Ai Maeda (actress)

For the voice actress, see Ai Maeda (voice actress).
Ai Maeda
前田 愛
Born (1983-10-04) October 4, 1983 (age 41)
Tokyo, Japan
Alma materAoyama Gakuin University
Occupation(s)Singer, actress, model
Years active1993–present
AgentGranpapa Production
Height1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2009)​
Children2
RelativesAki Maeda (sister)
Musical career
GenresJapanese Pop, R&B
InstrumentVocals
LabelsPony Canyon
Websitegranpapa.com/1251277177523/

Ai Maeda (前田 愛, Maeda Ai, born October 4, 1983 in Tokyo) is a Japanese actress, singer and model.

Biography

[edit]

Maeda is notable for performing Shiori Kitano in the 2003 film Battle Royale II: Requiem, as well as for voicing the title role in the anime series Kino's Journey (for which she also performed a theme song to the series, "The Beautiful World"). Her younger sister is Aki Maeda. Ai Maeda came into the spotlight when she was only 8 years old, appearing in a McDonald's commercial. From there her career started off. She modeled along with her sister Aki Maeda when they were young until she was 16/17 years old, when she starred in many movies and TV series.

Maeda is skilled in the piano, Tate (fighting battles on the movie set) and the English language (Ai studied abroad in Canada for a year in 2000). She starred in the 3-D Ghost horror film Shock Labyrinth 3D,[1] which was directed by Takashi Shimizu.[2]

She is a graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University (Faculty of Economics, International Politics and Communications).

On October 28, 2009, Maeda married Kabuki actor Nakamura Kankurō VI and they have two sons.

Career

[edit]
  • 1993: Debuted in a McDonald's commercial together with her sister Aki Maeda. She was in her fourth year of primary school.
  • 1994: Ai and Aki joined the manager firm "Crayon".
  • 1994 April: Became a regular cast of the show Appare-Sanma Sensei.
  • 1997: Changed manager to "Granpapa".
  • 1997: Formed the group "Pretty Chat" with Maya Hamaoka, Yuuka Nomura and Ayako Omura, releasing a single album "Wake up girls".
  • 2003: On her 20th birthday she voiced her first anime Kino no Tabi.

Filmography

[edit]
Year Title Role Note
1995 Toire no Hanako-san Natsumi Sakamoto
1998 Belle Epoque
1998 Shinsei Toire no Hanako-san Satomi Kurahashi
1999 Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris Ayana Hirasaka
2000 Battle Royale Shiori Kitano Voice role
2001 Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Twin girl
2003 Battle Royale II: Requiem Shiori Kitano
2003 Gūzen nimo saiaku na shōnen Female college student
2004 Kino's Journey: In Order to Do Something –Life Goes On– Kino Voice role
2005 Azumi 2: Death or Love Chiyo
2005 Gokudō no onna-tachi: Jōen
2006 Death Note 2: The Last Name Ayako Yoshino
2006 God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand Yoshiko
2006 Kamyu nante shiranai Kiyoko Hisada
2006 Nihon Chinbotsu Nurse
2006 Taitei no Ken
2007 Kino's Journey: Country of Illness -For You- Kino Voice role
2007 Saiban'in -Eraba re, soshite miete kita mono Emi Onuma
2007 The Yakiniku Movie Bulgogi Yakiniku Battle Royale Reporter
2009 Asahiyama Zoo Story: Penguins in the Sky Makoto Ogawa
2009 The Shock Labyrinth Rin
2010 King Game
2010 Nanase Futatabi: The Movie Mayumi Ruri
2010 Wakiyaku Monogatari Sakura

Discography

[edit]

Mini-albums

[edit]

Singles

[edit]
  • the Beautiful World

The title track was used in Kino's Journey ending theme

References

[edit]
  1. ^ German Trailer for Takashi Shimizu's 'The Shock 'Labyrinth 3D'
  2. ^ Wild New Stills from Takashi Shimizu's 'The Shock Labyrinth 3D'
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ai_Maeda_(actress)&oldid=1184579033"