New face of Prada goes back to school

The new face for Prada's new international men's campaign is none other than former pop idol-turned-actor Takeshi Kaneshiro.

Takeshi said it was a special experience modelling for Prada in which he had to hold a pose for eight hours. Who said modelling was easy? 'The people at Prada were very serious and very detail-oriented about their work. Each day they would shoot one outfit at one scene in the same location,' he said.

Half-Chinese and half-Japanese, Takeshi was born and grew up in Taiwan, and starred in a beverage commercial when he was aged 15.

The timing of the Prada campaign couldn't be more propitious: apart from appearing in nearly every glossy magazine around the world, Takeshi's US movie debut - Too Tired to Die - is about to premiere in America.

But it wasn't movies that Takeshi first shone in. He released his first album in 1992, which captured the attention of many film directors, including Wong Kar-wai who cast him in Chungking Express with Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia, and Fallen Angels opposite Faye Wong.

Takeshi now has 24 movie credits under his belt.

But for the time being, Takeshi is going on vacation, or should we say 'back to school', to learn more about the art of film-making.

'In the entertainment business, it seems almost impossible to have a vacation that fits into your working schedule,' said Takeshi who is fluent in Mandarin, Japanese, English, Cantonese and Fukien. 'Yet, it's happened and I am making the best out of it. Hopefully, this knowledge would pay off for my career.'