Yusuke Iseya Movies
Multihyphenate
Yusuke Iseya enjoyed a prolific modeling career in his native Japan before transitioning to narrative feature work, initially as a supporting actor in indigenous arthouse films that occasionally traveled abroad, including (most memorably) director
Hirokazu Kore-eda's universally acclaimed spiritual fantasy
After-Life (1998), as well as
Akihiko Shiota's juvenile delinquency drama
Harmful Insect (2001). That exposure led to a successful television career for
Iseya on Japanese daytime dramas; in 1998,
Iseya shifted gears altogether by traveling to the United States and enrolling in New York University film school, which he reportedly funded with modeling monies; a debut directorial effort soon followed, the 2002 Kakuto, as did additional on-camera roles in Japanese films including
Honey and Clover (2006) and
Sea Without Exit (2006), as well as a voice assignment in the animé feature
Tekkonkinkreet (2007). In 2008,
Iseya took his first steps toward projects originating outside of Japan with a prominent role as a visually impaired man in
Fernando Meirelles' thriller
Blindness, starring
Julianne Moore and
Mark Ruffalo, a Canadian-Brazilian-Japanese co-production. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide