Takehiro Hira
Birthdate: Jul 27, 1974
Birthplace: Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Takehiro Hira is one of the few Japanese film and stage actors of his generation who has broken through to mainstream Hollywood and English-language film productions, known for his emotional range and strength and his performances in several of the films by Takashi Miike and in HBO’s Emmy-winning limited series, Shogun (2024).
Hira debuted on the big screen in the Yukihiko Tsutsumi-directed version of Hiroshi Ogiwara’s 2004 novel, Memories of Tomorrow (2006), co-starring Ken Watanabe and Kanako Higuchi, and then Hira appeared in two consecutive features based on the popular SP (Security Police) Tokyo police TV series, SP: The Motion Picture and SP: The Motion Picture II (both released in 2010), followed in the same by a role in another feature edition of TV cop series, the sequel AIBOU: The Movie II (2010), starring Yutaka Mizutani and Mitsuhiro Oikawa.
Hira began his string of performances under the direction of the genre-defying Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, first in Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011), adapted from Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri (1962), starring Ebizo Ichikawa XI, Eita, and Koji Yakusho, and becoming the first 3-D movie to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Hira continued with director/writer Miike in his thriller adaptation of Yusuke Kishi’s 2010 novel, Lesson of the Evil (2012), with Hideaki Ito, Takayuki Yamada, and Mitsuru Fukikoshi, and grossing nearly $26 million for producer/distributor Toho.
Takehiro Hira played a supporting role in director Takashi Miike’s legal comedy-drama, Ace Attorney (2012), starring Hiroki Narimiya, Mirei Kirita, and Takumi Saitoh, and released by Toho after premiering at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Then Hira appeared in co-directors Shinji Higuchi’s and Isshin Inudo’s samurai drama for Asmik Ace Entertainment, The Floating Castle (2012), with Mansai Nomura, Nana Eikura, and Narimiya, and which was released by Asmik Ace and Toho. Hira had his first big-screen starring role in debuting director/writer/producer/editor Yasuo Mikami’s historical drama, Bushido (2013), co-starring Go Wakabayashi and Asahi Kurizuka, followed by Hira appearing in director/co-writer Takashi Yamazaki’s controversial screen version of Naoki Hyakuta’s 2006 novel about kamikaze pilots in WWII, The Eternal Zero (2013), with Junichi Okada and Haruma Miura, and produced and released by Toho.
Hira co-starred in director Itsumichi Isomura’s war drama, Mother’s Trees (2015), followed by roles in the Shunichi Hirano-directed S: The Last Policeman—Recovery of Our Future (2015), the feature spinoff the popular Japanese TV series, S: The Last Policeman, and in Japanese filmmaker Kohei Oguri’s period biopic, Foujita (2015), starring Joe Odagiri, Miki Nakatani and Ana Girardot, and then a co-starring role in Masato Harada’s epic war movie set in Japan in 1600, Sekigahara (2017), adapted from Ryotaro Shiba’s 1966 novel and co-starring Junichi Okada, Kasumi Arimura, Masahiro Higashide and Koji Yakusho, nominated for ten Japan Academy Prizes (winning three) and grossing nearly $22 million for distributors Toho and Asmik Ace. Hira co-starred in the Toho Pictures legal drama directed and written by Masato Harada, Killing for the Prosecution (2018), based on Shusuke Shizukui’s novel and starring Takuya Kimura and Kazunari Ninomiya, and then Hira played a supporting role in director/writer Hibi Yuichi’s grifter drama, Erica 38 (2019), starring Miyoko Asada, Yuriko Abe and Yuri Akikawa, and which premiered at the Sao Paolo Film Festival.
Takehiro Hira co-starred with Alexandra Daddario in writer Catherine Hanrahan’s screen adaptation of her 2006 novel, Lost Girls & Love Hotels (2020), with Carice van Houten under William Olsson’s direction and released by Astrakan Film AB. Hira then joined the cast of his first Hollywood production, Paramount Pictures’ Snake Eyes (2021), based on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe toy line and directed by Robert Schwentke, with Henry Golding starring in the title role, and proving a box-office bomb with a weak $40 million gross.
