Ryoko Yonekura

Ryoko Yonekura (米倉 涼子 , born August 1, 1975) is a Japanese actress and former fashion model best known for her role in the Japanese medical drama Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon. She also performs the voice of Black Widow in the Japanese-language releases of the Avengers film series.

Yonekura studied classical ballet for 15 years from the age of five.[citation needed ] Represented by the Oscar Promotion agency, she won the sixth Japan Bishōjo Contest in 1992. In 1993, she started her career as a model, working for fashion magazines such as CanCam.[citation needed ] She announced her intention to start her acting career in 1999. Her acting debut was in the TBS television drama Koi no Kamisama [ja] , and has appeared in many dramas ever since.

Yonekura played the role of Roxie Hart in the Japanese-language production of Chicago in Tokyo 2008 and in 2010. She then learned the role in English and made her Broadway debut in 2012.

In late March 2020, her agency at the time, Oscar Promotion, announced that she would leave the agency after her contract expired on March 31, 2020. She founded her own personal agency, Desafio, in early April of the same year.

In December 2014, Yonekura announced that she had married a company owner two years her junior. In December 2016, Yonekura announced that she had divorced her husband. In a written statement, Yonekura commented, "After timely, repeated discussions, our divorce has been finalized. I am sorry to have caused trouble with my private matters." She continued, "I hope to move forward both as an actress and woman. I will do my best every day in order to challenge myself to various new things. Please continue to give me guidance and encouragement.".

In October 2022, Yonekura announced she was withdrawing from performances of Chicago due to treatment for cerebrospinal fluid hypovolemia.