Eiji Wentz

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Eiji Wentz (ウエンツ瑛士, ウエンツえいじ, Uentsu Eiji; born October 8, 1985) is a singer, entertainer, and actor from Tokyo, Japan. He is well-known as a member of the singer-songwriter duo WaT, and belongs to the production company "Burning Productions."

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[edit] Early life

Eiji Wentz was the youngest and the second son born to a German-American father and a Japanese mother. Due to the family's American background, his father and his brother are fluent in English. However, he is monolingual only fluent in Japanese, and considers himself Japanese. Because both of his parents worked to support the family, Eiji lived with his grandmother as a child. As a teenager, he graduated from Nihon University Sakuragaoka High School.

[edit] Pre-fame

He became involved in the entertainment industry at a very young age. Wentz initially started as a model at age 4, and made his acting debut as the role of Chip in the Four Seasons Musical Troupe Production of Beauty and the Beast. He became famous as a child actor as a regular on the NHK television show Tensai Terebi-kun (天才テレビくん) where he played bass guitar and piano at age 10. During live performances, he played the acoustic bass as well as the keyboard. He started learning the guitar from age 17.

After departing from Tensai Terebi-kun, Wentz was scouted by Johnny's Entertainment but he rejected the company's offer, because he "doesn't like dancing" and "likes comedy." He later entered Burning Productions after the recommendation of Hiromi Go.

[edit] Comedy career

He doesn't like to use his looks to achieve success as a comedian, but if it's for the sake of comedy, Eiji will show off his backside. Because of his spirited attitude many consider him to be one of the best upcoming young comedians. Eiji says he absolutely loves Housei Yamazaki, a famous comedian, because of the times they starred together on Tensai Terebi-kun. In fact, on the November 21, 2005 episode of Fuji Television's HEY!HEY!HEY! MUSIC CHAMP, Yamasaki told one of hosts "He was the first guy to ever respect me." Though Yamazaki is his "god of comedy," he also draws influence from Kouji Imada, Hiroyuki Miyasako, and Hiroshi Shinagawa among others.

[edit] Acting career

Wentz has had many roles in dramas and movies, small and big. He wanted to be the popular Japanese hero Kamen Rider, but never made the show after auditioning twice. However, he did get a part in the 2005 movie Kamen Rider THE FIRST but he did not play the role of the rider.

[edit] Musical career

After Tensai Terebikun ended, Eiji started continued play music, and started a band WaT with Teppei Koike. They started in 2002 with street performances. In February of 2004 they released an indies CD. In August of 2005 they were signed to Universal Music and had their major debut in November 2005. While he had once remained awkward relationship with Teppei Koike, they are now very close. Eiji has spent at least the last four Christmas holidays with Teppei. (The first year they took purikura together in Shinjuku, the second year they ran a marathon for the shooting of their first music video, the third year they ate together at a salisbury steak restaurant, the forth year they had a WaT event as well as shooting for Love Com.) When asked about the future of his career, and the fact that instead of music, Eiji wants his career in television to bloom, Eiji has gotten tears in his eyes and commented that he would never want Teppei to give up music so he wants to go on as well. Eiji's musical influence comes from Mr. Children and The Yellow Monkey. In particular, he admires the lead singer of The Yellow Monkey, Kazuya Yoshii who happens to share his birthday (October 8). On the radio, Yoshii told Eiji, "Some day I want to write you an erotic song to sing."

[edit] Body of works

[edit] Variety television

  • Pretty Kids (Terebi Tokyo) regular
  • Nounai esute IQ Supli (Fuji Terebi) regular
  • Barioku! (Nihon Terebi) host
  • Ame ni mo makezu! (Fuji Terebi) host
  • Ponkikki (Fuji Terebi) host
  • Ai Nori (Fuji Terebi) host
  • D no gekijyou (Fuji Terebi) regular

[edit] Television dramas

  • A drama within the NHK show Tensai Terebi-kun called Kyuumei Senshi Nano Seibaa (1995)
  • NHK's Toshiie Tomatsu (2002) as Mori Ranmaru
  • Nihon Terebi's Tentei Kazoku (2002) as Tomoda Yuuki
  • Nihon Terebi's Gokusen, part 6 guest star (2002) as Yuuki Masato
  • Nihon Terebi's Raion Sensei (2003) as Furuta Takumi
  • Fuji Terebi's Fukiko Hemingu no Kiseki (2003) as Ootsuki Urufu
  • Terebi Asahi's Aa, Tentei Jimusho" (2004) as Inaba Yusuke
  • TBS's Kanou Ai no Gekijou: Tadashii Renai no Susume (2005) as Takeda Hiroaki (first leading role)
  • TBS -RONDO- (2006) as Toda Masato

[edit] Movies

  • Kamen Rider THE FIRST (November 5, 2005) Mitamura Haruhiko (first movie appearance)
  • Brave Story (July 8, 2006) Ashikawa Mitsuru (first voice acting)
  • Rabu Con (July 15, 2006) Dancing Yoshiko
  • Gegege no Kitarou (In post-production) Kitarou (first lead role)
  • Captain Tokyo (In post-production) Furuta

[edit] External links

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