Naoko Mori

photo of Naoko Mori Naoko is a Japanese-born actress known for roles as Sarah, Saffron's 'odd' best friend in Absolutely Fabulous, Mie Nishikawa in Casualty, and Toshiko Sato in Doctor Who and Torchwood. Recently seen starring opposite Christopher Eccleston for her latest role, as Yoko Ono opposite Eccleston’s Lennon in LENNON NAKED (BBC4).

Much-admired both in the UK and in her native country (Japanese Newsweek named her as one of the faces of the Millennium) Naoko’s roles have been beguilingly varied - from Christmas Eve in AVENUE Q, Miss ‘Sixpence Please’ in Mike Leigh’s TOPSY- TURVY, Nicola in SPICEWORLD: THE MOVIE to the lead role of Shige Hiratsuka in HIROSHIMA. In this Emmy award-winning documentary she plays a surviving mother who experiences the horrific death of her husband and two daughters. Her story was cut in the US version as the Americans thought her plot-line portrayed them in a too-negative light. Born in Nagoya, Japan, Naoko’s family first moved to New Jersey, USA, before settling in London when Naoko was twelve. When the family moved back to Japan, Naoko - then 15 years-old - decided to stay on her own in London. With original aspirations first as a golfer, then a stewardess (she still loves flying), Naoko settled on acting & singing, training regularly from the age of thirteen and joining the National Youth Music Theatre (with Jude Law and Johnny Lee Miller). Her plans to attend Drama School were thwarted by the offer to join the cast of Miss Saigon. She has not looked back since. Mori also provided the voice acting for the villainess Mai Hem for the game Perfect Dark Zero.

Experience

 Credits:

FILM

TOPSY TURVY Miss Sixpence Please Dir: Sir Mike Leigh (Thin Man Films)
SPICEWORLD –THE MOVIE Nicola Dir: Bob Spiers (Fragile Films/Polygram)
HACKERS Tokyo Hacker Dir: Ian Softley (United Artists)
REARVIEW MIRROR The Girl Dir: Nick Stillwell (www.urbanchillers.com)
RUNNING TIME Michelle/Mosi Dir: Suzie Halewood (IMP)

TELEVISION

LENNON NAKED Yoko Ono Dir: Ed Coulthard (BBC/Blast! Films)
TORCHWOOD Toshiko Sato (Regular) Dir: Various (BBC/CBC)
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS Sarah/‘Titicaca’ (Regular) Dir: Bob Spiers etc (BBC)
SPOOKS [MI5] Annette Dir: Andy Wilson (BBC)
HIROSHIMA (*see below) Shige Hiratsuka Dir: Paul Wilmshurst (BBC/Discovery)
DR WHO Dr Sato Dir: Keith Boak (BBC Wales)
MANEATER Morgan Tan Dir: Tim Busfield (Lifetime)
PSYCHOS Dir Mariko Harris (Regular) Dir: Andy Wilson etc (Kudos/Channel 4)
FOOTBALLERS’ WIVES Kaori Dir: Martin Hutching (ITV)
THE SMOKING ROOM Naoko Dir: Gareth Carrivick (BBC)
LITTLE MISS JOCELYN Various Dir: Gareth Carrivick (BBC)
MURDER IN MIND Naomi Dir: David Innes Edwards (BBC)
JUDGE JOHN DEED Mutsumi Yesayahoo Dir: Mary McMurray etc (BBC)
MILE HIGH Natsumi Dir: James Strong (Hewland Int’l/SKY)
DOCTORS Molly Fletcher Dir: Terry Iland (BBC)
THIEFTAKERS Minako Dir: David Innes Edwards (Carlton)
POWERS Song Li Dir: Brian Farnham (BBC)
CASUALTY Mie Nishikawa (Regular) Dir: Various (BBC)

THEATRE

AVENUE Q Christmas Eve Dir: Jason Moore (Noel Coward Theatre, London)
MISS SAIGON Kim Dir: Nicolas Hytner (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane)
HAIR Sheila Dir: Philip Wm. McKinley (Parco Theatre, Tokyo)
SNAKE IN FRIDGE Stacey Dir: Braham Murray (Royal Exchange)
CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE Grusha Dir: Mark Pattenden (Sadler’s Wells, London)
ALADDIN Princess Dir: Mark Rayment (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre)
THE BEAUTY, THE TOKEN Erica Dir: Ryoji Nakamura (Parco Theatre, Tokyo)
& THE MAYONNAISE
P-KIES The Singa Dir: Michiyo Morita (National Tour, Japan)
AN EVENING WITH ~ As Naoko Mori Dir: Kazutoshi Ono (Yesteryear Hall, Tokyo)

*Won ‘Best Documentary’ at The International Emmy Awards 2006

OTHER WORKS:

TV Guest Appearances: Various including BBC BREAKFAST NEWS, CHILDREN IN NEED (BBC),
(As Naoko Mori) GMTV (ITV), YUME-OIBITO-TACHI (NHK/Hi-Vision Special), SEKAI NO
GEKIJO (NHK), SANTO MONOGATARI (KBS), MICHI ROMAN (TBS),
EIKAIWA JOKYU (NHK), THE WRIGHT STUFF (Channel 5)

Presenting/Host: Cathay Pacific WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT Series (Inflight Productions),
Hi-Vision Special YOMIGAETTA EDEN NO SONO (NHK),
SUSHI AWARDS 2005 ~SEVEN SUSHI SAMURAI~ (Live)

Narration/Voice-work: Extensive. Animations, CMs, Games and Corporate work include EIDOS,
SEGA, NICKELODEON, VISA, BRITISH TELECOM, VOLVO

Jingles/Singing for 7-UP, CASPER THE GHOST

Narrations includes EUROPEAN LIFE Series (NHK Japan),
JAPAN WEEKEND, WORLD CUP SPECIAL (Channel 4),
THE JAPAN SEASON (BBC)

Various Radio plays and Documentaries for BBC, NHK and Channel 4 etc,
Audio books for BBC including TORCHWOOD books

Commercials: Various including SONY (US), HEAT (UK), BRITISH AIRWAYS (UK)
 Experience:

Commercials, narration, radio plays, audio books

Profile

 Role Type:

Japanese

 Type:

International

Voice

 Accent:

Canadian , Chinese , Japanese , Standard American

 Languages:

English , Japanese

 Native Voice:

Japanese

 Style:

cheerful , engaging , friendly , positive , reassuring

Skills

 Singing:

Soprano




Audio

To listen to a voice over clip click the play icon, click the pause icon to pause or stop the clip. To jump to a different part of the track click the middle of the player.
Back to Top