is a Japanese fashion model, actress and singer. She signed with Box Corporation at age 16, and made her runway debut at the Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo F/W 2017 show. She is best known for being the face of Soen since 2017.
Motola landed her first feature film role in the coming-of-age drama Girls' Encounter (2018). She received critical acclaim in 2020 for her lead role in the drama film Voices in the Wind, for which she won the Kinema Junpo Award for Best New Actress, and was nominated for several other accolades.
Early life and education Serena Motola was born on October 9, 1998 in Tokyo, Japan and is an only child. Her father is an American national of Italian descent, and her mother is Japanese. Her parents met in the United States, where her mother was working as a Japanese language teacher at the time before moving to Tokyo together. As a child, Motola trained in hip-hop dance, all throughout elementary school and high school. After graduating from high school, Motola enrolled at Bunka Fashion College to study fashion marketing and distribution. She dropped out after her second year to focus on her modelling career.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2017 Girls' Encounter Tsumugi 201921st Century Girl Segment: "Out of Fashion" 2019Black School RulesKio Machida 2020Voices in the WindHaruka Sakura 2020Tokyo Design StoryMutsumi Ono 2022Gudetama: An Eggcellent AdventureAssistant Director Suzuki 2022Japanese StyleIchiko Kuno 2023Ice Cream FeverSaho Hashimoto
Awards and nominations Award Year Category Nominated work Result Japan Film Critics Awards 2020 Best New Actress My Father, the Bride and Black School Rules Nikkan Sports Film Awards 2020 Rookie of the Year Voices in the Wind Mainichi Film Awards 2021 Sponichi Grand Prix Rookie of the Year Kinema Junpo Awards 2021 Best New Actress
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