Biografia
Tomoko Karina is an American-Japanese actress born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. She began her acting career in Japan, starring in popular TV shows like "Rinjo" (TV Asahi), films such as "Tokyo Tribe," and theater productions including the Japanese premiere of "Balm In Gilead" by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson, directed by Obie Award-winner and multiple Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Robert Allan Ackerman. Her stage credits also include "Three Sisters" (Theater Project Tokyo), "Story of Domon Ken" (Kinokuniya Hall), and lead roles in two productions at the prestigious Tokyo Metropolitan Art Theater: "Voice" and "Pecan in The Field." Tomoko later broadened her career internationally, appearing in screen projects like "Cobra Kai" (Netflix), "Haunting in Silver Falls: Returns" (Netflix), "Another Tango" (Hallmark Movie), among others. Before turning professional, she trained extensively with Jeff Goldblum and Robert Carnegie at Playhouse West, and studied full-time for two years at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute under Anna Strasberg and other instructors influenced by the Stanislavski method.
In recent years, Tomoko has pursued writing and directing. She directed her original play, "2 Lies and 3 Dreams and Hollywood," which premiered in Tokyo. She also directed three episodes of the variety music show "Rock the City CA." Tomoko wrote, directed, composed, and starred in the short film "Camellia-Kerria-Pink," which tells the story of three young Japanese women entangled in a WWII Pearl Harbor conspiracy. The film earned critical acclaim, winning Best Foreign Mini Film at the Brentwood and Pacific Palisades International Film Festival, was a semifinalist at the Women Voice Now Film Festival, and was officially selected by the In Short Film Festival. In August 2021, she wrote and directed the play "Japanese Love Story - Shizuka," which received a scholarship at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and earned nominations for Best Play, Best Director, Best Performer, Best Supporting Performer, Best Costume, and Best Live Streaming Play at Broadway World Regional - Los Angeles.
Tomoko is also trained in Japanese classical dance (Nihon Buyo), jazz, modern, and ballet dance, as well as martial arts.
