Kento Yamazaki

Kento Yamazaki is a Japanese actor and model affiliated with the talent agency Stardust Promotion. Born on September 7, 1994, he is widely recognized for his leading performances in screen adaptations of popular manga series. His prominent film credits include Another, L DK, Orange, Your Lie in April, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I, Psychic Kusuo: The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., and Kingdom. On television, he has gained distinction for his roles in Death Note, Kiss That Kills, Good Doctor, and the streaming series Alice in Borderland.

Raised in Tokyo, Yamazaki grew up in a family that includes an older brother. During his third year of junior high school, he was scouted on Takeshita Street in Harajuku while returning home from a soccer match. He entered the entertainment industry working as a model for the magazine Pichi Lemon from 2009 to 2011. Yamazaki made his television acting debut in 2010 in Atami no Sousakan, followed by a role in Clone Baby. In April 2011, he made his feature film debut in Control Tower, where he performed music on guitar and vocals.

Over the next two years, Yamazaki appeared in films such as The Wings of the Kirin, Another, The Chasing World 3, Love for Beginners, and Jinx!!!. He also starred in the television movie Sato Family Breakfast and the series 35-sai no Koukousei. His career breakthrough arrived in 2014 when he starred in the live-action feature L DK. That same year, he appeared in the television drama Baseball Brainiacs and made his stage debut in Satomi Hakkenden.

In 2015, Yamazaki starred in the commercially successful manga adaptations No Longer Heroine and Orange. His performances in these films earned him the Newcomer of the Year award at the 39th Japan Academy Film Prize. During this period, he played L in the television series Death Note and appeared in the NHK Asadora Mare. In 2016, he spent six months learning the piano for his role in Your Lie in April, starred in Wolf Girl and Black Prince, and portrayed Xin in a short film celebrating the tenth anniversary of the manga Kingdom.

Yamazaki continued to expand his roles in 2017, appearing in One Week Friends, Psychic Kusuo, Hyouka: Forbidden Secrets, and the drama Rikuoh. In 2018, he headlined the series Kiss That Kills, studied piano tuning in Hokkaido for the film A Forest of Wool and Steel, and starred as an autistic pediatric surgeon in Good Doctor, winning the Television Drama Academy Award for Best Actor.

Starting in 2019, Yamazaki achieved further international visibility starring as Ryōhei Arisu in the Netflix series Alice in Borderland. His subsequent film work includes Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Theatre: A Love Story, The Door into Summer, and Kingdom 2: Far and Away. On television, he played an indie game developer in the series Atom’s Last Shot.