is a Japanese theatre, film, and television actor.

Early life and education

Hira was born in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan to actors

Mikijirō Hira was a Japanese actor. Starting as a stage actor in the 1950s, he also worked in film and television and was active until the time of his death. From the 1970s he starred in several of Yukio Ninagawa's productions, including an acclaimed role as ...

and

Yoshiko Sakuma is a Japanese actress. Her son is actor Takehiro Hira. In 1957, Sakuma was scouted and signed her contract with Toei film company. Following year she made her film debut with ''Utsukushiki Shimai no Monogatari Modaeru Soshun''. In 1970, she mar ...

. He was raised in Japan until he was 15 years old. He went to high school at

Moses Brown School Moses Brown School is an independent Quaker school located in Providence, Rhode Island, offering pre-kindergarten through secondary school classes. It was founded in 1784 by Moses Brown, a Quaker abolitionist, and is one of the oldest prepara ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, United States, and then attended

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

Career

He made his theatrical debut in 2002 with ''

Rokumeikan The was a large two-story building in Tokyo, completed in 1883, which became a controversial symbol of Westernisation in the Meiji period. Commissioned for the housing of foreign guests by the Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru, it was designed by Brit ...

'' which was written by

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...

. He worked closely with his father

, who was also a Japanese actor. Takehiro played the role of Iago in the production of ''Othello'' with his father playing Othello. He received major recognition when he played the last shogun

Yoshinobu Tokugawa Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned of his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming ...

in the NHK taiga drama '' Atsuhime''. He has appeared in several films of

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent an ...

, including '' Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai'', ''

Ace Attorney ''Ace Attorney'' is a series of visual novel adventure video games developed by Capcom. With storytelling fashioned after legal dramas, the first entry in the series, ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'', was released in 2001; since then, five f ...

'' and '' Aku no Kyoten''. He plays Natsuka Masaie in the big-budget film ''Nobou's Castle''.

International experience

He played the role of the Player Queen in the English stage production of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' in 2005, in which the title role was played by

Michael Maloney Michael Maloney (born 19 June 1957) is an English actor. Life and career Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Maloney's first television appearance was as Peter Barkworth's teenage son in the 1979 drama series ''Telford's Change''. He made his ...

. This three-month tour was received well at many places in the UK. Hira played the lead role in the 2019 British TV series ''

Giri/Haji ( ja, 義理/恥, 'Duty/Shame') is a British crime drama television series which premiered on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on 17 October 2019, and was released internationally on Netflix on 10 January 2020. A co-production between the BBC an ...

''. He has also had notable parts in the American films '' Lost Girls & Love Hotels'' (2020) and '' Snake Eyes'' (2021).

Filmography

Films

Television

Stage

* ''Rokumeikan'' (2002) * ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'', Edmund (2003) * ''

And Then There Were None ''And Then There Were None'' is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, described by her as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, as ...

'', Philip Lombart (2004) * ''

'', Player Queen (2005) * ''Korikoribanashi'' (2006) * ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

'', Iago (2007) * ''Genghis Khan'', Title role (2008) * ''Gabrielle Chanel'' (2009) * ''The Film of the Nation'', Gustav Friedrich (2011) * ''Bouye'' (2011) * ''Harvest'' Albert,(2012) * ''Pygmalion'' Dr. Higgins (2013) * ''HInoyouni Sabishi Anegaite'' (2014) * ''Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan'' (2015) * ''Kakuonnna' (2016) * ''Super Kabuki'' (2016–18) * ''Otoko no Hanamichi'' (2017) * ''Yukinojo Henge'' (2017) * ''Phedre'' (2017)

References

External links

Management agency profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hira, takehiro 1974 births Japanese male film actors Japanese male stage actors Japanese male television actors Living people Male actors from Tokyo People from Setagaya Columbia University alumni 20th-century Japanese male actors 21st-century Japanese male actors Moses Brown School alumni Brown University alumni