Aju Makita

[1] Makita is the youngest of three siblings and has two older brothers.

Born in Kanagawa Prefecture, Makita made her acting debut at age 7.

[1] In 2012, she appeared in the TV drama Going My Home directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda and has since acted in his films After the Storm (2016), The Third Murder (2017), and Shoplifters (2018).

[1][3] She then won the 2020 Mainichi Film Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as the Hochi Film Award for best supporting actress for her role as a pregnant teenager in Naomi Kawase's True Mothers,[4][5] which was selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival.

[6] Her performance in the film garnered praise from such reviewers as those in The Guardian,[7] the Los Angeles Times,[8] The Hollywood Reporter,[9] and the South China Morning Post.