Tao Okamoto
Tao Okamoto
Tao Okamoto, known professionally as Tao, is a Japanese actress and model. In 2009, she was one of the faces of Ralph Lauren. In 2013, she made her film debut as the female lead, Mariko Yashida, in The Wolverine, opposite Hugh Jackman. Tao played Mercy Graves in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice...
NationalityJapanese
ProfessionModel
Date of Birth22 May 1985
CityChiba, Japan
CountryJapan
dancing stage standing work
That's my dream: one day, I want to standing on the stage on Broadway. I sing; my dancing is terrible, but I can be trained. That's my dream. That's something I really want to work on.
director hearing music seen supposed
My character in 'Batman v Superman' isn't supposed to be Japanese, but director Zack Snyder said he'd seen me in 'Wolverine' and had to get me in the film somehow. Hearing that was like music to my ears.
certainly desires express felt
Modeling is exciting, but I certainly felt frustrated that I couldn't speak out or express myself. I always wanted to express my desires in some other medium.
deal enjoyed hard industry love loved people shows understand walking watching work
I've always loved fashion and, of course, enjoyed my experiences walking on runways, but I love watching the shows as well! Now I understand more why it's such a big deal for the industry and why people work so hard before and during fashion weeks. It's interesting to see the same things from a different angle.
blogs good networks social time type
I'm not good with blogs and social networks because those things come and go. By the time I am used to one thing, a new type of social media is already trending.
close convenient hard paris pastry raised stores year
I was living in Paris for, like, a year and a half, and I couldn't speak French, so it was just hard to get a baguette or a pastry or whatever. All the stores close at 6 o'clock, and they're not very into hospitality, so it's not a convenient city. It's so pretty, though, but I was raised in Tokyo, so it was hard to understand.
available chosen japanese previous result roles work
I was chosen for 'Wolverine' because there weren't any other Japanese actresses available who could speak English. With 'Batman v Superman' and 'Hannibal,' I got the roles as a result of previous work I'd done, not just because of my nationality.
difficult everybody good staring tallest
I used to have a very difficult childhood because I was always the tallest girl in school, and everybody was staring at me and saying, 'You are very different.' Now, different is good.
people telling transform younger
I remember when I was little, much younger than I was when I started modeling, people always said, 'Oh, you should be a model.' But I didn't like people telling me what to do... But I didn't plan to transform into an actress, either. It just happened.
england exchange hugh liked remember saw time watch
I remember when I saw 'X-Men' the first time, I was living in England as an exchange student, and my first boyfriend, who's an Englishman, made me watch the movie... He was very jealous that I liked Hugh Jackman so much.
time
Most of the time, as a model, I feel like I'm just a doll. They control how I should move.
model
I started to model because I thought I could use it as an excuse to others, like, 'Yeah, I'm tall because I'm a model.'
japanese looked tall
I started modeling with a very negative part of me - I didn't really like myself or how I looked because I was very tall for a Japanese girl.
admired fan hugh movies
I always admired Hugh Jackman as an actor in movies but also in theatre because I'm a big fan of Broadway musicals.