Koto Kawaguchi spends his weekdays in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, working in service parts logistics for an automaker. Six days a week, he trains in table tennis. Acting was never part of the plan.
Yet on March 13, Japanese audiences will see Kawaguchi on the big screen in 鈥�,鈥� a Hollywood drama that opened in the United States in late 2025 and has grossed more than $172 million worldwide. Directed by Josh Safdie, the film received , including best picture, best director and best actor for star Timothee Chalamet. Kawaguchi appears opposite Chalamet鈥檚 Marty Mauser as Koto Endo, a Japanese table tennis player who lost his hearing during the World War II bombings of Tokyo.
Kawaguchi, 26, is not a professional actor. He is best known in athletic circles as a Deaflympics medalist with a fierce competitive spirit. Last week he also captured his at Japan鈥檚 National Deaf Table Tennis Championships. His casting followed the discovery of a little-watched video that caught the attention of Safdie and Maiko Endo, a producer on the project, leading to a two-month shoot in New York and a brief detour from his regular life in Japan.
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