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Naoko Mori

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Naoko Mori
森 尚子
Mori at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con
Born (1971-11-29) 29 November 1971 (age 52)
Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
NationalityJapanese
EducationRoyal Russell School
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Years active1992–present
Notable workAbsolutely Fabulous
Casualty
Doctor Who
Manchild
Torchwood
Spiceworld

Naoko Mori (森 尚子, Mori Naoko) (born 29 November 1971) is a Japanese actress based in the United Kingdom. She is known for her roles as Toshiko Sato in Doctor Who and Torchwood, Yasuko Namba in Everest, Sarah in Absolutely Fabulous and Nicola in Spice World.

Early life

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Naoko Mori was born on 29 November 1971 in Nagoya, Japan, to a Ryukyuan mother and a Japanese American father. When Mori was four years old, she moved to New Jersey due to her father's work. She returned to Japan when she was ten and moved to London two years later. When her parents were posted back to Japan, Mori was given the choice of either moving back to Japan with her parents or remaining in London on her own.[1] She chose to stay in London, partly because she wanted to finish her GCSEs and gain some qualifications.[1] She attended the Royal Russell School. Mori's father opened a bank account for her, handed her a cheque book and told her to find a flat or a bed sit for herself to live in. Mori said that being on her own at such a young age helped her to be a very independent person, although it was still a scary world to be faced so young.[1]

Acting career

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Mori at Comic Con 2008

While studying for her A-levels, she auditioned and joined London's West End production of the Vietnam War musical Miss Saigon. She later went on to play Kim and became the first Japanese national to play a lead role in the West End.[2] From 1993 to 1994, Mori had a regular role on the hospital drama Casualty as the hospital receptionist Mie Nishikawa. Film roles followed, including appearances in the 1997 musical comedy film Spice World and Topsy-Turvy (1999). Mori also appeared in the television programmes Thief Takers (1997), Judge John Deed (2001), Spooks (2002), Mile High (2003)[3] and Powers (2004).[4] In 1995, she had a small role as a Japanese computer hacker in the film Hackers. Mori had a major role in the 2005 BBC docu-drama Hiroshima, which contained dramatic re-enactments of the 1945 atomic bombings. Mori also provided the voice acting for the villainess Mai Hem for the game Perfect Dark Zero.

In 2005, Mori had a small role as Dr. Sato in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London". Producer Russell T Davies took note of her performance and decided to bring the character back as a regular in the first two series of the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood.[5] Mori's Torchwood character, Toshiko Sato, was killed in "Exit Wounds", the final episode of Torchwood's second series, but has not ruled out the possibility of returning to the show at a later date.[6] Since her exit from the show, Mori has reprised the character in multiple Torchwood audio dramas by Big Finish Productions, some of them with her as a lead with a guest cast, but some with her as part of the team with the rest of the main cast. She returned to the West End on 20 November 2006, when she took over the role of Christmas Eve from Ann Harada in the London production of Avenue Q, a role which she played until 14 April 2007.[7] Mori portrayed Yoko Ono in the BBC Four production Lennon Naked, which was broadcast in the UK on 23 June 2010.[8] The film reunited her with Christopher Eccleston, who played John Lennon, opposite whom she played Toshiko Sato in her Doctor Who appearance. Before joining Torchwood, Mori acted as Kim in Miss Saigon alongside future co-star John Barrowman as Chris.

Mori appeared in the film Everest (2015), as Yasuko Namba,[9] opposite Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robin Wright, Keira Knightley, and Sam Worthington.[citation needed] In 2018, Mori played Lady Thiang in The King and I in London.[10]

She was also the voice of Nagisa Kisaragi in the 2018 version of Firestorm.[11]

Personal life

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Mori is a Japanese Buddhist.[12] She has an elder brother with whom she grew up in New Jersey. At the age of 16 or 17 she moved into a flat on her own in London. This was when her career expanded. She wanted to become a singer before she was an actress.[13]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role
1995 Hackers Tokyo hacker
1997 Spice World Nicola
1999 Topsy-Turvy Miss "Sixpence Please"
2000 Running Time Michelle
2004 The Smoking Room Naoko
2009 Maneater Morgan Tan
2012 Vexed Satchi Kyoto
Suspension of Disbelief Floy
2015 Everest Yasuko Namba
2017 Life Kazumi
2018 Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again Yumiko
2022 Mr. Malcolm's List Mrs. Thistlewaite

