Youki Kudoh Biography

Delicately beautiful Japanese actress Youki Kudoh skyrocketed from obscurity to national fame in her native Japan in the early '80s. Talent agents discovered the then-12-year-old girl on the streets of Tokyo and recruited her for a singing career; seemingly within no time, she garnered a massive fan base as a pop sensation -- her country's equivalent of Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson. By her 22nd birthday, Kudoh had 11 albums to her credit and segued into acting on an international scale, alternating between arthouse-style independent films, such as the Jim Jarmusch-directed U.S. production Mystery Train (1989), and buttered-popcorn fare, such as the 1997 Australian action thriller Heaven's Burning. Kudoh achieved much greater recognition in the States when she landed the covetable lead role of Hatsue Imada, the Japanese-American lover of reporter Ishmael Chambers (Ethan Hawke) in Scott Hicks' meditation on WWII-era Japanese internment, Snow Falling on Cedars (1999). After scattered minor roles over the next several years, Kudoh followed up her impressive, multi-layered portrayal for Hicks with a performance as Pumpkin in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), director Rob Marshall's follow-up to the 2002 blockbuster Chicago. In 2006, Kudoh hearkened back to A-list Tinseltown fare as the female lead in the action-filled Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker buddy comedy Rush Hour 3. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

• 1. Sayuri: How could you?! You don't know what you have done!
  2. Pumpkin: But I do.
  3. Sayuri: I do not understand. Why did you have to bring the chairman?
  4. Pumpkin: Because I know how you feel about him. A long time ago, you took something from me. The only thing I ever truly wanted. Well, now you know how it feels.
  From Memoirs of a Geisha. Submitted by Nhia T (4 months ago)

• 1. Hatsumomo: Who is responsible for this?! [slams the poster on the table]
  2. Mother: Ask Mameha.
  3. Hatsumomo: I'm asking you okasan.
  4. Pumpkin: How come Sayuri gets to be the lead?
  5. Mother: It's your own fault. You should practice more.
  From Memoirs of a Geisha. Submitted by Nhia T (4 months ago)