Juri Ueno
上野 樹里
Born (1986-05-25) 25 May 1986 (age 37)
Kakogawa, Hyōgo, Japan
NationalityJapanese
OccupationActress
Years active2000 (2000)–present
AgentAmuse Inc.
Height1.67 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Spouse
Sho Wada
​
(m. 2016)​

Juri Ueno (上野 樹里, Ueno Juri, born 25 May 1986) is a Japanese actress. She first gained recognition in the 2005 film Swing Girls where she was a recipient of Newcomer of the Year prize at the Japanese Academy Awards. Ueno achieved mainstream success for playing the title role in the live-action adaptations of manga Nodame Cantabile for which she won Best Lead Actress at the 51st Television Drama Academy Awards in 2007. She further gained acclaim with her role in the television series Last Friends for which she won Best Supporting Actress at the Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix[1] and the 57th Television Drama Academy Awards in 2008.[2]

Career

Ueno made her television debut in 2002 at the age of 16 in the NHK series Seizon before making her first film major appearance in 2003 in Chirosoku no Natsu which won her the Sponichi Grand Prize New Talent Award at the Mainichi Film Awards along with her performance in the 2004 film, Swing Girls. Swing Girls proved to be a breakthrough when she received critical acclaim and awards for Best Newcomer at the Yokohama Film Festival (she was also honored for her performance in Joze to Tora to Sakana Tachi) and the Japanese Academy Awards.

In 2004, Ueno took on a supporting role in TBS's romance drama, Orange Days, and co-starred in 2005 with Takuya Kimura in Fuji TV's romantic comedy Engine as Misae Hoshino. She also appeared with Kazuya Kamenashi in the special television movie of Kinda'ichi Shōnen no Jikenbo the same year taking over the role of Miyuki Nanase from Anne Suzuki.

Ueno's popularity rose further when she was cast as Megumi Noda ("Nodame") in the 2006 live-action television adaptation of the popular manga Nodame Cantabile. Co-starring opposite Hiroshi Tamaki, the series' 11-episode run was a success with an average viewership rating of 18.79% with the season finalé garnering 21.7% of the viewership share for its time slot. Ueno's portrayal as the eccentric and disorganized but yet extremely affable and talented pianist won her "Best Lead Actress" at the 51st Television Drama Academy Awards while the show won "Best Drama". The show was also recognized overseas at the 2nd Seoul Drama Festival where it was awarded "Best Miniseries". Ueno and Tamaki reprised their roles in 2007 in the two-part special, Nodame Cantabile Shinshun Special in Europe, which chronicles their individual struggles to achieve success on Europe's storied classical music stage whilst being away from each other.

In 2008, Ueno reunited with Nodame co-stars Eita and Asami Mizukawa in Fuji TV's drama, Last Friends, as Ruka Kishimoto, a talented motocross racer with a hidden secret she cannot discuss with friends or family. Taeko Asano, the screenwriter of Last Friends praised Ueno's acting of Ruka, stating that Ueno is a "natural genius" and that she became "the character itself".[3] Ueno won "Best Supporting Actress" at the 12th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix and The 57th Television Drama Academy Awards for her role.[1] She was recognised as "Best Student Voice Actress" at the 2008 MTV Student Voice Awards for her role in Wanko.[4]

The Japanese version of Vogue named her as one of the "Women of the Year 2008".[5]

On 9 December 2008, it was announced that she would reprise her role as "Nodame" in a new Nodame Cantabile two-movie sequel slated for release in 2010,[6] with filming to start in May 2009.[7]

On 25 January 2010, it was announced that Ueno would be the lead in the 2011 NHK Taiga drama Gō based on an original script by Atsuhime writer Kumiko Tabuchi (田渕 久美子, Tabuchi Kumiko).[8] with filming starting in August 2010.[9] The series is Ueno's first role in a historical drama. Gō is NHK's 50th Taiga drama, and only its 10th drama with a woman as the main character. On April 15, 2010, Ueno took the role of "Haru" in the spring J-Drama Sunao ni Narenakute which tells a story of the blossoming friendship between five people through Twitter, along with Eita], Hero Jaejoong, Megumi Seki and Tetsuji Tamayama.[10]

