Hollywood Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara

Tatsuya Fujiwara (藤原竜也 Fujiwara Tatsuya, born May 15, 1982) is a Japanese television and film actor.

Biography

Born in Saitama, Fujiwara has had an interest in acting from a young age.
He is famous for acting the part of Shuya Nanahara in the controversial 2000 film Battle Royale and continues the character as a leader of the Wild Seven in the sequel, Battle Royale II: Requiem.

He stars as Light Yagami, the leading role in Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name, films based on the manga of the same name. He also has a cameo appearance in L: Change the World, an L spin-off movie for the Death Note series. In theatrical works, he is known for collaborating with Yukio Ninagawa, one of the most influential directors in Japan. He started his career in theatre, before screen debut, with the title role of Shintoku-maru, the boy who has an obsessive relationship with his step mother. He has also acted in Shakespeare plays, including Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Fujiwara played one of the lead roles in Hideo Nakata's Ghost film The Incite Mill.

Death Note

Fujiwara portrayed Death Note's main protagonist, Light Yagami in the live-action movie. Fujiwara stated during filming that it was difficult to portray a character with such restrained emotions. During the filming of Death Note: The Last Name, Tatsuya became close friends with Kenichi Matsuyama, who plays L. Matsuyama mentioned that Tatsuya had done a good job.