Actress, stuntwoman and martial artist, Michiko Nishiwaki was born on November 21, 1957 in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan and grew up in Tokyo. Multi-talented, she is also a fight choreographer, and she was Japan’s first female bodybuilding champion and the first woman’s powerlifting champion. She held these titles for three consecutive years without the use of anabolic steroids or other drugs.
Michiko created a bodybuilding boom throughout Japan and was in demand for personal and television appearances. She was also an executive personal trainer and she operated three successful gyms with her brother. Michiko forever changed the stereotype of the submissive and docile Japanese woman by becoming a strong role model. She now lives in the United States.
Michiko began her acting career began in the Hong Kong martial arts comedy film My Lucky Stars (1985), playing the role of a Japanese fighter. Her performance caught the attention of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung who starred in the film. She also appeared in films such as In The Line of Duty III (1988), City Cops (1989), Princess Madam, and God of Gamblers (1989). She was typecast and played mostly villains and femme fatales in her Hong Kong films. At the time she could not speak Cantonese, so she often did not have any dialogue. She returned to Japan, and then traveled to Thailand to star in Whore and the Policewoman (1993). She also appeared in Man on the Moon (1999) starring Jim Carrey, and did stunts for Hollywood films such as Red Corner (1997), Blade (1998), Charlie’s Angels (2000) and Rush Hour 2 (2001).
Michiko Nishiwaki performed the high-risk stunts as a stunt double for Lucy Liu in the film Charlie’s Angels (2000) and won a Taurus World Stunt Award for Best Speciality Stunt in 2001.