On 11 September 2010, Ueno guest starred in the Korean variety show MBC's We Got Married Season 2 while promoting Nodame Cantabile - The Movie and paid a visit to SNSD's Seohyun and CN Blue's Jung Yong-hwa. In 2013 she returned to acting with a leading role in the romance film Girl in the Sunny Place opposite actor Jun Matsumoto which was based on the best selling novel of the same name.[11][12][13] The film opened in Japanese theaters on October 12 and was a commercial success topping the box office and grossing ¥763 million after eight days.[14]

In 2014 she starred in the TBS revenge drama Alice no Toge as Mizuno Asumi a young woman who becomes a doctor at the hospital her father was treated at in order to get revenge on those responsible for his death.[15] This was followed by another leading role in the TBS television drama Ouroboros based on the manga of the same name and opposite actors Toma Ikuta and Shun Oguri. This marks her first time starring in a detective drama.[16][17] and she joined alongside Korean singer TOP for romantic Web drama titled Secret Message.[18][19][20][21]

In 2021, Ueno starred in 'Is Love Sustainable?'

Personal life

Ueno married Triceratops band member Sho Wada on May 26, 2016.[22]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2003 Josee, the Tiger and the Fish Kanae
2004 Swing Girls Tomoko Suzuki (Tenor Sax) Lead role
The Stars Converge Mari Sugiyama
2005 Summer Time Machine Blues Haruka Shibata
Turtles Are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers Suzume Katakura Lead role
2006 Arch Angels Fumio Shijo Lead role
Christmas on July 24th Avenue Megumi Kamibayashi
Rainbow Song Aoi Sato Lead role [23]
Shiawase no Switch Rei Inada Lead role
Sea Without Exit Minako Narumi
2008 Child by Children
Goo Goo, The Cat Naomi
Kung-Fu Kun
Wanko the Movie 2 Narrator
Naoko Naoko Shinomiya Lead role
2009 Killer Virgin Road Hiroko Lead role
Nodame Cantabile The Movie I Noda Megumi aka "Nodame" Lead role
2010 Nodame Cantabile The Movie II Noda Megumi aka "Nodame" Lead role
2013 Girl in the Sunny Place Mao Watarai
2015 The Beauty Inside Woo-jin South Korean film
2016 Yell for the Blue Sky Yōko Sugimura [24]
My Dad and Mr. Ito Aya Lead role [23]
2023 Refugee X Ryoko Kashiwagi Lead role [23]

Television

Year Title Role Network Notes Ref.
2001 Sayonara, Ozu sensei Fuji TV
2002 Seizon NHK
2003 The In-Laws Kaori Matsui
Teru Teru Kazoku Akiko Iwata NHK Asadora
2004 Orange Days Ayumi Kirishima TBS
2005 Engine Misae Hoshino
Kyuketsuki Densetsu Satsujin Jiken Miyuki Nanase TV movie
2006 Bokutachi no Sensou Minami Kamoshita TV movie
Tsubasa No Oreta Tenshitachi Ryoko Shimojo Lead role
Nodame Cantabile Megumi Noda Fuji TV Lead role
2007 Jodan Ja Nai! Eren Takamura TBS
Marumaru Chibi Maruko-chan SP Maruko-chan Fuji TV
2008 Nodame Cantabile New Year Special in Europe Megumi Noda Fuji TV Lead role
Loss Time Life Fuji TV Lead role
Last Friends Ruka Kishimoto Fuji TV
2009 Ueno Juri to Itsutsu no Kaban Herself [25] Wowow Lead role
2010 Sunao ni Narenakute Tukiko Mizuno [26] Fuji TV Lead role
2011 Gō Gō NHK Lead role, Taiga drama
2014 Europe Kikaku 26th Century Fox Fumiko Sawano Fuji TV
Alisu no Toge Asumi Mizuno TBS Lead role
Hard to say I love you Haru Fuji TV
2015 Ouroboros Inspector Mizuki Hibino TBS
The Secret Message Haruka Naver TV Cast-LINE Lead role
2016 The State of Union Hanako Kumagai TBS
2018 Good Doctor Natsumi Seto Fuji TV
2019 Medical Examiner Asagao Asagao Maki Fuji TV Lead role
2020 Ship of Theseus Yuki Tamura TBS Special appearance
2022 He's Expecting Aki Seto Netflix Lead role

