Taoism

Statuesque, sometimes seemingly androgynous, and transnational, she can easily pass as a Chinese model. And she’s tall, at 5 ft 9 and a half in, an exceptional height for a Japanese model. Born in Tokyo in 1987, she was 14 when a scout spotted her on the street and asked if she wanted to be a model. She once told Jenny Shimizu, the other famous model of Japanese descent, that the encounter left her wondering if she could indeed “do something” with her unusual height. And she did. She signed with an agency in Tokyo and began her fledgling career as a model.

But she soon realised that her height, which she considered an asset, was working against her in Japan, and her career faltered. Her lanky figure was an impediment because it didn’t fit the myth of a diminutive cute girl perpetuated in the Japanese fashion industry. After modelling for five years in Tokyo with some success, she left for Paris in 2006, then moved to New York in 2007. There she found the success that had eluded her in Japan and became a favourite with designers such as Marc Jacobs and Emanuel Ungaro, ironically because she’s a tall, Asian model.

Then there was that haircut. In New York she had changed her hairstyle to an edgier bowl cut – more like the 1960s iconic model Peggy Moffitt’s style than Shimizu’s mannish haircut – that made Tao androgynous, in vogue at that time. The new hairstyle was a hit with designers. Phillip Lim fashioned a wig after her hairstyle and sent all his models down the runway wearing the “Tao cut”.

In the same year she also became the face of Ralph Lauren and her triumph in New York captured the attention of editors in Japan who had previously ignored her: Vogue Japan dedicated an entire issue to her. She has also featured in Vogue China numerous times, a rare achievement for a Japanese model. In The Wolverine, Tao plays the mutant’s lover, Mariko Yashida, a prominent role for someone without any previous acting experience. I met her at a Williamsburg studio during a shoot for Glass, to discuss her transition from the runway to the silver screen – and what’s next in her evolving career.

The first thing is speaking, which I’ve never done in my modelling life. So that was challenging, especially as I had to speak English, which is not my first language. But other than that I have a lot of similar points between modelling and acting, like directors said I have a sense that I can see myself in the camera without checking the camera’s position. That was definitely something I learnt from modelling.

I didn’t really want to go into acting, to be honest, but this audition just came to me suddenly last May. My Japanese agent had called and said, “Oh, we’ve got this audition for you. Are you interested?” I said, “No I’m not. I don’t want to act. I’m scared.” But she said, “Really? But you’re going to play the girlfriend of Hugh Jackman in the movie.” So I said, “I wanna do that!”

I’ve never met someone who said anything bad about him. He’s just the perfect man, super nice, and he taught me every little technique in acting. So I really appreciate that, because he didn’t have to, but he did.

When we were doing the eating scenes he gave me the advice that we shouldn’t eat too much because after many takes, we’re going to be too full. So we have to try not to eat too much.

I love musicals. That’s why I’m a huge fan of Hugh Jackman. I want to be someone who can dance, sing and act, which is quite a challenge.

I would love to, but I’m too tall for Japanese movies – but I hope they will accept me somehow.

She couldn’t have a normal childhood because she is from the biggest family in Japan. And I think she felt loneliness, and she was different from others. I was different from other kids too, and I felt rejection from other kids. I had a different sense of everything and I just felt maybe I didn’t belong there.

Do you believe in romance?

Yes.

I had that haircut a year before I moved to New York, and at that time nobody liked it. I felt like I’d reached the limit of my modelling career and decided to quit. But before I stopped modelling, I wanted to live in New York first, and the trend there just fit with my haircut, which was androgynous, so somehow it all worked out at the same time. I was lucky – I had short hair, and other Asian models were on fire, and everybody just worked really well together. I was very lucky.

I don’t know if I am still standing out! But I had the short hair, which was different from the others. And there are a lot of Chinese girls, and a few Korean girls, but no other Japanese model, so I am unique, and that’s why I am kind of known, as only one Japanese model.

It was such an honour because I’m not Chinese and all the other four girls were Chinese.

Well, I was kind of worried. In my first appearance in China they wrote that I was half Chinese and half Japanese. I don’t know if it was a mistake or if they did it on purpose because of some political reason. So I was very worried that people might try to make me half Chinese to get the Chinese audience. So I talked to my agents and they said, “Who cares? You’re getting this job, which is a great opportunity, and you have to forget about if you are from Japan or China or any other country. You were chosen for this job and you have to do a good job.” And so I was relieved, and thought: maybe this was a challenge for me, and I just had to work harder.

Food. Clean streets. Clean subway. Hospitality.

The Wolverine is in cinemas now