, is a French-Japanese actress, director and former model.

Early life

Noémie Nakai was born on December 2, 1990, in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan. She has a French mother and a Japanese father. She took acting lessons when she was very young in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and arrived by chance in modeling by shooting for advertisements in order to follow her friends. In 2013, she got her first real acting role in the drama Shûden Bye Bye. Nakai is a graduate of the

Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye The Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (more commonly, Lycée International or L.I.; English: International High School of Saint-Germain-en-Laye) is a French public school located in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines, in the western sub ...

in France and

Keio University , abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Rangaku, Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becomi ...

in Japan. She also studied at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Career

On the eve of her thirties, she won the Busan Award in October 2019 as a director in the Asian Project Market section (co-production platform allowing emerging directors to meet market professionals on an international level) of the

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF; ), formerly the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival, held fro ...

for the Topography of Solitude project. Her short film ''Tears Teacher'' spotted at the Hot Docs Festival was acquired by the Op Docs section of

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

. This ten-minute documentary is dedicated to Hidefumi Yoshida, a teacher who has been a tear therapy practitioner since 2015, who organizes meetings where men and women cry bitterly and anonymously write down painful episodes of their lives. “Emotional outbursts” are frowned upon in Japan. ''Tears Teacher'' was selected in the short documentary category of the 2021 Sundance Festival available for streaming on the New York Times website. In 2022, Noémie Nakai played Luna in '' Tokyo Vice'', a television series for

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

, the first episode of which is directed by

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter, author and producer, best known for his stylized crime dramas. He has received a BAFTA Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for four ...

Art studies

* Cours Simon in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(2004-2008) * School of

Le Vésinet Le Vésinet () is a suburban Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of western Paris, from ...

in France (2001-2004) * Music production on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

in England (2002-2003) * Singing class / voice exercises in Tokyo * Dance class (

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

)

Personal life

In 2018, Nakai moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to pursue director opportunities and splits her time between England and Japan.

Filmography

Noémie Nakai starred in a dozen films and TV series.

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

Koda Kumi , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her Urban contemporary, urban and Contemporary R&B, R&B songs. After debuting with the single "Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs fr ...

- "Slow" feat.

Omarion Omari Ishmael Grandberry (born November 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Omarion, is an American R&B singer, dancer and actor. He rose to prominence as lead vocalist of the boy band B2K, which was formed in 1998 and managed by record e ...

(2020) * V6 * (2012) Music video for Rabbit "Nikki" * Rottengraffty

Appearance

* Astalift *

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

* Peach John *

Shiseido is a Japanese multinational cosmetic company founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1872. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, and fragrances. The company is one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world an ...

* (2012) TV Commercial for Matsumoto Kiyoshi Argelan organic shampoo (Tokyo, Japan) * (2014) TV Commercial for GU * (2014) TV commercial for Morinaga Mashbon * (2014) Advertisement for United Arrows * (2014) Advertisement for Grand Hyatt Fukuoka * (2014) TV Commercial for Laforet - Summer sale

Magazines

* Akasugu * Snowgirl * Volt * Zexy

Model

* (2011) Sony Tablet S - Model * (2012) Commercial for Ridez 2012 S/S - Model * (2013) Commercial for Emobile - Model (Tokyo, Japan) * (2013) Prints ads for Victorian House Reintei Weddings (Kobe, Japan) * (2013) Print ads for Vernal make-up brand.

Radio

* (2013) "Hello world" radio emission on J-Wave- Guest (Tokyo, Japan)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakai, Noemie 1990 births Living people Actresses from Tokyo Japanese film directors 21st-century Japanese actresses Japanese people of French descent Models from Tokyo Metropolis Keio University alumni