born December 7, 1979 is a Japanese actress and writer.
Early life
Ayako Faith Fujitani was born in
Osaka,
Japan. She is the daughter of
Steven Seagal by his first wife,
Aikido Miyako Fujitani. Her parents separated when she was about eight years old. She resided in
Los Angeles during her teenage years.
Career
Acting
In 1995, Fujitani made her cinematic debut at age 15 starring in the cult classic
directed by
Shusuke Kaneko. She reprised her role in subsequent films in the series and also featured in an episode of
Ultraman Max. In 2000, she played the lead role in the movie
Shiki-Jitsu. In 2008, she played the role of Hiroko in the anthology film
Tokyo!,
directed by
Leos Carax,
Bong Joon-ho and
Michel Gondry. She also featured in the indie romance
Daylight Savings (2012) with the supporting role of “Goh” Nakamura's ex-girlfriend,
(2014) and
The Last Ship (2014).
Other film roles include parts in
Sansa and
Man from Reno.
Writing
Fujitani has contributed film reviews to the Japanese magazine
Roadshow, and has published several coupled novellas, including
Touhimu (
Flee-Dream), which was adapted into the film,
Shiki-Jitsu, by writer and director
Hideaki Anno. She also published
Yakeinu (
Burnt Dog). Fujitani has written both fiction and non-fiction, contributing essays and short stories to various national publications.
In 2014, Fujitani co-wrote a short film commissioned by Ermenegildo Zegna, entitled A Rose Reborn. The film was directed by Park Chan-wook, Chung Chung-hoon, and Michael Werwie, and scored by Clint Mansell. It starred Jack Huston and Daniel Wu.
Other pursuits
At age 12, she won the Asian Beauty Contest, held in honor of the Japanese release of the film
Police Story 3, kick starting her modeling career.
In 2006, she directed a short drama for TV Tokyo.
Filmography
Film
