Karen Fukuhara

Biography:

Karen Fukuhara  is an American actress, born on February 10, 1992. She is best known for portraying Tatsu Yamashiro/Katana in the 2016 superhero film Suicide Squad and Kimiko Miyashiro/The Female in Amazon’s original series The Boys (2019–present). Fukuhara has also made a name for herself in voice acting, lending her voice to Kipo in Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Glimmer in Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Haru in Pokémon Concierge.

Born in Los Angeles to Japanese parents, Fukuhara’s first language was Japanese, and she attended a Japanese language school on Saturdays for 11 years. She has a younger brother and began practicing karate in middle school, reaching a brown-striped belt before college. A lifelong Pokémon fan, she grew up playing Game Boy games.

Fukuhara studied at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she was part of the Cultural Affairs Commission and the a cappella group Medleys, alongside actress Kelly Marie Tran. She also worked as a sports reporter for NHK in Japan before graduating in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a minor in Theater.

Her entertainment career began in middle school when she was cast as a host for Disney Channel’s Movie Surfers. Before landing major acting roles, she worked various part-time jobs, including as a translator, subtitle editor, and waitress at a reggae-themed sushi restaurant.

Fukuhara made her film debut in 2016 as Katana in Suicide Squad, undergoing two months of sword training despite her prior martial arts experience. In 2019, she starred in Stray alongside Christine Woods, Miyavi, and Ross Partridge.

She has voiced multiple animated characters, including Sewer Queen and Alexis in Craig of the Creek, Glimmer in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and the lead character in Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (2020). In 2019, she took on the role of Kimiko Miyashiro in The Boys, based on the comic book series.

In 2023, Netflix announced that Fukuhara would voice Haru, the main character in Pokémon Concierge.