This past weekend, Japanese actor Mackenyu was in Los Angeles for the Unforgettable Gala, where he was awarded the Global Groundbreaker for One Asia award alongside API peers including Steven Yeun, Greta Lee and Charles Melton.
“I’m still processing,” says Mackenyu, the day before the gala. The actor had landed in L.A. from Japan a few days earlier. “I’ve been busy going to many countries for Comic Cons, and I’m finally getting to rest and get some sleep. I’m just very happy. It’s a big thing, a Japanese actor out in the world,” he adds. “I think that award says a lot to the Japanese community — Japanese American, and especially to Japan. Young actors that are in Japan can finally look up to Hollywood. They don’t really do that.”
After a decade working in the Japanese film market, the 27-year-old actor has been moving toward Hollywood, tapping into the worldwide appeal of Japanese anime and manga. Earlier this year he led the live adaptation of “Knights of the the Zodiac” (unfortunately, a box office flop), and the very well-received series adaptation of “One Piece” for Netflix, which has been renewed for a second season. The series was released in the middle of the SAG-AFTRA strike earlier this fall, which reduced the typical Stateside press rollout for such a major project.
But Mackenyu’s still been busier than ever. “The past few months I have been going to a lot of Comic Cons and interacting with fans. It’s been a special time for me,” says Mackenyu, who stars in the series as the swordsman Zoro. “I didn’t know that ‘One Piece’ was this big and this hot around the world,” he adds. “I really felt their [the fans’] love, and it allows me to bring the best parts of Zoro’s life in season two.”
Before heading back to set sometime next year, fans will get to see Mackenyu take on another beloved anime character in the Japanese animated/live action hybrid series “Dragons of Wonderhatch” for Hulu, out Wednesday. But going forward, the actor is hoping to dedicate more of his energy to English-speaking roles and Hollywood-tangent projects.
“I need to keep on challenging myself toward that. And it is challenging for me, since I’ve been working in Japan for almost 10 years, and I’m so used to that world,” he says, nodding to the impressive scale of “One Piece” — according to reports, one of the most expensive live-action series ever made. “I know how Japanese projects are gonna be after production. But Hollywood projects, I was really curious how it’s going to end up looking like.”
The actor is the son of famed Japanese martial artist actor Sonny Chiba, who starred in many Japanese action films, including “The Street Fighter,” as well as “Kill Bill: Volume 1” and “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.”
“It was something that grew inside me over the years,” Mackenyu says of his interest in acting. “I don’t really know when I thought, ‘OK, I’m going to be an actor.’ I don’t have that turning point, but watching my dad, watching a lot of great actors in Japan, just gradually led me to become an actor.”
Offscreen, Mackenyu has aligned himself with brands including Fendi, Cartier and Tiffany, and last year he launched his own jewelry line, INCRM. Working with stylist Avo Yermagyan, Mackenyu wore a white suit by Boss for his recent Unforgettable gala appearance, and Givenchy for the SAG Awards celebration dinner on Dec. 15.
“Fashion is definitely something I’m interested in,” he says, describing his personal style as “very cozy.”
“I love fashion. I go shopping very often.”
After the Unforgettable Gala, Mackenyu headed straight to his next slate of Comic Con appearances, in Mexico and Peru, before closing the year out back home in Tokyo.
“So I can rest for a few weeks before I go to — what new sets, I don’t know,” he says.
But no matter where he ends up, “it’ll be great.”
