Rinko Kikuchi moved to the US two years ago as she was being offered the same kinds of roles in Japan. -- PHOTOS: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS & WARNER BROS
You would think that after becoming the first Japanese actress nominated for an Oscar in five decades in 2007, Rinko Kikuchi's career would have taken off.
But the 32-year-old actress tells Life! that she has struggled to find work because of the shortage of parts for Asian actresses in Hollywood, and Japanese directors' determination to typecast her as the same character over and over again.
With a juicy role in the new movie Pacific Rim, in which her character pilots one of the giant robots fighting an alien invasion, Kikuchi hopes that the dry spell is coming to an end.
She was 26 when she appeared in the 2006 drama Babel, alongside big names such as Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards for her moving portrayal of a schoolgirl who cannot hear and speak.
When she went back to Tokyo, however, she found that Japanese directors kept offering her the same kinds of roles.
"They really typecast me. It was always the part of the sad, young girl, or the opposite - a really tough, mean girl."
Two years ago, the actress decided she would be better off moving to the US, and has lived in New York since.
Given the dearth of roles written for Asian actors in Hollywood, things have not exactly been easy in the US either.
For one thing, she was barely able to speak the language at first and even now often apologises for her halting English, although she expressed herself well as she chatted to Life! about Pacific Rim earlier this year.
"I've been studying English for 11/2 years and, you know, it's still not enough to talk with someone and sometimes I struggle with what I want to say."
Rinko Kikuchi (in Pacific Rim) -- PHOTOS: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS & WARNER BROS
Her role in Pacific Rim was a rare find because the script called specifically for a Japanese actress, she said.
She won the part after auditioning for it in Toronto, but went in having a prior connection to the Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro: He is good friends with compatriot Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who directed her in Babel.
Kikuchi remembers meeting Del Toro seven years ago and having entire conversations with him where they simply threw Japanese animation titles at each other because she spoke only Japanese and Del Toro is a big fan of Japanese popular culture.
She did manage to convey to him that she loved his work and wanted to work with him, though.
"Now it's seven years later and I have this role. I know I'm so lucky to get a role in such a big movie. And also to work with Guillermo, who is so loving and passionate," she says.
"I don't want this to end, I want to keep working with him."
With Del Toro's penchant for casting his favourite actors over and again - Ron Perlman, for instance, was in the Hellboy movies (2004 and 2008), Cronos (1993) and Blade II (2002) - her wish may well come true.
Later this year, she has another new movie, 47 Ronin, a fantasy adventure starring Keanu Reeves.
Hollywood seems willing to imagine her as a wider variety of characters, she says.
"There are more interesting roles here - comedy stuff, superhero stuff - which I can do. I think I get more chances here."
She admits that she is still getting used to the cultural differences between Japan and the US, but is glad her adopted city, New York, is a melting pot where one can easily find herself having "dinner with a British, Italian, French or a Japanese person".
"And you can get good Japanese food there," she says, smiling. "Although I think Los Angeles has the best sushi restaurants - really good."
This article was first run in The Straits Times newspaper on July 10, 2013. For similar stories, go to sph.straitstimes.com/premium/singapore. You will not be able to access the Premium section of The Straits Times website unless you are already a subscriber.