola
2010	Nómadas
2013	Awesome Asian Bad Guys	Tamlyn
2014	Teacher of the Year	Vivian Lew
2015	Daddy	Sharlene Hong
2015	The Waiting	Heather Cromwell
2016	The Unbidden	Lauren Lee
2016	Berlin Station	Sandra Abe

[ Source: Wikipedia ]