Takehiro Hira

Takehiro Hira (平 岳大, Hira Takehiro, born July 27, 1974) is a Japanese actor who works in theatre, film, and television. He was born in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, to actors Mikijirō Hira and Yoshiko Sakuma. He lived in Japan until the age of 15, after which he attended high school at Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, and later enrolled at Brown University.

Hira made his theatrical debut in 2002 with the play *Rokumeikan*, written by Yukio Mishima. He frequently collaborated with his father, Mikijirō Hira, and played the role of Iago in a production of *Othello*, with his father portraying Othello. He gained significant recognition for his portrayal of the last shogun, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, in the NHK taiga drama *Atsuhime*. He has appeared in several films directed by Takashi Miike, including *Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai*, *Ace Attorney*, and *Aku no Kyoten*. He played the role of Natsuka Masaie in the big-budget film *Nobou's Castle*.

In 2005, Hira portrayed the Player Queen in an English-language stage production of *Hamlet*, with Michael Maloney in the title role. The production toured the UK for three months and was well received. Hira played the lead role in the 2019 British TV series *Giri/Haji*. He also had notable roles in the American films *Lost Girls & Love Hotels* (2020) and *Snake Eyes* (2021), as well as a minor role in *Gran Turismo*. In 2024, he starred in FX's adaptation of *Shōgun*.