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Actress hailed as Japan's Cinderella for Oscars nod
2007-01-24
Rinko Kikuchi, almost unknown in her native Japan, took center stage on Wednesday as the country's second actress to be nominated for an Oscar. The 26-year-old plays a deaf girl in Tokyo desperately seeking an outlet for her sexual desire in Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Babel," which is nominated for seven Oscars including best picture. "I feel very honored," said Kikuchi, who was in Paris to attend the Chanel haute couture show, as quoted by the Sports Nippon daily. "I'm thrilled to hear such great news in Paris. It's a great gift for my parents." Kikuchi, whose previous roles were mostly in low-budget domestic films, was suddenly featured on television broadcasts and graced the front pages of daily tabloids. "The Cinderella story of Kikuchi, who was not known in Japan, will have an epilogue on February 25" at the 79th Academy Awards, the Nikkan Sports daily said. Kikuchi is up for the best supporting actress award against four actresses including Mexico's Adriana Barraza, who co-stars in "Babel", a drama that weaves together storylines unfolding on three continents. The only other Japanese actress to have been nominated for an Oscar was Nancy Umeki, who won the award for best supporting actress for her role in the 1957 Hollywood film "Sayonara." With Kikuchi, a total of five Japanese actors -- male or female -- have been nominated for Oscars. Ken Watanabe, who was nominated for best supporting actor for his performance in 2003's "The Last Samurai," missed the cut for his role in "Letters from Iwo Jima." But the Japanese-language film, one of two directed by Clint Eastwood showing the World War II battle from US and Japanese perspectives, was nominated for four Oscars including best picture.
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