Rinko Kikuchi at the 2007 Oscars

I will admit that I have no clue who Rinko Kikuchi is, but I am to find out! As it turns out, she is an Academy Award-nominated Japanese actress (for Best Supporting Actress for “Babel”), and the make-up here actually makes her look much older than she really is. The young woman is actually only 26, and is mostly unknown in the West until Alejandro González Iñárritu casted her in his movie “Babel”. She lost the Oscar to that girl from American Idol, but she probably has a better career in front of her. At least, we hope.