Naomi Watanabe (渡辺 直美, Watanabe Naomi, born 23 October 1987) is a Japanese comedian, actress, and fashion designer. She rose to fame in 2008 for her imitation of Beyoncé, after which she was given the title "the Japanese Beyoncé".[1][2][3]
Naomi Watanabe | |
|---|---|
| 渡辺 直美 | |
 Naomi Watanabe in 2010 | |
| Born | Naomi Watanabe 23 October 1987 |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, comedian, fashion designer |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Height | 1.57 m (5 ft 2 in) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Labels | |
Career
editWatanabe does impersonations of popular artists in Japanese culture, among which her imitation of Beyoncé singing "Dreamgirls" and "Crazy in Love" quickly became popular. She has also launched her own fashion line called Punyus (loosely translated to "chubby" in English), and played the role of Mabel in the musical Fame and Tracy Turnblad in the musical Hairspray. Her Instagram account has 9.9 million followers as of 23 February 2023.[4]
Guest appearances
editWatanabe was seen as a guest in the 2013 anime movie Crayon Shin-chan: Very Tasty! B-class Gourmet Survival!!.[5] In 2016, she voiced the character of Ashima in the Japanese language dub of the Thomas & Friends film The Great Race.[6] In 2019, she was featured in Queer Eye: We're in Japan!, Season 1, Episode 3, "The Ideal Woman".[7]
In March 2021 she announced her intention to move from Japan to the United States the next month.[8] She has appeared in Us Weekly magazine.[9]
Personal life
editWatanabe was born in Taipei to a Japanese father and a Taiwanese mother and raised in Ibaraki.[10] She is of Japanese and Taiwanese descent.[11][12]
Discography
editSingles
editAs a featured artist
edit| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Hot 100[A] | |||
| "Kira Kira (キラキラ)"
(Ai featuring Naomi Watanabe) |
2017 | 19 | Wa to Yo |
| "Kiss Me More"[14]
(Doja Cat featuring Naomi Watanabe) |
2022 | — | Non-album single |
| "—" denotes items that did not chart. | |||
Filmography
editVariety shows
edit| Year | Title | Network | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–14 | Waratte Iitomo! | Fuji TV | ||
| 2011 | Saturday Night Live Japan | Fuji TV | ||
| 2023 | Takeshi's Castle (2023) |
Film
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Tug of War! | |||
| 2013 | R100 | |||
| 2018 | Sunny: Our Hearts Beat Together | Ume | ||
| 2020 | The Untold Tale of the Three Kingdoms | Diaochan | [15] | |
| The Promised Neverland | Krone | [16] |
Television drama
edit| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Deka Wanko | NTV | |||
| Yūsha Yoshihiko | TV Tokyo | ||||
| 2014 | A Time of Love | TVB Jade | |||
| 2016 | The Hiddens | Astro Wah Lai Toi | |||
| 2019 | Queer Eye | Guest | Netflix | ||
| 2020 | Followers | Netflix |
Animation
edit| Year | Title | Role | Type | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Sazae-san | TV | |||
| 2013 | Crayon Shin-chan: Very Tasty! B-class Gourmet Survival!! | Film | |||
| 2015 | Chibi Maruko-chan: A Boy from Italy | Film | |||
| 2020 | Doraemon: Nobita's New Dinosaur | Natalie | Film | [17] | |
| 2021 | Sailor Moon Eternal | Zirconia | 2-Part film, Season 4 of Sailor Moon Crystal |
[18] | |
| 2022 | Deemo: Memorial Keys | Sachet | Film | [19] |
Japanese dub
edit- Live-action
| Year | Title | Role | Voice dub for | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb | Tilly | Rebel Wilson | [20] | |
| 2015 | Pixels | Serena Williams | [21] | ||
| 2016 | Ghostbusters | Dr. Abigail L. "Abby" Yates | Melissa McCarthy | [22] | |
| 2018 | I Feel Pretty | Renee Bennett | Amy Schumer | ||
| 2022 | Ghostbusters: Afterlife | Gozer / Mini Marshmallow Man | [23] | ||
- Animation
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Thomas & Friends: The Great Race | Ashima | ||
| 2017 | Coco | Frida Kahlo | [24] | |
| 2022 | Minions: The Rise of Gru | Master Chow | [25] |
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "和製ビヨンセ・渡辺直美、美空ひばりさんのモノマネ初披露". Oricon (in Japanese). 23 August 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
- ^ "和製ビヨンセ・渡辺直美が激白？「椎名桔平に口説かれたら芸人辞めます！」". Cinema Today (in Japanese). 2 May 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
- ^ Hou, Kathleen (August 2019). "Make Some Room For Naomi Watanabe The unstoppable Japanese comedian is coming for America and the world". The Cut. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ Inagaki, Kana (18 April 2018). "Comedian Naomi Watanabe on luxury, loneliness and being plus-size in Japan". Financial Times.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "映画 きかんしゃトーマス「走れ！世界のなかまたち THE GREAT RACE」" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
- ^ "Queer Eye: We're in Japan! | Netflix Official Site". www.netflix.com. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
- ^ Baseel, Casey (3 March 2021). "Naomi Watanabe moving to U.S.; switching base of operations to outside Japan". Japan Today. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ Us Weekly, 13 December 2021, p. 46.
- ^ Inagaki, Kana (18 April 2018). "Comedian Naomi Watanabe on luxury, loneliness and being plus-size in Japan". Financial Times.
- ^ Hou, Kathleen (1 August 2019). "Make Some Room For Naomi Watanabe". The Cut. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
- ^ "渡辺直美は8.5kg減 「肉食ダイエット」がいいかも". Ameba News (in Japanese). 25 November 2009. Archived from the original on 30 December 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
- ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2017/08/09".
- ^ "渡辺直美がラップで全世界デビュー、ドージャ・キャット楽曲に参加 | CINRA". www.cinra.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ "『新解釈・三國志』"自称イケメン将軍"岩田剛典＆"絶世の美女"渡辺直美が参戦". Crank-in!. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
- ^ "Live-Action The Promised Neverland Film Casts Keiko Kitagawa, Naomi Watanabe". Anime News Network. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- ^ "Naomi Watanabe Cast in 2020 Doraemon Anime Film". Anime News Network. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ "劇場版「美少女戦士セーラームーンEternal」 ジルコニアのキャストが発表！". Sailor Moon Official (in Japanese). 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ^ "DEEMO Memorial Keys Anime Film Reveals February 25 Debut, 5 More Cast Members". Anime News Network. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
- ^ "ナイト ミュージアム／エジプト王の秘密". Fukikaeru. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "マイアミ・ギャングスター". Sony Pictures. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ "ゴーストバスターズ". Fukikaeru. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ "ゴーストバスターズ／アフターライフ －日本語吹き替え版". Fukikaeru. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ "リメンバー・ミー". 16 March 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ "ミニオンズ フィーバー －日本語吹き替え版". Fukikaeru. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
External links
edit- Naomi Watanabe's profile at Yoshimoto Kogyo
- Punyus (fashion brand)
- Naomi Watanabe at Anime News Network's encyclopedia