In Real Life

Check Chiaki Kuriyama’s Internet Movie Database page. At the time of posting, it says right at the top that the actress will be appearing in the Tekken movie. This is incorrect, she says. She won’t.

While I was interviewing Chiaki for an upcoming book I’m doing on Japanese schoolgirls (second book — hooray!), I brought up gaming at the end of the interview while making chitchat. Best known in the West for her work in Kill Bill and Battle Royale, Chiaki appeared in Resident Evil 5 TV ads in Japan, so I thought it was suitable small talk.

“I like Zelda,” she told me. “I also like role-playing games. Hrm, what else… I like Gyakuten Saiban. Do you know Gyakuten Saiban?”

Yes, yes I do.

She went on to say that she really likes puzzle games as well. When I brought up her rumoured role as Ling Xiaoyu in the Tekken movie, she told me, “I’m not in the Tekken. Everyone’s been saying to me, ‘Hey, Tekken! You’re in Tekken?’ And I’m like ‘bwah?’ People have been saying this to me for a while — is the movie done, yet? I don’t know where this rumour is from.”

Wherever it’s from, it’s not true, she said. No Chiaki Kuriyama in the Tekken movie — according to Chiaki Kuriyama, that is.