Naomi Watanabe

Naomi Watanabe (渡辺 直美, Watanabe Naomi, born 23 October 1987) is a Japanese comedian, actress, and fashion designer. She rose to fame in 2008 for her imitation of Beyoncé, after which she was given the title "the Japanese Beyoncé".[1][2][3]

Naomi Watanabe
渡辺 直美
Born
Naomi Watanabe

(1987-10-23) 23 October 1987
New Taipei, Taiwan
OccupationActress, comedian
Years active2007 (2007)–present
Height1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)

Career

Watanabe does impersonations of popular artists in Japanese culture, among which her imitation of Beyoncé singing "Dreamgirls" and "Crazy in Love" quickly became popular. She has also launched her own fashion line called Punyus (loosely translated to "chubby" in English), and played the role of Mabel in the musical Fame and Tracy Turnblad in the musical Hairspray. Her Instagram account is followed by 7.9m people as of 18 April 2018.[4]

Personal life

Naomi Watanabe was born in Taipei to a Japanese father and a Taiwanese Mother and raised in Ibaraki.[5] She is of half-Japanese and half-Taiwanese descent.[6][7]

Guest appearances

Watanabe was seen as a guest in the 2013 anime movie Crayon Shin-chan: Very Tasty! B-class Gourmet Survival!!.[8] In 2016, she voiced the character of Ashima in the Japanese language dub of the Thomas & Friends film The Great Race.[9] In 2019, she was featured in Queer Eye: We're in Japan! Season 1, Episode 3, The Ideal Woman.[10]

Filmography

Variety shows
Year Title Network Notes Ref(s)
2010–14 Waratte Iitomo! Fuji TV
2011 Saturday Night Live Japan Fuji TV

Film
Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2012 Tug of War!
2013 R100
2018 Sunny: Our Hearts Beat Together Ume
2020 The Untold Tale of the Three Kingdoms Diaochan [11]
The Promised Neverland Krone

Television drama
Year Title Role Network Notes Ref(s)
2011 Deka Wanko NTV
Yūsha Yoshihiko TV Tokyo
2014 A Time of Love TVB Jade
2016 The Hiddens Astro Wah Lai Toi
2020 Followers Netflix

Animation
Year Title Role Type Notes Ref(s)
2007 Sazae-san TV
2013 Crayon Shin-chan: Very Tasty! B-class Gourmet Survival!! Film
2015 Chibi Maruko-chan: A Boy from Italy Film
2020 Doraemon: Nobita's New Dinosaur Natalie Film
2021 Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie -Part 1&2- Zirconia 2-Part film,
Season 4 of Sailor Moon Crystal		 [12]

Japanese dub
Live-action
Year Title Role Voice dub for Notes Ref(s)
2016 Ghostbusters Dr. Abigail L. "Abby" Yates Melissa McCarthy
2018 I Feel Pretty Renee Bennett Amy Schumer
Animation
Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2016 Thomas & Friends: The Great Race Ashima
2017 Coco Frida Kahlo

References
  1. "和製ビヨンセ・渡辺直美、美空ひばりさんのモノマネ初披露". Oricon (in Japanese). 23 August 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  2. "和製ビヨンセ・渡辺直美が激白？「椎名桔平に口説かれたら芸人辞めます！」". Cinema Today (in Japanese). 2 May 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  3. Hou, Kathleen. "Make Some Room For Naomi Watanabe The unstoppable Japanese comedian is coming for America and the world". The Cut. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  4. Inagaki, Kana. "Comedian Naomi Watanabe on luxury, loneliness and being plus-size in Japan" (April 18, 2018). Financial Times.
  5. Inagaki, Kana. "Comedian Naomi Watanabe on luxury, loneliness and being plus-size in Japan". Financial Times.
  6. Hou, Kathleen (1 August 2019). "Make Some Room For Naomi Watanabe". The Cut. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  7. "渡辺直美は8.5kg減　「肉食ダイエット」がいいかも". Ameba News (in Japanese). 25 November 2009. Archived from the original on 30 December 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "映画 きかんしゃトーマス「走れ！世界のなかまたち THE GREAT RACE」" (in Japanese).
  10. "Queer Eye: We're in Japan! | Netflix Official Site". www.netflix.com. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  11. "『新解釈・三國志』"自称イケメン将軍"岩田剛典＆"絶世の美女"渡辺直美が参戦". Crank-in!. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  12. "劇場版「美少女戦士セーラームーンEternal」 ジルコニアのキャストが発表！". Sailor Moon Official (in Japanese). 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
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