About the Cast LUCAS BLACK (Sean Boswell) most recently co-starred in Sam Mendes' wartime drama Jarhead, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx and Peter Sarsgaard and in Peter Berg's 2004 football drama Friday Night Lights, opposite Billy Bob Thornton.  Black has a longstanding relationship with Thornton, which began with his unforgettable performance as Frank Wheatley, the boy who compassionately befriends a mentally handicapped murderer, in Thornton's Oscar-winning Sling Blade. Black shared a Screen Actors Guild nomination with the film's ensemble cast and won the Young Artists Award, the first of four nominations for this honor.  He reunited once again with Thornton with the role as the boyish misfit, Jimmy Blevins, in Thornton's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses. Without any formal acting training, the Alabama native made an auspicious debut at age 11 opposite star Kevin Costner in John Avnet's 1994 feature The War.  The performance helped him land the role of Caleb Temple in the CBS supernatural drama American Gothic.  He continued an active acting career in such projects as Rob Reiner's The Ghosts of Mississippi, Antonio Banderas' directorial debut Crazy in Alabama and Rob Bowman's big screen version of The X Files. Black, who graduated from Speake High School in 2001 (where he played football, baseball, basketball and golf), also appeared alongside Oscar® nominee Jude Law in Anthony Minghella's Academy Award-nominated Civil War epic Cold Mountain and in the independent features Killer Diller and Deepwater, a noirish thriller also starring Peter Coyote.  He has also appeared in guest-starring roles on CBS' Chicago Hope and in Disney's movie-of-the-week Flash. BOW WOW (Twinkie), who made his motion picture debut in the hit family feature Like Mike, is also one of the most successful teen musical sensations in American history. Known as Shad Moss to his family and friends, the 19-year-old most recently starred in the Fox Searchlight teen dramedy Roll Bounce and co-starred alongside Cedric the Entertainer, Vanessa Williams and Steve Harvey in the comedy Johnson Family Vacation. Bow Wow's debut album, “Beware Of Dog” sold over three million copies worldwide and the album's first single, “Bounce With Me,” hit number one on both the Rap and R&B charts.  On his sophomore release, “Doggy Bag,” Bow Wow again collaborated with So So Def CEO Jermaine Dupri, and the first single from that CD, “Thank You,” was dedicated to his many fans.  Along with his own albums, Bow Wow popped up on the soundtracks for the films Wild Wild West and Big Momma's House.  His most recent album, “Wanted,” features the number-one hit singles “Let Me Hold You,” featuring Omarion, as well as “Like You,” featuring Ciara.  On its way to double-platinum status, “Wanted,” is one of Bow Wow's most successful albums to date.  In July, Bow Wow will receive Hollywood Life's “Young Hollywood” award for Most Exciting Movie Crossover artist. Bow Wow's 2001 Scream Tour sold out across the country, and he recently headlined this summer's Scream IV Tour-which grossed more than $20 million- continuing its reign as the number-one teen-heartthrob tour in history. In addition, Bow Wow is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “youngest solo rapper to ever hit number one.”  Expanding upon his amazing career as a recording artist and motion-picture star, he is an entrepreneur whose empire has included a clothing line (Shago) and various other business ventures. NATHALIE KELLEY (Neela) makes her feature film debut in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.  She most recently starred as the title character in the Aaron Spelling-produced pilot Mermaid for the WB. Born in Lima, Peru, and raised in Sydney, Australia, 21-year-old Kelley studied acting in programs at the North Sydney Girls High School and the National Institute of Dramatic Art.  She also participated in the New South Wales State Drama Festival. BRIAN TEE (D.K.) was born in Okinawa, Japan, and moved to the United States at the age of two.  Upon graduating from Wilson High School in the Los Angeles suburb of Hacienda Heights, Tee-at the urging of his parents-enrolled in Cal State Fullerton as a pre-law major.  But always feeling a connection to the arts, he took the class Acting for Non-Majors, and it changed the course of his life. To his family's chagrin, he dropped out of Fullerton in pursuit of a school with a strong theater arts program. Tee subsequently entered the Dramatic Arts Acting program at the University of California, Berkeley.  He graduated from college a semester early and began his acting career in early 1999, appearing in student films and independents.  He finally landed his first role in the NBC television series The Pretender, which led to more work on such popular television shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Monk and, more recently, Wanted and the new CBS series The Unit. Tee most recently appeared in the comedy Fun with Dick and Jane.   His film career was jumpstarted with a memorable role in We Were Soldiers, opposite Mel Gibson.   He has also appeared in Austin Powers: Goldmember and Starship Troopers 2. SUNG KANG (Han) re-teams with director Justin Lin on The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.  They previously worked together on the critically acclaimed drama Better Luck Tomorrow, which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and garnered a Grand Jury Prize nomination. Kang will next star in the upcoming Miguel Arteta-produced comedy The Motel, an Official Selection of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and the indie film noir Undoing, opposite Kelly Hu, Tom Bower and his Tokyo Drift costar Leonardo Nam.  