Nana Eikura
| Nana Eikura | |
|---|---|
 Nana Eikura promoting April Bride in Tokyo - 2009, with co-star Eita |
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| Born | Nana Eikura (榮倉 奈々 Eikura Nana) February 12, 1988 [1] Izumi, Kagoshima, Japan |
Nana Eikura (榮倉 奈々 Eikura Nana, born February 12, 1988) is a Japanese model, actress, and occasional radio show host.
She was born in Izumi, Kagoshima, Kyushu island and grew up in Sagamihara, Kanagawa.[2] She was scouted in front of 109 in Shibuya, Tokyo when she was in junior high school. During her middle-teenage years, Nana modeled in several fashion magazines, mainly in Seventeen.[3]
During the 2000s, Eikura was featured in Seventeen along with Emi Suzuki and several others. Eikura later began appearing in various advertisements and collections in the mid-2000s and has appeared in many TV advertisements. A model turning into an actress is usually considered a "loser" in modeling, but Eikura, a successful model, began acting in the mid-2000s. Since around 2007, Eikura has intentionally gained nearly 12 kg (27 pounds).[2]
In the mid-2000s she sometimes nicknamed herself the "Spider", like "Spider Eikura", after her top favorite MMA fighter, who has thin and long arms, Anderson "The Spider" Silva. She was also given the nickname relating to combat sports "Samoan Eikura" because of her facial resemblance to Mark Hunt and Samoa Joe.[2] In 2006 soon after PRIDE Critical Countdown Absolute, Eikura, under the nickname Samoan Eikura, interviewed Mark Hunt on the Tokai TV show The MMA Kingdom where Hunt said "I've never seen such a skinny Samoan".[4]
Eikura first worked with Masami Nagasawa in 2006 and since then she has appeared in eight TV commercials with Nagasawa (as of 2010). Nagasawa has frequently described Eikura as an "incredibly" nice person, as many models whom Nagasawa has worked with were "incredibly" arrogant to her, mocking her, and some of them even physically assaulted her. This was backed up by Rosa Kato and Asami Mizukawa who have worked with many models. Kato said that Nagasawa is right and Eikura is not a typical model because Eikura doesn't slur actresses.[5]
Eikura has appeared in ads for non-fashion/non-cosmetic items, including Coca-Cola, the Japanese Red Cross, Japan Post Service, Johnson & Johnson's Japanese branch, KDDI's au, Lion, and Nintendo's videogame Rhythm Heaven.[6] She has also appeared in non-fashion magazines as a model. The latest one is an appearance on the NASCAR-orientated magazine Racing On with Emi Suzuki's protégé "No Mercy" Nozomi Sasaki.[7]
Eikura can play shamisen, has a diploma, and can sing in fluent Ryukyu language that she learned from her modeling colleagues who were from Okinawa.[8] She once covered Rimi Natsukawa's song "Nada Sōsō" on a Kinki Kids' TV show in 2007.[9]
She will be starring as Sakamaki Yuki in the winter 2012 drama serial Saikō no Jinsei no Owarikata: Ending Planner.[10]
[edit] Films
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2004 | Space Police |
| 2007 | Boku wa Imouto ni Koi o Suru |
| 2007 | Lemon no Koro |
| 2007 | Shibuyaku Maruyamacho |
| 2007 | Awa dance |
| 2009 | April Bride |
| 2011 | Antoki no Inochi |
[edit] Television
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2004 | Jiiji -Mago to Ita Natsu |
| 2005 | Jiiji II -Mago to Ita Natsu |
| Kiken na Aneki | |
| 2006 | Dandori -Dance Drill- |
| 2007 | Proposal Daisakusen |
| Maison Ikkoku | |
| 2008 | Hitomi |
| 2009 | Mei-chan no Shitsuji |
| 2010 | Naka nai to kimeta Hi |
| Wagaya no Rekishi | |
| 2012 | Saikō no Jinsei no Owarikata: Ending Planner |
[edit] References
- ^ IMDb profile
- ^ a b c [1] (Japanese)
- ^ [2] (Japanese)
- ^ The MMA Kingdom DVD 4 - April 18, 2007 - Chapter 2 - Broad Media Casting
- ^ steady. Ja - August 7, 2009 [Nomber September] - Page 41 & 42 Wide Show Sou Zarai! (ワイドショー総ざらい！) by Matsuko Deluxe Ja
- ^ http://www.ken-on.co.jp/eikura/info.html
- ^ Yahoo PF JP
- ^ Gendai.net 2007-08-15 (Japanese) Gendai
- ^ Kikuchi Report Fuji TV - December 12, 2006 (Japanese)
- ^ "Yamashita Tomohisa to star in drama series “Saikou no Jinsei no Owarikata". 9 November 2011. http://www.tokyograph.com/news/yamashita-tomohisa-to-star-in-drama-series-saikou-no-jinsei-no-owarikata.
