The Japanese Rinko Kikuchi (Hadano, Kanagawa, 1981) broke a historic barrier by becoming the first actress from her country nominated for an Oscar in half a century. She achieved it with her brave and harrowing performance as a deaf teenager in 'Babel' (2006), a role with barely any dialogue that catapulted her to international recognition. She later took her talent to global productions like the robot epic 'Pacific Rim' (2013), where she played the pilot Mako Mori. Kikuchi is characterized by an intense and physical expressiveness, able to communicate complex emotions through gesture and gaze more than through words. Read more