Naoko Mori

Naoko Mori
Mori at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Born	(1971-11-19) November 19, 1971 (age 40) Nagoya, Japan
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actress, singer[1]
Years active	1992–present

Naoko Mori (森 尚子, Mori Naoko^?)^[2] (born November 19, 1971)^[3] is a British actress known for roles as Sarah, Saffron's "odd" friend in Absolutely Fabulous, Mie Nishikawa in Casualty, and Toshiko Sato in Doctor Who and Torchwood.

Early life

Mori was born in 1971 in Nagoya, Japan, and grew up in Japan, New Jersey, USA, and London. When Mori was twelve, she moved to England.^{[citation needed]} Her father was sent back to Japan when Mori was fifteen.^{[citation needed]} She was then given the choice of either staying in London or moving back with her father.^{[citation needed]} She chose to stay in England, partly because she wanted to finish her GCSEs and gain some qualifications.^[4] She attended the Royal Russell School.

Her father later 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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

Acting career

Mori at Comic Con 2008.

From 1993–1994, Mori had a regular role on the hospital drama Casualty as the hospital receptionist Mie Nishikawa. Film roles followed, including appearances in Spiceworld: The Movie (1997) and Topsy-Turvy (1999), and a leading role in Running Time (2000).^{[citation needed]} Mori also appeared in the television programmes Judge John Deed (2001), Spooks (2002), Mile High (2003)^[5] and Powers (2004).^[6] 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 bombing. Mori also provided the voice acting for the villainess Mai Hem for the game Perfect Dark Zero. She also played Mia, hostess of the short-lived game show Hot Tub Ranking the same year. The programme ran for 6 episodes.^{[citation needed]}

Also 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.^[7] 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.^{[citation needed]} She returned to the West End on November 20, 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.^[8] Mori portrayed Yoko Ono in the BBC Four production Lennon Naked, which aired in the UK on Wednesday 23 June 2010.^[9] The film reunited her with Christopher Eccleston, who played John Lennon, opposite whom she played Dr Sato in her Doctor Who appearance.

Personal life

Mori is a Japanese Buddhist.^[10] She wanted to become a singer before she was an actress.^[11]

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Naoko Mori

• Naoko Mori at the Internet Movie Database
• Naoko Mori on Twitter
• Interview with Naoki Mori on Network TEN
• Digital Spy interview with Naoko Mori, Apr 4, 2008