is a Japanese former actress. During her career from 2003 until 2017, she starred in numerous Japanese television dramas, television and magazine advertisements, and movies, including roles in Nobuta wo Produce, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e and Doctor Ume.
Biography Horikita was born on October 6, 1988, in Kiyose, Tokyo, Japan. She is the eldest of three daughters. Considered a tomboy in her childhood, Horikita enjoyed playing basketball and baseball. She was the vice-captain of their basketball club in junior high. Despite her boyishness, Horikita looked up to her mother. This was revealed when she appeared in an episode of KAT-TUN's now-defunct variety show Cartoon KAT-TUN where she mentioned that she liked imitating her mother when she was younger.
Career
Print & TV endorsement Apart from modeling for photobooks, Horikita has appeared in magazines and television advertisements. She is best remembered for her television commercials for Fujifilm (where she appeared alongside Japanese idol Tomoya Nagase) and Lotte. She is also a staple image endorser for Suntory and NTT DoCoMo. In 2008, Nihon Monitor recognized Horikita as one of Japan's top endorsers during its annual Most Popular Personality in TV CMs.
Acting Horikita had been cast in several drama series and movies since 2003 but her roles in Densha Otoko and Nobuta wo Produce became her breakthrough performances. Her promising portrayal of the titular character in Nobuta wo Produce won her a Best Supporting Actress award from Japan's Television Academy Awards. It was also around this time that she won the Newcomer Award from Japan Academy Awards for her role as a student apprentice in Always: Sunset on Third Street.
In the following year, she won her second Best Supporting Actress award for her role in Kurosagi. Months later, she was given the lead role for Teppan Shoujo Akane!! and the role of a bully who is behind a class rebellion in Seito Shokun! where she co-starred with her agency senior Rina Uchiyama. She was also cast in the horror movie, One Missed Call: Final, the last installment of the One Missed Call franchise with agency colleague and best friend Meisa Kuroki and South Korean actor Jang Keun-suk.
Soon after, Horikita was awarded her first Best Actress award for her role as Mizuki Ashiya in the Japanese drama adaptation of the gender-bender manga Hana-Kimi, or Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. In the same year that Hana Kimi was filmed, Horikita also starred in the Taiga drama Atsuhime with Aoi Miyazaki. In the same year, she played the lead character who has multiple personality disorder in the suspense movie Tokyo Shōnen and reprised her role as a student apprentice in Always: Zoku Sanchome no Yuhi, the sequel to her breakthrough movie. Horikita's exceptional work was recognized by Vogue Nippon which identified her as one of the eleven Women of the Year in 2007.Vogue names Women of the Year – Tokyograph
On October of the following year, she was once again seen on television opposite Yuzu's lead vocalist Yujin Kitagawa, leading the cast of Fuji TV's golden time slot in the drama Innocent Love.堀北真希 不幸な生い立ち負けずに純愛 (in Japanese), 2008-08-20. Towards the end of the year, she had been cast as Naomi, the female protagonist of Dareka ga Watashi ni Kiss wo Shite or DareKiss (based on Gabrielle Zevin's popular novel, Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac) a Hollywood-Japan collaboration film directed by internationally acclaimed director and self-confessed Japanese culture fanatic Hans Canosa.よし来た！！堀北真希ハリウッド進出！共演に松ケン、英語セリフも挑戦 Tokyograph, 2008-11-30. It was revealed that one-third of her lines in the movie were in English.
As soon as the filming for DareKiss ended, Horikita had gone on to appear in two television dramas: Atashinchi no Danshi in 2009 as an adoptive mother of six young men (played by Jun Kaname and Mukai Osamu among others) and Tokujo Kabachi!! in 2010 as an administrative scrivener opposite Arashi's Sho Sakurai.
In January 2011, Horikita starred in the movie adaptation of Into the White Night, a widely read novel that was adapted into a television drama in 2006 starring Haruka Ayase and Takayuki Yamada. Produced by Wowow Films, the movie was screened at the Berlin Film Festival in the Panorama category.
In 2012, Horikita was offered to lead the cast of an NHK asadora named Doctor Ume . The morning drama featured Horikita as Umeko Shimomura in her carefree teenage years until she blossomed into a dependable town doctor during the Showa era. For the first time in nine years, NHK recorded an average audience rating past 20% for an asadora time slot when Doctor Ume garnered an average audience rating of 20.7%. At the end of 2012, Horikita made her stage debut in a performance of Joan of Arc.
After the success of her asadora, Horikita has continued accepting lead roles in more television and movie projects like in the evening dramas Miss Pilot in 2013 and Masshiro in 2015 as well as in the film Mugiko-san to in 2013.
Radio and voice acting Horikita was one of the six female celebrities taking turns to host Girls Locks!, a segment of the Japanese radio program School of Locks from the radio network Tokyo FM. When she was the host, Horikita provided book recommendations to her listeners and called selected letter-senders to discuss the questions they wrote in their letters. Her stint was at ten in the evening, every third or fourth week of the month. She took turns with Erika Toda, Yui Aragaki, Chiaki Kuriyama, Nana Eikura, and Kii Kitano until she left the program in 2009.
Horikita had also ventured into voice acting, debuting as an anime voice actress for one of the characters in Nobita and the Green Giant Legend 2008.Horikita to make anime voice acting debut in "Doraemon" movie - Tokyograph Her highly featured project as a voice actress was for Professor Layton in which she provided the voice of the main character Luke.
