1. Mackenyu rose to fame after portraying Arata Wataya in the Chihayafuru live-action trilogy in 2016, which earned him the 40th Japan Academy Newcomers of the Year Award in 2017.
21 Facts About Mackenyu
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Mackenyu has since portrayed characters in many other adaptations of popular manga series, including Okuyasu Nijimura in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I, Sota in Tokyo Ghoul S, Yukishiro Enishi in Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, Pegasus Seiya in Knights of the Zodiac, and Roronoa Zoro in the Netflix series One Piece.
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Mackenyu is the son of actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba, the older brother of actor Gordon Maeda, and the younger half-brother of actress Juri Manase.
4.
Mackenyu Maeda, known as Mackenyu Arata, was born on November 16,1996, in Los Angeles.
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Mackenyu is the son of Japanese parents, Tamami Chiba and Japanese action movie star Sonny Chiba, and has two siblings, an older half-sister named Juri Manase and a younger brother named Gordon.
6.
Mackenyu attended Beverly Hills High School in their Advanced Placement Program and appeared in a few films and TV shows while growing up, including the TV mini-series Team Astro, and the Japanese feature film Oyaji, as he devoted most of his time to school and graduation.
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Mackenyu learned horseback riding and Yabusame at the age of 7.
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Mackenyu practiced Kyokushin Karate since he was eight years old, and he was placed third at the US kyokushin Karate Nationals in middle school.
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Mackenyu was into music, playing piano since he was 10 years old, and later participated in the brass band of his high school in Beverly Hills, playing saxophone, and flute.
10.
At the age of 15, Mackenyu watched a Japanese movie and the actor who starred in it inspired him to pursue acting professionally in Japan.
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Mackenyu held on to the dream of co-starring with the actor once he established his acting career in Japan.
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Mackenyu later revealed that it was the late Haruma Miura after he co-starred with him in the movie adaptation of Gunjo Senki.
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Mackenyu landed his first feature film lead role in Take a Chance and was featured in an acclaimed short movie depicting a Japanese family suffering the aftermath of the World War II in Tadaima in which the movie won The Best Narrative Short in Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival.
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Mackenyu moved to Japan later in the same year, stating that Japan would be the best place for him to learn due to the variety of roles that are available for young actors.
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Mackenyu's acting quickly expanded to include three supporting roles in TV Mini-series including The Kindergarten Detective, Yume o Ataeru, and The Hatsumori Bemars.
16.
In December 2020, Mackenyu announced that he would be leaving his agency, Top Coat, in April 2021 as well as suspending his Japanese activities for the time being.
17.
Mackenyu announced that he wants to focus on global activities in 2021.
18.
In November 2021, Mackenyu was cast as Roronoa Zoro in the American Netflix live action series adaptation of One Piece.
19.
Mackenyu married a non-celebrity woman seven years his senior, whose name was not disclosed.
20.
In 2018, Mackenyu became the brand ambassador for Japanese men's grooming brand GATSBY.
21.
Mackenyu starred in the TV commercial "GATSBY Cop", together with popular Japanese actor Yuya Yagira.