Photo books

Selected awards

2005

2007

2008

2009

References

  1. ^ a b "Drama Grand Prix: "CHANGE" and "Last Friends" win for Fuji TV". Tokyograph. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Best Supporting Actress" (in Japanese). Television Drama Academy Awards. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  3. ^ "日本初レズビアン＆クィアカルチャーWebマガジン｜TokyoWrestling.com". Tokyowrestling.com. Archived from the original on 2017-03-13. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  4. ^ "Student Voice Awards: Oguri wins again". Tokyograph. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Aoi Miyazaki, Juri Ueno named Vogue's Women of the Year". Tokyograph. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Two "Nodame Cantabile" films planned for 2010". Tokyograph. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  7. ^ [1] Archived December 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Juri Ueno to lead 2011 taiga drama". Tokyograph. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  9. ^ "2011年度NHK大河主演に上野樹里 "先輩"福山雅治からのエールに歓喜" (in Japanese). Oricon. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Ueno Juri with Eita, Jaejoong, Megumi and Tetsuji". FujiTv.co.jp. Archived from the original on 25 December 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  11. ^ "越谷オサム『陽だまりの彼女』｜新潮社". Shinchosha.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2015-03-03. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  12. ^ "愛される女優・上野樹里の魅力とは？ 「陽だまりの彼女」現場に有名監督たちが陣中見舞い - Ameba News [アメーバニュース]". News.ameba.jp. 1994-12-01. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  13. ^ "Ueno Juri talks about Matsumoto Jun and 'Hidamari no Kanojo'". Tokyohive.com. 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  14. ^ "Domestic films lead Japan box office". Filmbiz.asia. 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  15. ^ "[Drama News] Ueno Juri Seeks Revenge in Alice no Toge | A Dramatic Life". Crazy9drama.wordpress.com. 2014-04-06. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  16. ^ "Ueno Juri to take on her first detective role in drama 'Ouroboros'". Tokyohive.com. 2014-11-16. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  17. ^ "Ueno Juri joins Oguri Shun and Ikuta Toma in "Ouroboros"". Aramajapan.com. 2015-01-31. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  18. ^ "BIGBANG's T.O.P to Star Alongside Juri Ueno in New Drama". 31 March 2015.
  19. ^ "'Secret Message' starring T.O.P and Juri Ueno will premiere in November".
  20. ^ "T.O.P's Japanese-Korean Series 'Secret Message' to Hit the Web in November". 16 September 2015.
  21. ^ "Title and tentative airing date for Ueno Juri and T.O.P's web drama series finally revealed!".
  22. ^ "Ueno Juri and TRICERATOPS' Wada Sho tie the knot". Tokyo Hive.
  23. ^ a b c "上野樹里、7年ぶり映画主演決定！初共演に林遣都『隣人X 疑惑の彼女』12.1公開決定". Crank-in!. 16 August 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  24. ^ "青空エール". eiga.com. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  25. ^ "上野樹里と5つの鞄｜WOWOWオンライン". Wowow.co.jp. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  26. ^ "Eita, Juri Ueno team up again for "Twitter drama"". Tokyograph. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  27. ^ "日刊スポーツ・ドラマグランプリ". Nikkansports.com. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  28. ^ "Eita, Juri, Meisa win Hashida Awards". Tokyograph. Retrieved 21 March 2015.

External links

Awards
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