Sonoya Mizuno is an English actress, model and former ballerina. Despite the fact that at the moment she starred only in secondary roles, her acting career is rapidly going uphill. She took part in some of the most high-profile and successful film projects in recent years - in the films "Out of the Machine" 2014, "La La Land" in 2016, "Beauty and the Beast" in 2017, "Crazy Rich Asians" in 2018. and the series "Maniac" 2018 from Netflix.
Early life
Sonoya Mizuno was born on July 1, 1986 in Tokyo, Japan. Her father is Japanese, and her mother is of English and Argentine roots. The future actress spent her childhood in the UK, in the city of Somerset. When she was 9 years old, she went to ballet school. Sonoya Mizuno was educated at the Royal Ballet School in London. The school is one of the most famous educational institutions, the graduates of which have great success not only in the field of ballet, but also in the field of television and cinema. Despite her ten years at school and good results in ballet, she admitted in an interview with Interview Magazine that her main ambition in life has always been an acting career.
Still from the film "From the Machine", 2014
Carier start
The first steps up the career ladder of Sonoya Mizuno are associated with work in several ballet companies. The actress has worked at the Semperoper (Dresden, Germany), the Irish Ballet Company, the Scottish Ballet Company and the New English Ballet Theater.
When she turned 20, Sonoya Mizuno signed a contract with Profile Models in London and continued her ballet career in parallel. Sonoya Mizuno was in great demand in the modeling business. She managed to take part in advertising campaigns of such world famous companies as Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Saint Lauren and Louis Vuitton.
2014 saw the end of her ballet career with performances at the Royal Theater, Covent Garden and with choreographer Arthur Peet's acclaimed production of The World's Greatest Show at Greenwich Dance.
Still from the film "La La Land", 2016
Actor career
The actress made her acting debut in 2012 in the little-known film "Venus in Eros" as an extra.
The first significant film in the biography of Sonoya Mizuno was the loud directorial debut of Alex Garland "Out of the Car" in 2014. The aspiring actress got the secondary role of the female robot Kyoko, who helps the robot Ave to kill its creator and leave the laboratory disguised as a human.
In 2015, the actress starred in the English priest-based short film Katatsumuri, directed by Steve Crowhurst.
In 2016, Sonoya Mizuno starred in three films. In Damien Chazel's Oscar-winning film La La Land, she had a cameo with dancing and singing as one of the neighbors of the film's protagonist Mia Dolan. The actress got more voluminous roles in film projects less known to the world community. She starred in the English thriller Street Cats as Susie. And in the musical drama "Nerves at the Limit" Sonoya Mizuno played one of the key roles of the dancer Jezzi.
In 2017, the actress again got a cameo role in a major Hollywood musical project - Billy Condon's adaptation of the classic Disney story Beauty and the Beast.
Still from the movie Crazy Rich Asians, 2018
In 2018, four films have already been released with the participation of Sonoya Mizuno. Two of them received wide worldwide distribution and recognition from both viewers and critics. In the new film by Alex Garland, the actress once again got the opportunity to successfully collaborate with the director in the film "Annihilation". Sonoya Mizuno played two roles at once - the role of Katie and the role of a humanoid. Another successful project unexpectedly was the film Crazy Rich Asians. The light summer comedy became a wildly successful audience. Sonoya Mizuno played one of the key roles of Araminta Lee, the bride of the film's best friend and heiress of the billion-dollar resort chain.
Less loud and less successful at the box office were the triumph of the Tribeca festival "All About Nina" and the post-apocalyptic horror film "Locals", in which Sonoya Mizuno also played minor roles.
In addition to four roles in feature films, Sonoya Mizuno has appeared on the small screen in a miniseries produced by Netflix. The series "Maniac" has become one of the most ambitious projects of 2018. The series was directed by Carey Fukunaga, who became famous for filming the first season of True Detective. The black comedy about two heroes traveling through fictional universes starring Emma Stone and John Hill was warmly received by both audiences and critics. Sonoya Mizuno played the role of Dr. Azumi Fujita in the series, which is significant in terms of timing and significance for the plot. The character of the actress leads a scientific study in which the main characters of the miniseries participate. Sonoya Mizuno and Emma Stone worked together on the same project for the second time, the first project was the film "La La Land".
Shot from the TV series "Maniac", 2018
Filming in music videos
In 2016, Sonoya Mizuno took part in the filming of two music videos. She performed the title dance role in the video for the song "Wide Open", performed by the English group The Chemical Brothers in a duet with the American singer Beck.
In the same year, Sonoya Mizuno took part in the filming of the video "Nikes" by American rapper Frank Ocean.
Planned projects
In 2020, a series directed by Alex Garland will be released on television. The series is called "Devs" and is about a computer engineer trying to figure out the work of the secret department, which is probably involved in the disappearance of his boyfriend. Sonoya Mizuno will appear for the third time in the project of the director, who made the most significant contribution to her development as a promising British film actresses.
Also in 2020, it is planned to release the film "Ambition", in which Sonoya Mizuno will play the title role. The film will tell the story of an aspiring musician preparing for a significant music competition.
