FLY HIGH

You might have known him as a singer and dancer, now start familiarizing yourself with Naoki Kobayashi the actor. He is an established performer that has been adored for over a decade in his home country of Japan. There, Kobayashi is a member of J-pop groups EXILE and J Soul Brothers, so performing in front of tens of thousands is nothing new to him. And now, he is gracing screens all across the globe as an actor.

Kobayashi recently starred in his first non-Japanese film—“Earthquake Bird,” which is produced by Ridley Scott—alongside Alicia Vikander. And no, this is not his first time on a film set as his acting career started in Japan back in 2014. For his international debut in the aforementioned “Earthquake Bird,” which is a Netflix original film, he plays as Teiji, a photographer who gets caught in a love triangle between Lucy (Vikander) and Lily (Riley Keough). Don’t let that bit about love triangles fool you because “Earthquake Bird” is a psychological thriller and his character is a not an easy one to play. He spent months preparing for the role, trying to find the connection between himself and chats with the charismatic performer to find out more about his global aspirations.