In early 2009, she also dubbed a character from the Belgian 3D animated movie Nat's Space Adventure 3D/Fly Me to the Moon. She dubbed the voice of the protagonist who is a young male fly who was determined to explore outer space.堀北真希がハエ役に初挑戦 3Dアニメ映画で吹き替え , 2009-01-19
Personal life On 22 August 2015 Horikita's management agency announced that she had married actor Koji Yamamoto earlier that day. The couple became close in May 2015 when playing the role of lovers in the theatrical production Arashi ga Oka (Wuthering Heights) and had commenced dating in June. On June 20, 2016, she announced her pregnancy. She gave birth to her first child in December 2016. On February 28, 2017, she announced her retirement from the entertainment industry.
Filmography
TV dramas Year Title Role Notes 2003Dōbutsu no Oisha-sanTamako AnzaiKeitai Deka Zenigata MaiMai ZenigataLead roleKoi Suru NichiyōbiChikako ImamotoLead role; episode 16 2004Ningen no ShōmeiSayaka KooriKaidan Shin MimibukuroMisuzu InamineLead roleDivision 1 HoukagoMayuko MichidaLead roleHonkowa: True Horror StoriesYuka TamuraLead role 2005Nobuta wo ProduceNobuko KotaniDensha OtokoAoi YamadaAkechi Kogoro VS Kindaichi KosukeMarina SaegusaTelevision film 2006Teppan Shoujo Akane!!Akane KaguraLead roleDensha Otoko DeluxeAoi YamadaTelevision filmKurosagiTsurara Yoshikawa Tsubasa no Oreta TenshitachiYunaLead role; television filmHonkowa: True Horror Stories: Summer 2006Arisa KuboLead role 2007Koi no Kara Sawagi Drama Special: Love Stories IVLead role; short dramaGalileoRemi MorisakiEpisode 6Deru Toko Demasho!Shizuka KameiLead role; television filmHana-KimiMizuki AshiyaLead roleAttention Students!Juria Kimura 2008Danso no ReijinYoshiko Yamaguchi/Ri KouranTelevision filmInnocent LoveKanon AkiyamaLead roleHanazakari no Kimitachi e SPMizuki AshiyaLead role; television filmTokyo Air RaidHaruko SakuragiLead role; miniseriesAtsuhimePrincess KazuTaiga drama 2009My Boys: More Than Family But Less Than LoversChisato MinetaLead roleChance!Tamaki KawamuraLead role; miniseries 2010KikokuYouko KasaiTelevision filmWagaya no RekishiNamiko YameMiniseriesLegal Eagle, First ClassMisuzu SumiyoshiLead role2011UmareruManami HayashidaLead role2012Doctor UmeUmeko ShimomuraLead role; Asadora2013Miss PilotTezuka HaruLead role2014Fathers Mifuyu MaruiLead role; episode 5Matsumoto Seichō Drama Special: Kiri no HataKiriko YanagidaLead role; television film2015Nurses of the PalaceAkari ArimuraLead role2016Higanbana Kurumiya NagisaLead role
Films Year Title RoleNotes2003Cosmic RescueAya MochizukiSeventh AnniversaryNatsuki2004The LockerAyano KuboThe Locker 2Ayano KuboLead roleCrying Out Love in the Center of the WorldPhoto onlyHirakataYui AsakawaPremonitionSayuri Wakakubo2005Gyakkyou NineAkiko TsukitaHinokio: Inter Galactic LoveEriko AkishimaThe Deep RedYoung KanakoAlways: Sunset on Third StreetMutsuko Hoshino2006Haru no IbashoMeikoLead roleTrick: The Movie 2Misako NishidaMobile Detective: The MovieMai ZenigataOne Missed Call: FinalAsuka MatsudaLead role2007Argentine HagMitsukoLead roleLast WordsNagisa NinomiyaLead roleAlways: Sunset on Third Street 2Mutsuko Hoshino2008KurosagiTsurara YoshikawaTokyo BoyMinato / NightLead roleDoraemon: Nobita and the Green Giant LegendPrincess Lire (voice)2009Memoirs of a Teenage AmnesiacNaomi SukuseLead roleProfessor Layton and the Eternal DivaLuke Triton (voice)2010The Lady Shogun and Her MenOnobu2011Into the White NightYukiho KarasawaLead roleThat's the Way!!Hatsumi TakedaLead role2012Always: Sunset on Third Street 3Mutsuko Hoshino2013Hospitality Department Taki MyojinLead roleSPEC: CloseCameoMy Little Sweet PeaMugikoLead role2014A Samurai ChronicleToda Kaoru
Video games Professor Layton series - Luke Triton Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney - Luke Triton
Dubbing Fantastic Four, Sue Storm / Invisible Woman (Kate Mara)
Accolades YearAwardCategoryNotable WorksResult200527th Yokohama Film FestivalBest New TalentAlways: Sunset on Third Street200629th Japan Academy Film PrizeRookie of the Year15th TV Life Annual Drama AwardsBest Supporting ActressNobuta wo Produce30th Elan d'or AwardsNewcomer AwardHerselfMTV Student Voice AwardsBest Teen Actress20074th Beauty Week AwardThe Best of BeautyVogue Nippon AwardsWomen of the Year200817th TV Life Annual Drama AwardsBest ActressHanazakari no Kimitachi E11th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand PrixBest Actress31st Japan Academy Film PrizeBest Supporting ActressAlways: Sunset on Third Street 25th Cotton USA Awards Miss Cotton USAHerself19th Japan Best Jewellery Wearer Awards Best Jewellery Wearer2009Vogue Nippon AwardsBest Leathernist20109th Ms. Lily AwardsMiss Lily 2010Gold Dream AwardsCulture & Entertainment Category201216th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand PrixBest ActressDoctor UmeFountain Pen Best Coordinate Award 2012Fountain Pen Best Coordinate AwardHerself20132nd Best Beautist AwardsActress Category
References
External links
Maki Horikita at Nippon Cinema