Erika Karata (唐田 えりか, Karata Erika; born September 19, 1997) is a Japanese actress and former model associated with FLaMme and BH Entertainment. In 2014, she debuted as a model, and in 2017, she began a concurrent modeling and acting career in South Korea. Notable film and television projects that Karata has starred in include Lock-On Love, Asako I & II, and Arthdal Chronicles.
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Biography
Karata was born on September 19, 1997, in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, in a single-parent household headed by her mother. She has two elder sisters, one four years older and the other two years older. Because her mother was the sole provider supporting the family financially, she [her mother] was often not at home, but even so, Karata has said that she is close with their mother. Her family lived in the countryside, and she has described her childhood upbringing there as "peaceful surrounded by rice paddies."
Career
When Karata was in her second year of high school, she was scouted by an agency official at her workplace, where she had been a part-time employee at a farm theme park. She began her career as a model and first appeared in the music video for "Divine" by Girls' Generation. Afterwards, she made minor appearances in the television dramas Koi Naka and Cho Gentei Noryoku and became the image model for the Sony Financial Holdings commercials.
In 2017, Karata signed with BH Entertainment to manage her activities in South Korea. During this time, she also appeared in a commercial for LG and a music video for "Emptiness" by Naul. In 2018, Karata starred in Asako I & II, for which she won the Best New Actor Award at the Yokohama Film Festival.
In January 2020, due to her affair scandal involving a married actor, Karata went on a short hiatus from acting for a period of time to reflect on "[Her] thoughtless actions, and [she] has deeply regretted it" and "[She] wants to deeply accept and confront her own weaknesses, foolishness, and naivety."
Personal life
On January 23, 2020, Shūkan Bunshun revealed that Karata had been in an extramarital affair with married actor Masahiro Higashide, her co-star on Asako I & II, since 2017, continuing through his wife's pregnancy with their third child. In response, she dropped out of the television series Prayers in the Emergency Room. Episodes 5 and 6 of 100-Character Ideas Made into a Drama!, which she had co-written and starred in, were removed from broadcast. The episodes had been about a newcomer actress being involved in an extramarital affair and had included the name Higashide for Karata's character's friend.