His other film credits include supporting roles in Denzel Washington's Antwone Fisher, Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor and the feature short 9:30, which was an Official Selection at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Originally from Gainesville, Georgia, Kang began acting in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles-based experimental theater group F.A.T.E. (Friends Artist Theater Ensemble) Kang's credits include guest-starring roles on such series as Monk, Cold Case, Threat Matrix, Without a Trace, The Shield, NYPD Blue, Girlfriends, Spin City, Felicity and Martial Law among others. Kang currently resides in Los Angeles. LEONARDO NAM (Morimoto) is an up-and-coming actor who has appeared in both independent and studio films.  His breakout role came in the Paramount comedy The Perfect Score, directed by Brian Robbins and starring Scarlett Johansson and Erika Christensen.  He recently co-starred in the comedy Little Athens, which premiered at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival, and Ken Kwapis' The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  He will next costar in the indie film noir Undoing, opposite Kelly Hu and his Tokyo Drift costar Sung Kang. Born in Argentina and raised in Sydney, Australia, Nam began his career studying in Sydney at the prestigious Actor's Lab under Annie Swann, while appearing in numerous local theatrical productions, including Shakespeare in the Park.  While in New York, he studied with the legendary Uta Hagen and Billy Carden and was a member of Sigourney Weaver and Jim Simpson's Bat Theater Company.  His work in New York also included the New York Public Theater/Shakespeare in the Park Shakespeare Lab Company. Nam most recently appeared in Jim Simpson's off-Broadway play No Mother to Guide Her.  His other theater credits include War in Paramus, New World Rhapsody, Howling Wilderness, Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing. Nam currently resides in Los Angeles and New York. Born in Hyogo, Japan, located outside the city of Osaka, the 19 year-old Keiko Kitagawa first started acting after winning Miss Seventeen Magazine Osaka in 2003. She recently made her feature film-acting debut in the Japanese language film, Mizu ni sumu hana for director Kenji Goto and will next star in the upcoming drama, Mamiya kyoudai, for director Yoshimitsu Morita. Kitagawa is simultaneously learning English whela filming her role in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, her first English-language film. Kitagawa currently resides in Tokyo. At age eight, BRIAN GOODMAN (Mr. Boswell) saw the television movie Brian's Song and just knew acting was something he could do.  Raised in Boston, Goodman began looking locally for acting opportunities.  He heard about a casting call for a film being shot in the city.  He went in for an audition and was given his first role in Southie, a drama about a gang in South Boston.  He went on to land speaking roles in the feature films Snitch (a.k.a. Monument Avenue) and In Dreams. Goodman moved to Los Angeles in 1998 and pursued his acting career.  Eventually, his fortunes turned and he landed a role in the film Scenes of the Crime.  This brought him to the attention of producer Rod Lurie, who championed him for a role in his prison drama The Last Castle. Goodman most recently appeared in Munich, Annapolis and Catch Me if You Can.  His other features include Blow, The Black Rose, Just One Night and the short film Orphan.  His television credits include Line of Fire, Boomtown and Thieves. Goodman's favorite role is that of being a dad to his sons-Mark, 15, and Brian, 21.  He works out and enjoys a variety of sports as participant and viewer: tennis, basketball, golf, softball and ice hockey.  He resides in Los Angeles. JJ SONNY CHIBA (Uncle Kamata) is one of Japan's best-known and most successful film and television stars. His prolific 40-year career has also earned him a significant international following. He rocketed to international fame in 1975 when a film known in Japan as Sudden Attack: The Killing Fist was released internationally as The Street Fighter. Chiba made a strong impression in the title role as the ruthless mercenary Terry Surugi. Distributed in the United States by New Line Cinema, The Street Fighter quickly became a drive-in and grind house cult classic, one of the first movies ever to be rated X for violence alone. Most recently, he co-starred in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol. 1 as the Okinawan sword maker Hattori Hanzo. Born in Fukuoka, Japan, Chiba became interested at an early age in traditional Japanese theater, gymnastics and traditional Kyokushinkai Karate. At Nippon Taiiku University he studied under grandmaster Mas Oyama Koncho and was considered a contender for the Japanese Olympic team until he was sidelined by a back injury. Chiba entered the movie business in 1961, the winner of a New Faces contest at Toei Studios.  The violent action film The Bodyguard (1970) was his first major hit and set the tone for his future career.  He brought an animal ferocity to his fight scenes that eclipsed even Bruce Lee. Until well into the 1980s he specialized in playing amoral technicians of violence in long-running film series such as the Gambler Cop, Golgo 13, Lone Wolf Gambler and Street Fighter franchises. Apart from his appearances as the Street Fighter, Sonny Chiba is probably best known in the U.S. for his role as a tough-talking space captain in Message From Space (1978), director Kinji Fukasaku's Japanese Star Wars clone. In recent years Chiba's screen image-beginning with his first-ever period samurai role in Shogun's Ninja in 1980-has mellowed considerably.  Subsequent successes included Dragon Princess, Virus and Legend of the Eight Samurai.  Chiba has starred in more than 125 films at Toei Studios and has won numerous acting awards in Japan for his dramatic film roles. He also starred in several long-running Japanese television series, including Key Hunter and Juubei Yagyu.  Next Page: About the Crew