Hira appeared in the far more successful Columbia Pictures/Sony big-screen version of the Polyphony Digital video game, Gran Turismo (2023), with Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, Orlando Blo, and Djimon Hounsou under Neill Blomkamp’s direction, and grossing $122 million. Hira was cast by maverick Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin (with co-directors Evan and Galen Johnson) for the ensemble of his horror-comedy movie, Rumours (2024), alongside the international cast of Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, Roy Dupuis, Denis Menochet, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rolando Ravello, Zlatko Buric, and Alicia Vikander, and which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.
Takehiro Hira co-starred with Carlo Aquino in director/co-writer Donie Ordiales’ Filipino-Japanese crime drama, Crosspoint (2024), and then Hira joined his first Marvel Studios movie in director/co-writer Julius Onah’s sequel, Captain America: Brave New World (2025), starring Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford, and which grossed over $415 million for Marvel and distributor Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Hira co-starred with Tim Roth, Jack Lowden, Joanna Whalley, and Koki in director/writer John Maclean’s U.K. period drama, Tornado (2025), which was released by IFC Films (U.S.)/Lionsgate UK (U.K.).
Hira, with his visibility greater than ever due to his acclaimed performances in the streaming series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023-2024) and Shogun, co-starred with Brendan Fraser in director/co-writer/producer Hikari’s comedy-drama, Rental Family (2025), with Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman and Akira Emoto, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival and released wide by Searchlight Pictures. Hira played the bad guy in director/writer Takashi Doscher’s action thriller, Karoshi (date to be announced), co-starring Teo Yoo, Isabel May, Cynthia Erivo, Giancarlo Esposito, and Bill Camp, produced by 87North Productions and released by Lionsgate.
Takehiro Hira co-starred in director/co-writer/producer/editor Brian Tetsuro Ivie’s sci-fi comedy-drama, Anima (date to be announced), with Marin Ireland, Sydney Chandler, Lili Taylor, Tom McCart, and Maria Dizzia, and which was produced by production companies Akiko/Fieldhouse Productions/Gilbara.
Personal life
Takehiro Hira was born and raised in Tokyo by his acting parents, Mikijiro Hira and Yoshiko Sakuma. Hira’s family moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where he attended Moses Brown School. Hira subsequently attended and graduated from Brown University. Hira’s height is 6’.
Known For
Takehiro Hira Movies
actor
Previous (19)
- 2025 |
Rental Family
asShinji Tada
An American actor in Tokyo struggling to find purpose lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese "rental family" agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. He rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the beauty of human connection.
- 2025 |
- 2025 |
The Amateur
asProfessor
When his supervisors at the CIA refuse to take action after his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a decoder takes matters into his own hands.
- 2025 |
Captain America: Brave New World
asPrime Minister Ozaki
Captain America: Brave New World
Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, finds himself in the middle of an international incident and must discover the motive behind a nefarious global plan.
- 2024 | Crosspointas Shigeru Watanabe
- 2024 |
- 2023 |
Gran Turismo
asKazunori Yamauchi
Based on the unbelievable, inspiring true story of a team of underdogs - a struggling, working-class gamer, a failed former race car driver, and an idealistic motorsport exec - who risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world.
- 2021 | We Couldn't Become Adultsas Keiichiro Sanai
- 2021 |
Snake Eyes
asKenta
Snake Eyes, a tenacious loner, is welcomed into an ancient Japanese clan called the Arashikage, who teach him the ways of the ninja and provide him home. But when secrets from his past are revealed, his honor and allegiance will be tested.
- 2020 | Lost Girls and Love Hotelsas Kazu
- 2019 | Erica 38as Ikuo Hirasawa
- 2018 | Killing for the Prosecutionas Kazuki Tanno
- 2017 | Sekigaharaas Sakon Shima
- 2013 | Bushidoas Daihachiro Harada
- 2012 | Ace Attorneyas Shin Mitsurugi (Gregory Edgeworth)
- 2012 | Lesson of the Evilas Takeki Kume
- 2012 | The Floating Castleas Masaie natsuka
- 2010 | Partners: The Movie II
- 2007 | Chacha: The Princess of Heaven
Facts About Takehiro Hira
Stage Life: Takehiro Hira’s diverse and acclaimed theater career includes roles in director Yukio Ninagawa’s staging of Hamlet at London’s Barbican Theatre, as well as roles in Tokyo stage productions of Phaedra, Pygmalion, Othello, and Shintaro Mori’s play, Harvest.
People Also Searched For
