Naoko Mori was born in Nagoya, Japan in the year 1975. She is a Japanese Buddhist. Her family moved to New Jersey when she was just four years old. They returned to Tokyo, Japan when she was 10 and relocated again to Surrey, England when Mori was 12. During her childhood and adolescent years, Naoko honed her talents by enrolling in singing lessons and performing in school productions.
At only 17, she landed the leading role of Kim in
Miss Saigon performed at the London's West End. She starred opposite actor
John Barrowman in the mentioned stage musical. She was also chosen to play Christmas Eve in the West End's production of
Avenue Q. Her other theater accomplishments were playing Stacey in
Snake In Fridge at the Manchester's Royal Exchange, Sheila in
Hair and Erica in
The Beauty. She was also part of
the Token and
the Mayonnaise. The last two plays were performed on tour and at the Parco Theater in Tokyo.
In 1993, she appeared as receptionist Mie Nishi-Kawa on the drama TV series
Casualty and as Sarah on
Absolutely Fabulous. Among her other notable TV guest appearances were on shows
Little Miss Jocelyn, Mile High, Murder in Mind, The Smoking Room and
Dr. Who. She also starred as Shige Hiratsuka on
Hiroshima, a BBC docu-drama that focused on the historical atomic bombing in 1945.
Naoko Mori's film credits include playing Miss Sixpence Please in the Oscar-winning biographical film
Topsy-Turvy, Michelle in the thriller
Running Time and portraying a Japanese computer hacker in the 1995 action film
Hackers. She was seen in
Spiceworld: The Movie.
Naori did voice-overs for
Genji: Kamui soran, Perfect Dark Zero, Genji and
Ka.
Dr. Toshiko Sato is played by Naoko Mori on BBC's
Torchwood, a sci-fi TV drama series. The show focuses on the machinations and activities of Torchwood Institutes' Cardiff Branch. The branch works mainly on research on extraterrestrials. Being a computer specialist, Sato is Cardiff's technical expert. She and Captain Jack are the only people who have met the Doctor.
(Image courtesy of BBC America)