British-Japanese musician and singer, Rina Sawayama plays the role of Akira, an assassin who uses a bow and arrow in the new John Wick: Chapter 4 blockbuster. A few years earlier, she had auditioned for a part in The Matrix Resurrections, another Keanu Reeves film. She did not get the role then, but Keanu Reeves called the Japanese singer after both he and director Chad Stahelski watched a couple of videos of her songs.She got the part and trained in archery, knife fights and hand-to-hand combat scenes to play the role. Now, her training for her part as Akira is paying off. She has since become interested in film-making and is taking extra interest in the filming of her music videos. She directed and wrote the story and did her own stunts for the number Hold the Girl in her new album of the same name. It features the singer flying, running and hitting the ceiling, then dropping through it into the interior of a farmhouse.
Her stunt training came in useful on tour recently when she went around touring to promote her album Hold the Girl. It reached number 2 on some US lists for music albums last year. The actor-singer says that her acting stint in John Wick that taught her to ‘push her physical limits’.
