All about Mao-chan

Cap taken from Hana yori Dango I

Dramas and movies

Inoue Mao started her career as an actress at a young age of 5. She had been in many dramas since then. The viewers took notice of her in the series Kids War which ran from 1999 to 2003. In 2005, Mao took the lead role in the drama adaptation of the popular manga Hana Yori Dango, with Arashi member Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota and Tsuyoshi Abe. The drama became a big hit, with viewers demanding a second season. Mao was awarded Best Actress by Television Drama Academy on the same year that the drama was aired.
In 2006, she co-starred in her first movie Check It Out, Yo! with Hayato Ichihara, Yūta Hiraoka, and Tasuku Emoto. The film was in theaters April 22, 2006.
In early 2007, Hana Yori Dango Returns aired and became better-received than the first season. On the same year, Inoue co-starred in the drama First Kiss with Check It Out, Yo! co-star Hiraoka Yuuta. Her outstanding performance from her past dramas landed her the lead role in the drama special Hanaikusa as a Maiko-turned Geisha.
Come 2008, she played the lead role in a drama special Anmitsu Hime as a princess, followed by Anmitsu Hime 2 in the following year, where she sang the theme song with Shoko Nakagawa. After the success of the two Hana Yori Dango dramas, a film was announced in August 2007, just months after the end of the 2007 sequel. It was Inoue's first starring role in a movie.The movie was released on June 28, 2008. It topped the box office Japan for a few consecutive weeks and became the second fast-earning movie in 2008. It also became a phenomenal success, not only in Japan, but in many parts of Asia, bringing the name "10 billion yen actress" to Inoue Mao.
Despite her soaring popularity after the movie, Mao stepped back from acting to concentrate on her studies. Right after her graduating from Meiji University in March 2009, she started filming for the movie adaptation of the manga Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu, in which she shared the lead with Masaki Okada; it was released in theaters in October 2009. On April of the following year,My Darling is a Foreigner was released in theaters in with Inoue starring opposite Jonathan Sherr.
Three years since her last drama, she reunited with Hana Yori Dango co-star Shun Oguri for the drama Jūi Dolittle , which began airing in October 2010.She will also star in the 84th asadora drama Ohisama (, portraying a woman who lived through World War II. This will air from March 28, 2011, to September 24, 2011.
In February 2011, a movie will be released in theaters with Mao to costar known actor Takenouchi Yutaka in a movie Taiheiyou no kiseki ~Fox to yobareta otoko; filming took place in Thailand. It was also revealed in late September 2010 that Inoue Mao will star in a movie Youkame no Semi which will also be released in 2011.

Print and television endorsements

Aside from acting in movies, Inoue has been chosen as the endorser of Mizuho Bank and Chocola BB Eisai series, NTT fleet West and Glico Ice. She also appears in the covers of various magazines, namely BOMB, Gyao, and Famima Plus.

Personal life

Despite joining the show business at an early age, she also put priority to her school. At 19, Inoue enrolled in Meiji University, majoring in theater and literature; she chose Chinese as her second language elective. It was in her last year of college that she concentrated solely on her studies. In March 2009, she graduated from Meiji University.
Inoue's hobbies include playing badminton and basketball, Japanese dance, music, and oil painting. She also loves animals; she has a pet Boston Terrier named Hug. Because of her love for animals, she revealed that she plans to be a veterinarian if she is not in the entertainment industry. She is also a big fan of Disneyland.


credit to: www.wikipedia.org