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1992 Desmond's Caroline Episode: "Growing Pains"
1992–2011 Absolutely Fabulous Sarah 12 episodes
1993–1994 Casualty Mie Nishi-Kawa 7 episodes
1997 Thief Takers Minako Takahashi Episode: "Brand Loyalty & Black Mist"
1998 Bugs Melissa Episode: "Jewel Control"
1999 Psychos Mariko Harris 6 episodes
2001 Judge John Deed Mutsumi Yesayahoo Episode: "Appropriate Response & Rough Justice"
2002 Murder in Mind Naomi Episode: "Rage"
Spooks Annette Episode: "The Rose Bed Memoirs"
Doctors Molly Fletcher Episode: "Feet of Clay"
2003 Manchild Geisha girl Series 2, episode 7
Mile High Natsumi Series 1, episode 13
2005 Doctor Who Doctor Sato Episode: "Aliens of London"
Hiroshima Shige Hiratsuka Documentary television film
Hot Tub Ranking Mia 6 episodes
2006 Little Miss Jocelyn Beautician Series 1, episode 5
2006–2008 Torchwood Toshiko Sato 26 episodes
2010 Lennon Naked Yoko Ono Television film[14]
2011 Private Practice Patricia Ramsey Episode: "If You Don't Know Me by Now"
Three Inches Annika Television film
2012 Rocket's Island Liz 2 episodes
The Revolting World of Stanley Brown Sarah Stripe Episode: "Hiccupalypse"
2015 Midsomer Murders Nadia Simons Episode: "A Vintage Murder"
Humans Fiona Episode: "Episode 4"
You, Me and the Apocalypse Nocturnapram Professor Episode: "Home Sweet Home"
2016–2018 The Amazing World of Gumball Yuki Yoshida (voice) 3 episodes
2018 Patrick Melrose Doctor Pagazzi Episode: "At Last"
Firestorm Nagisa Kisaragi (voice) Pilot
2018–2021 Big Hero 6: The Series Momakase (voice) 7 episodes
2019 The Terror Asako Nakayama Main role (season 2)
2020 Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist Bonnie Episode: "Zoey's Extraordinary Neighbor"
2022 Sister Boniface Mysteries Lilly Ardwell Episode: "My Brother's Keeper"
McDonald & Dodds Leyna Masamoto Episode: "A Billion Beats"
2023 The Chelsea Detective Steph Lang Episode: "Golden Years"
2024 3 Body Problem Marie Curie Episode: "Our Lord"

Video games

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Year Title Role
2002 Mister Mosquito Additional voices
2005 Perfect Dark Zero Mai Hem[15]
2006 Genji: Days of the Blade Lady Shizuka
2016 Hitman KAI
2017 Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood Yotsuyu
2018 Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age Miko, Additional Voices

References

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  1. ^ a b c "The Wright Stuff – Naoko Mori and the papers" YouTube video
  2. ^ "グローバルキャスティング： 映画・テレビドラマ・CMのオーディション・エキストラ募集情報" [Global Casting: Movies; Television Drama; CM Auditions; Extras Recruitment Information] (in Japanese). Global Casting. Archived from the original on 17 October 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2006.
  3. ^ "Episode Guide". Mile High fansite. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  4. ^ Action TV Online – Powers episode guide
  5. ^ "Torchwood's latest members". BBC Press Office. Retrieved 24 April 2006..
  6. ^ "Naoko Mori ('Torchwood') – Torchwood Interview – TV – Digital Spy". Digital Spy. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  7. ^ "Avenue Q preview review". Archived from the original on 23 May 2006. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
  8. ^ "Fatherhood Season – Lennon Naked" 23 June 2010, BBC
  9. ^ Puchko, Kristy (4 May 2014). "Keira Knightly tackles Everest with Jake Gyllenhaal". cinemablend.com.
  10. ^ Bano, Tim. "The King and I review at London Palladium – an opulent and intelligent revival", The Stage, 3 July 2018
  11. ^ "Firestorm Exclusive Full Minisode". YouTube. 27 October 2018. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
  12. ^ Gordon, Carole (1 January 2007). "Interview with Torchwood star Naoko Mori". Eclipse Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 January 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  13. ^ "Interview: Naoko Mori from Torchwood (Part One)" Archived 31 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine at Daemon's TV website
  14. ^ Conlan, Tara (27 November 2009). "Former Doctor Who to play John Lennon". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Naoko Mori". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 3 February 2021A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of the title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
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