Jun Kunimura
Jun Kunimura (國村 隼, Kunimura Jun, born Yoshihiro Yonemura (米村 喜洋, Yonemura Yoshihiro); 16 November 1955) is a Japanese actor who has performed in Japan, Hollywood, and Hong Kong. He won Best Supporting Actor and the Popular Star Award at the 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards for his performance in the South Korean horror film The Wailing, directed by Na Hong-jin.
Jun Kunimura 國村隼 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | Yoshihiro Yonemura November 16, 1955 | ||||
| Nationality | Japanese | ||||
| Occupation | Actor | ||||
| Years active | 1976–present | ||||
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 國村 隼 | ||||
| Hiragana | くにむら しゅん | ||||
| |||||
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 米村 喜洋 | ||||
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Early life and education
Kunimura was born Yoshihiro Yonemura (米村 喜洋 Yonemura Yoshihiro) in Kumamoto Prefecture, but his family moved to Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture soon after, before moving again to Osaka when he was two years old. He graduated from a theatre program operated by the Osaka Broadcasting Corporation, a theatre company owned and operated by a local NHK affiliate. He has cited actor Yūsaku Matsuda as an influence.
Career
Kunimura began his acting career with a bit part in Shirō Moritani's 1973 disaster film Tidal Wave. He went on to appear in the TV dramas Ayu no Uta and Yôi don, before holding his first starring role in Kazuyuki Izutsu's Gaki Teikoku.[1] Throughout the late 80s and early 90s, he appeared in a number of Hong Kong-produced films, including a prominent cameo role in John Woo's Hard Boiled, as a Triad gunman in the film's opening teahouse shootout. In 1989, he starred in his first American film, Black Rain. The Ridley Scott-helmed Yakuza action film was shot on-location in Kunimura's hometown of Osaka, and starred his mentor Yūsaku Matsuda.
Kunimura is known internationally for his work with Western director such as Scott, Quentin Tarantino, and Roland Emmerich.[2] He has collaborated with prominent Japanese filmmakers like Takashi Miike, Lee Sang-il, Hideaki Anno, and Ryuhei Kitamura. In 2016, he starred in Na Hong-jin's Korean horror film The Wailing, which earned him critical and popular acclaim. It earned him the Best Supporting Actor and Popular Star Awards at the 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards, making him the first-ever non-Korean and Japanese actor to be nominated for the former accolade.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Tidal Wave | Shoichi | |
| 1981 | Gaki Teikoku | Choi | |
| 1989 | Black Rain | Yashimoto | 1st non-Japanese film |
| 1991 | Au Revoir, Mon Amour | Keiji | |
| The Blue Jean Monster | Kai | ||
| Ōte | Emisu | ||
| 1992 | Hard Boiled | Teahouse Gunman | |
| 1993 | All Under the Moon | Tada | |
| 1994 | Treasure Hunt | Yamamoto | |
| Tokarefu | Det. Takahashi | ||
| 1995 | Heisei musekinin-ikka: Tokyo de luxe | Yoichi | |
| 1996 | Somebody Up There Likes Me | Japanese Trainer | |
| 1997 | Suzaku | Kōzō Tahara | |
| Wild Life | Ijima | ||
| Ningen isu | Shoichiro Shimizu | ||
| 1998 | Begging for Love | Saburo Wachi | |
| The Story of PuPu | Kijima | ||
| 1999 | Keiho | Shibata Toshimitsu | |
| Audition | Yasuhisa Yoshikawa | ||
| Mayonaka made | Noriyuki | ||
| 2000 | Ryûsei | Kirishima | |
| Dokuritsu shônen gasshô-dan | Michio's Father | ||
| Chaos | Inspector Hamaguchi | ||
| Face | Kenta Kariyama | ||
| Gojoe | Suzaku-hougan | ||
| 2001 | Desert Moon | Kosugi | |
| Ichi the Killer | Funaki | ||
| Ye long | The Contractor | ||
| 2002 | Misutâ rûkî | Yang | |
| Hi wa mata noboru | Koide | ||
| Tomie: Forbidden Fruit | Kazuhiko Hashimoto | ||
| The Laughing Frog | Akio Yoshizumi | ||
| Alive | Kojima | ||
| Sorry | Sei's Father | ||
| 2003 | Hoshi ni negaio | Jin Kirishima | |
| Samurai Resurrection | Saemon Jinno | ||
| 9 Souls | Yamamoto | ||
| Tsuribaka Nisshi 14 | Kawashima | ||
| Kill Bill: Volume 1 | Boss Tanaka | ||
| Dead End Run | Jun | ||
| 2004 | Half a Confession | Manabu Uemura | |
| Kill Bill: Volume 2 | Boss Tanaka | ||
| Umizaru | Admiral Masaki Igarashi | ||
| 69 | Sasaki | ||
| Vital | Hideyoshi Ooyama | ||
| Blood and Bones | Yong-sang Jo | ||
| Lady Joker | Satoru Hirase | ||
| Godzilla: Final Wars | Major Komuro | ||
| 2005 | Fuyu no Undoukai | Kitazawa Ryousuke | |
| Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean | Matoi Tokioka | ||
| Negotiator: Mashita Masayoshi | Kataoka | ||
| Hanging Garden | Dan Kyobashi | ||
| 2006 | Limit of Love: Umizaru | Masaki Igarashi | |
