Terada Takuya
BIOGRAPHY
Takuya Terada (Japanese: 寺田拓哉; born March 18, 1992) is a Japanese actor and singer signed to Different Company. He plays Kentaro in The Lie We Lived In (2026), Choi Mu-geon’s right-hand man.
He was born in Moriya, Ibaraki Prefecture. His earliest screen credit is the 2011 Japanese television drama SIGN, playing Ibaraki Tobi. In 2012 he debuted as a member of the multinational K-pop group CROSS GENE under Amuse, Inc., known within the group as the “Gorgeous Gene”; the group’s Japanese debut single, “Shooting Star”, followed in 2013. He served as the group’s leader and vocalist until 2018.
He built a career on both sides of the Korea-Japan border. From 2014 to 2015 he represented Japan as a regular panelist on the JTBC variety show Abnormal Summit (also known as Non-Summit), and has continued to appear on Korean variety programs. He was a torchbearer for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and was appointed a Korean Cultural Ambassador for Ibaraki Prefecture in March 2023. He left CROSS GENE and Amuse in December 2018, signing with the newly established label Different Company in January 2019 to pursue work across both countries.
His later screen credits include the film By Chance (2018) and The Daechi Scandal (2024), alongside an extensive stage career including productions of Black Butler: The Musical and Altar Boyz. In 2026 he was cast as Kentaro in The Lie We Lived In, released on Wavve.
His awards include the Special Jury Prize at the 21st Junon Super Boy Contest (2008) and the International Exchange Award at the 4th Korean Hallyu (Korean Wave) Awards (2014).
The road from that 2008 contest to Korea ran through several steps. He signed with Amuse in 2009 and moved to its Korean arm in 2010 to join a training project, which led to his CROSS GENE debut on June 7, 2012. Within months he was also in the Japanese live-action film Ai Ore! as Rui Kiryuuin, and the same year he played Takao Kusuno in RUN60. In 2014 he took the role of Xi in ZEDD, a film tied to the group, and he hosted the red carpet at the Melon Music Awards. His first Korean television drama, the Mnet series The Lover, followed in 2015, with him playing a character named Takuya.
Korean television also brought him a long run of variety work. During his 52 episodes on Non-Summit he picked up the nickname “Mr Slender Hands”, and the years after brought appearances on Match Made in Heaven Returns and Where Is My Friend’s Home in 2015, the regular cast of Summoners War: Conquerors in 2016, and hosting duties on Yang Sechan’s 10 in 2017. He later hosted the series Takuya’s Tokyo Express in 2018, and guested on King of Mask Singer and Daehan Foreigner in 2019. From 2022 he has been part of the regular cast of Any Body Can Dance.
On stage he played Angel in Black & White in 2010, Agni in Black Butler: Noah’s Ark Circus in 2016 and Abraham in Altar Boyz in 2017. More recent screen work includes the 2023 independent film Toxic Parents, in which he played Ahn Chang-hyun, and the short film Grandpa in 2022. The Daechi Scandal gave him the role of Michio in 2024.
Takuya Terada reaches The Lie We Lived In after fifteen years of work in both Japan and Korea.
His credits run from a Japanese television drama in 2011 to a K-pop group in 2012, Korean variety television from 2014 and a Korean streaming thriller in 2026. In The Lie We Lived In, released on Wavve, he is the man at Choi Mu-geon’s side.
The two awards on his list mark the two directions of that route. The 2008 Junon Super Boy Contest prize came from a Japanese talent contest, while the 2014 Hallyu prize, the same year he joined Abnormal Summit, carries the word exchange in its name and rewards the crossing itself. His moves between companies were quick: he left Amuse in December 2018 and signed with Different Company the following January. The same year, 2018, brought the film By Chance and the Olympic torch role. A career that began with the 2008 Junon contest, then idol training, now includes stage musicals and a streaming role as a loyal lieutenant.
In my view, the striking thing about Takuya Terada is how many different doors he has walked through without settling into only one of them. A contest winner became an idol, the idol became a television personality in a language that was not his own, and the television personality went on to musicals and dramas. What stayed with me is the affectionate nickname Korean audiences gave him, which shows how personal his television presence became. If you want a first view of him, I would start with an episode of Non-Summit for the personality, and then turn to The Lie We Lived In for the lieutenant.
PROFILE DETAILS
- Native Name
- 寺田拓哉
- Real Name
- Takuya Terada (寺田拓哉)
- Nickname
- Takuya (拓哉); "Gorgeous Gene" (CROSS GENE-era nickname)
- Pronouns
- he/him
- Born
- (Age 34)
- Birthplace
- Moriya, Ibaraki, Japan
- Gender
- Male
- Western Zodiac
- Pisces ♓
- Chinese Zodiac
- Monkey 🐒
- Height
- 188 cm
- Nationality
- Debut
- 2011 · SIGN (Japanese TV, 2011) as Ibaraki Tobi; idol debut in 2012 as a member of CROSS GENE
- Agency / Label
- Different Company (since January 2019; formerly Amuse, Inc., CROSS GENE era, 2010-2018)
- Years Active
- 2011-present
- Languages
- Japanese (native), Korean (fluent)
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