Michiko Nishiwaki (西脇 美智子 Nishiwaki Michiko, born November 21, 1957) is a Japanese actress, stuntwoman, action star, and one of the many B-grade icons of the late 1980s and early 1990s Hong Kong cinema, with a career mostly in Girls with Guns action movies.
As a teen growing up in 1960s Japan, Michiko became interested in bodybuilding when she became dissatisfied with her body image, after being denied by her school's volleyball and gymnastic clubs due to her overly-strong legs. Motivated by her father's death, she started working out at age 10, becoming Japan's first female powerlifting champion and bodybuilding champion.
Her acting career started in 1985 when Hong Kong producers are filming the first installment of the My Lucky Stars movies in Japan. She went into an audition and was cast as the Amazonian Yakuza henchwoman who fought Sibelle Hu in the film's climax. From there, Michiko went on to star in multiple Hong Kong movies, usually as the villain, where she gets to fight pretty much every Action Girl present in 90s Hong Kong cinema, including Moon Lee, Yukari Oshima, Cynthia Khan, Cynthia Rothrock, Sibelle Hu, among others. Her role as a bloodthirsty killing machine in In the Line of Duty III: Force of the Dragon (she gives Cynthia Khan one hell of a challenge) makes her one of Japan's fan-favourite (alongside Yukari Oshima) among Hong Kong B-list movie aficionados.
Later on in her career, Michiko would mostly partake in stuntwork or having guest roles in Hollywood films, including in Kill Bill Volume 2, Memoirs of a Geisha and Resident Evil: Extinction.
Nishiwaki is currently the owner of three bodybuilding centers. Her American (and second) husband Jordan DeBear was also a bodybuilder, whom she married in 1996note . They have a son, Kaz(uki) DeBear, who is also a bodybuilder.
Tropes related to this performer:
- Action Girl: Many of her roles are this
- Amazonian Beauty: Muscular as she is, it's hard to deny Michiko is absolutely gorgeous.
- Chronically Killed Actor: Tied with Yukari Oshima, probably.
- Dark Action Girl: Most of her roles.
- Lightning Bruiser: Despite her size, she can strike at lightning-speed, as seen in her fight against Sibelle
in My Lucky Stars. - Unkempt Beauty: She gets roughed up a lot in her fights, even more so than Oshima.
Michiko Nishiwaki's notable films:
- My Lucky Stars
- In the Line of Duty III: Force of the Dragon
- Outlaw Brothers
- City Cops
- King of Gambler
- God of Gamblers - first movie only
- The Dragon Fighter
- The Mighty Gambler
- The Avenging Quartet
- Princess Madam
- Jikuu Senshi Spielban
- Raiders Of Losing Treasure
- Interpol Connection
- Mr. Vampire - appears in the fifth movie
- Passionate Killing In The Dream
- Angel Terminators - first movie only
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (stunts)
- Lethal Weapon 4 (stunts)
- Rush Hour 2 (stunts)
- Kill Bill Volume 2 (stunts)
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- Collateral (stunts)
- Mission: Impossible III (stunts)
- Resident Evil: Extinction (stunts)
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (Evelyn's kung-fu opponent and co-star; cameo).