| Hana | Isekan | ||
| Baruto no Gakuen | Takagi | ||
| Sinking of Japan | Kyosuke Nozaki | ||
| Children | Shugoro Kihara | ||
| Tsubakiyama Kacho no Nanokakan | Daisuke Ichikawa | ||
| 2007 | Three for the Road | Rental Salesman | |
| Silk | Umon | ||
| 2008 | Team Batista no Eikō | Gonta Takashina | |
| Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess | Nagakura | ||
| God's Puzzle | Murakami | ||
| Paco and the Magical Book | Kinomoto | ||
| Yesterdays | Akihiko Yanagida | ||
| K-20: Legend of the Mask | Genji | ||
| Miyagino | Sharaku | ||
| 2009 | King of the Escape | Kanemura | |
| Mt. Tsurugidake | Seiichiro Yaguchi | ||
| 2010 | Saru Lock the Movie | Ogasawara | |
| After the Flowers | Jinzaemon Terat | ||
| My Darling Is a Foreigner | Noriyuki Oguri | ||
| Sunshine Ahead | Tatsuhei Hiki | ||
| Outrage | Ikemoto | ||
| Here Comes the Bride, My Mom! | Akira Murakami | ||
| Saya Zamurai | The Lord | ||
| Aibou: The Movie II | Muneo Hasegawa | ||
| 2011 | Synchronicity Shinju Tenshi | Ai's Father | |
| Moonlight Mask | The Impresario | ||
| Monsters Club | Mr. Kakiuchi | ||
| 2012 | Reunion | Yoshito Shibata | |
| 2013 | A Story of Yonosuke | Mr. Yosano | |
| The Incredible Truth | Sato Tsuyoshi | ||
| Like Father, Like Son | Kazushi Kamiyama | ||
| The Wind Rises | Hattori | Japanese-language version | |
| A Boy Called H | Yoshimura | ||
| Why Don't You Play in Hell? | Muto | ||
| Unforgiven | Masaharu Kitaoji | ||
| Asa Hiru Ban | Asamoto | ||
| 2014 | Dakishimetai: Shinjitsu no Monogatari | Toshiro | |
| The World of Kanako | Dr. Tsujimura | ||
| Parasyte: Part 1 | Det. Hirama | ||
| 2015 | Attack on Titan | Kubal / Colossal Titan | |
| At Home | Genji | ||
| Parasyte: Part 2 | Det. Hirama | ||
| The Big Bee | Nakatsuka | ||
| 2016 | Kokoro | Daisuke | |
| Chihayafuru Part 1 | Hideo Harada | ||
| Chihayafuru Part 2 | |||
| The Wailing | The Japanese Man | Blue Dragon Film Award for Best Supporting Actor Blue Dragon Film Award for Most Popular Star Nominated- Asian Film Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated- Buil Film Award for Best Supporting Actor | |
| Shin Godzilla | Chief of Staff Masao Zaizen | ||
| Fueled: The Man They Called Pirate | Takumi Ukawa | ||
| 2017 | Hamon: Yakuza Boogie | Katsuji Shimada | |
| Mumon: The Land of Stealth | Kitabatake Tomonori | ||
| JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I | Ryohei Higashikata | ||
| Manhunt | Yoshihiro Sakai | ||
| Fullmetal Alchemist | Tim Marcoh | ||
| Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura | Chief Daibutsu | ||
| 2018 | Punk Samurai Slash Down | Shuzen Oura | |
| The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan | Toshio | ||
| Our Departures | Setsuo Okuzono | ||
| Chihayafuru Part 3 | Hideo Harada | ||
| Jû-nen: Ten Years Japan | Shigeta | Segment: "Itazura dômei" | |
| 2019 | The Great War of Archimedes | Marshal Admiral Osami Nagano | |
| Taro the Fool | Oda | ||
| The Witness | Takashi Hirayama | ||
| Midway | Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo | ||
| 2020 | Step | ||
| Minamata | Junichi Nojima | ||
| Tracing Her Shadow | |||
| 2021 | Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction | Daisaku Nikaidō | |
| Gift of Fire | |||
| Poupelle of Chimney Town | |||
| Zokki | |||
| TBA | Kate | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Aikotoba wa Yūki | Fuji TV | ||
| 2008 | Andō Natsu | Umekichi Yasuda | TBS | |
| 2009 | Saka no Ue no Kumo | Kawakami Soroku | NHK | |
| 2012 | Carnation | Kiichi Hanamura | NHK | Asadora |
| Taira no Kiyomori | Fujiwara no Tadazane | NHK | Taiga drama | |
| 2014 | Alice no Toge | TBS | ||
| 2015 | Keisei Saimin no Otoko Part 3 | Takashi Miki | NHK | TV movie |
| 2016 | Shizumanu Taiyō | Wowow | ||
| Ishikawa Goemon | Toyotomi Hideyoshi | TV Tokyo | ||
| 2017 | Hello, Detective Hedgehog | TBS | ||
| 2019 | The Naked Director | Netflix | ||
| 2020 | Taiyō no Ko | NHK | TV movie | |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Won [3] | |
| Popular Star Award | Won [4] | |||
| 2017 | 11th Asian Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | |
References
- "Akumade hishatai de aritai". Dōraku. Asahi Shinbun. Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- "Konkai no "Gokujō Kūkan"". BS Asahi. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- "'Inside Men,' 'The Wailing' Top Korea's Blue Dragon Awards". Variety. November 25, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
- "'Inside Men,' 'The Wailing' Top Korea's Blue Dragon Awards". Variety. November 25, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
