Nao Minami

Nao Minami's journey to acting is truly an "East Meets West" story. Nao grew up the youngest daughter of a traditional Japanese family in Kanazawa, Japan often referred to as a "little Kyoto". Nao spent the first half of her life focusing on her studies where she was a star student who was accepted into the top high school in her hometown. Although Nao excelled in academics and was later accepted by one of the top universities in Japan, Waseda University, she decided to switch gears and pursue a lifelong dream of acting. During university, Nao entered the national Japan Queen of Kimono contest ("Kimono no Jouou") and won first prize. Next, Nao made her acting debut starring as Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet at the well-known historical theater, "Kinokuniya Hall", in Tokyo. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business and Social Psychology, Nao launched her career in Japan where she starred in a number of national movies, commercials and TV shows. Nao decided to shift her career to Hollywood in 2010 and has been actively pursuing her acting in LA ever since. Nao's first break came in the action thriller, "Tengu: The Immortal Blade" starring James Lew, Louis Mandylor and Director/Actor Mark Grove.