Yūko Takeuchi (竹内 結子, Takeuchi Yūko; 1 April 1980 – 27 September 2020) was a Japanese actress. She is known for her roles in television series Asuka (1999), Pride (2004), FlashForward (2009), and Miss Sherlock (2018) as well as films such as Ring (1998), Yomigaeri (2003), and Dog in a Sidecar (2007).
Life and career
Yuko Takeuchi was born on 1 April 1980 in Urawa, Saitama, Japan. She was "discovered" during spring break in Harajuku after junior high school.
Takeuchi was married to Shidō Nakamura II (who had co-starred with Takeuchi in the film Be with You) from 10 May 2005 until their divorce on 29 February 2008. She had a son with Nakamura who was born in November 2005. Prior to the couple's divorce, Nakamura had apologized for a drunk driving incident where he was with actress Aya Okamoto and later seen with actress Saki Takaoka. After the drunk driving incident, Takeuchi reportedly moved to live in her management office shortly before filing for divorce in October 2006.
Takeuchi married actor Taiki Nakabayashi on 27 February 2019. Her son, in junior high school at the time was reported to have actively encouraged her second marriage. In November 2019, she announced she was pregnant and gave birth to her second son in January 2020.
Takeuchi was known for her earlier roles, starring in Japanese television dramas such as Mukodono (My Husband), The Queen of Lunchtime Cuisine, Egao No Hōsoku, and Pride, as well as NHK's Asadora television series Asuka. In the romantic comedies Mukodono, she and Nagase Tomoya played newlyweds and in The Queen of Lunchtime Cuisine, she played a girl with a mysterious past who loves her lunch. In the drama Egao no Hōsoku, her character experiences meeting new people while supporting a manga writer and in Pride, her character is the love interest of a hockey player portrayed by Takuya Kimura.
Takeuchi's earlier films include Hoshi Ni Negaiwo, Yomigaeri, and Be with You (Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu). Her performances in Yomigaeri (2003), Be with You (2004), and Spring Snow (2005) were recognized by the Japanese Academy Awards. She later won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Japanese Academy Awards for her role in the 2014 film Cape Nostalgia.
In 2010, Takeuchi appeared on the science fiction American TV serial FlashForward in two episodes (as a character portrayed in five). Director Michael Nankin called her "Japan's answer to Audrey Hepburn." Takeuchi's dialogue was in Japanese, but she said the experience caused her to make it a goal to master English as she wished she had been able to communicate better with the other cast members and crew.
In 2018, Takeuchi portrayed the titular character in Hulu/HBO Asia series Miss Sherlock, an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories.
Death
On 27 September 2020 at 2:00 a.m. (JST), Takeuchi was found hanged at her home in Shibuya, Tokyo. She was taken to the hospital, but died shortly afterwards. No suicide note was found. She was 40 years old.
Television
Cyborg (1996 Fuji TV)
Nice Guy (1997 Fuji TV)
Shin-D (1997 NTV)
Frozen Summer (1998 NTV) as Junko Moriguchi
Setsunai (1998 TV Asahi)
Dangerous Police Forever (1998 NTV) as Asuka Fubuki
Kantaro Terauchi's Family in autumn 1998 (1998 TBS) as Misuzu Kawachi
Nanisama (1998 TBS) as Yuri Kimura
Romance (1999 NTV) as Kotoe Kurasawa
Asuka (1999 NHK Asadora) as Asuka Miyamoto
Friends (2000 TBS) as Miyuki Matsuno
Stories of 100 Years in episode 2 (2000 TBS) as Toshiko Nagai
Style! (2000 TV Asahi) as Shiori Sakakibara
A White Shadow (2001 TBS) as Noriko Shimura
Mukodono! (2001 Fuji TV) as Sakura Arai
School Teacher (2001 TBS) as Motoko Asakura
The Queen of Lunchtime Cuisine (2002 Fuji TV) as Natsumi Mugita
The Law of the Smile (2003 TBS) as Yumi Kurasawa
Autumn in Warsaw (2003 YTV) as Yoko Aoki
Pride (2004 Fuji TV) as Aki Murase
New York Love Story (2004 Fuji TV) as Eiko Fujikura
Fukigen na Jiin (The Selfish Gene) (2005) as Yoshiko Aoi
Bara no nai Hanaya (2008) as Miou Shirato
FlashForward (2009 ABC) as Keiko Arahida
Natsu no Koi wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku (2010) as Shiori Kitamura
Strawberry Night (2012) as Reiko Himekawa
cheap flight (2013)
Sanada Maru (2016 NHK) as Yodo-dono
Kamoshirenai Joyū tachi (2016 Fuji TV) as herself
A Life (2017 TBS) as Mifuyu Danjō
Miss Sherlock (2018 Hulu, HBO) as Sara "Sherlock" Shelly Futaba (Sherlock Holmes)
Innocent Days (2018 Wowow) as Yukino Tanaka
Queen (2019 Fuji TV)
Narrator
Wonderful Spaceship Earth (2002 TV Asahi)
If the World is 100 Villages 6 (2009 TV Fuji)
The Nonfiction (2010 TV Fuji)
Eko's manners (2011 BS Asahi)
Dubbing roles
Inside Out – Joy (Amy Poehler)
Titanic (2001 Fuji TV edition) – Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet)
Essay
Nioi Fechi (2004 Pia)
Nioi Fechi 2 calorie off (2006 Pia)
Photo essay
Tabibon (travel diary of Tahiti) (2007 SDP)
Single
Tada Kaze Wa Fukukara (1998 Pony Canyon)