Meet the cast of Sunny on Apple TV+
Rashida Jones leads the cast of a darkly comic new sci-fi drama.
Rashida Jones stars in the latest original series to drop on Apple TV+, which follows a grieving wife and mother as she uncovers secrets about the husband she recently lost in a horrifying accident.
Accompanying Suzie (Jones) for the journey is an artificially intelligent robot named Sunny (voiced by Joanna Sotomura), who is all too keen to help – but her human owner is sceptical about whether the device can be trusted.
Speaking of what drew her to the project, which is notably darker than her best-known comedy work, Jones explained: "It was so original and weird and dark. And Suzie is not… I'm a bit of a rule follower and Suzie is very much not.
"She doesn't give a s**t about anything. Well, she does give a s**t, but she acts as if she doesn't. And that's a bold thing to do in Japan, for anybody.
Jones added: "And I kind of liked this idea of somebody who has decided that her way of moving through the world is to just kind of knock everything over and not follow the rules."
Read on for everything you need to know about the cast of Sunny on Apple TV+, or check out our Sunny review to find out if the show is worth watching.
Sunny cast: Full list of actors and characters
Check below for a brief overview of the Sunny cast on Apple TV+ or keep scrolling for a more detailed look at the actors and characters in the streaming series.
- Rashida Jones plays Suzie Sakamoto
- Hidetoshi Nishijima plays Masa Sakamoto
- Joanna Sotomura plays Sunny
- annie the clumsy plays Mixxy
- You plays Hime
- Judy Ongg plays Noriko Sakamoto
- Jun Kunimura plays Yuki Tanaka
Rashida Jones plays Suzie Sakamoto
Who is Suzie? Suzie is an American woman, who unexpectedly fell in love with a man named Masa while living in Japan. She ended up relocating there permanently, marrying Masa and having a son with him. In recent memory, their relationship had been going through something of a rough patch, but that abruptly ends when Masa and her son, Zen, are killed in a plane crash. To help her during a period of extremely intense grief, Suzie is gifted an artificially intelligent robot by her late husband's former employer.
What else has Rashida Jones been in? Jones won a legion of fans for her sitcom work, playing Jim's love interest Karen Filippelli in The Office (US) and Leslie's loyal friend Ann Perkins in Parks and Recreation. She went on to play the lead in spoof detective series Angie Tribeca and co-starred in Netflix series BlackAF. More recently, she has been seen in Matt Berry's Toast of Tinseltown as well as fellow Apple TV+ projects On the Rocks and Silo.
Hidetoshi Nishijima plays Masa Sakamoto
Who is Masa? Masa is the late husband of Suzie. In life, he was secretive about his job in tech, telling Suzie that he worked on refrigerators, but was instead experimenting with artificially intelligent robots.
What else has Hidetoshi Nishijima been in? Nishijima rose to international prominence with his 2021 starring role in Drive My Car, which earned an Academy Award for Best International Feature. Previously, he had enjoyed a highly successful career in Japanese television and film, rising to become one of the country's most recognisable leading men.
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Joanna Sotomura plays Sunny
Who is Sunny? Sunny is an artificially intelligent robot gifted to Suzie following the sudden death of her husband and son. She attempts to be positive and helpful at all times, but sometimes this only ends up making her new owner more irritated. One of the biggest questions of the series asks whether Sunny is safe and operational, or if there is a potentially dangerous malfunction hiding somewhere under the surface.
Sunny was brought to life using cutting-edge technology, with Sotomura on set to provide live voice work, while advanced cameras translated her own facial expressions to the LED screen on Sunny. The robot itself had to be controlled by an additional team.
The actor told RadioTimes.com: "I think it was incredibly important to have a practical robot be there instead of something that was totally CGI, or a green screen. I mean, it came with its own very unique set of challenges...
"I would get tucked away in a closet or under the floorboards or sometimes in a wall... and then I would wear this rig with a camera and a ring light on it and a monitor, so I could see everything that Sunny was seeing.
Sotomura added: "To have [Sunny] actually be a functioning live actor on set, even though she's three foot tall, made of metal and plastic, I think really, really sets our show apart from other shows that maybe deal with robots and tech like that."
What else has Joanna Sotomura been in? Sotomura's television credits include The Good Place, Hawaii Five-0, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Barry.
annie the clumsy plays Mixxy
Who is Mixxy? Mixxy is a bartender and mixologist who becomes acquainted with Suzie. She agrees to help the grieving mother and widow get to the bottom of what secrets her late husband was keeping.
What else has annie the clumsy been in? The actor and musician, whose stage name is stylised in lower case, appeared in indie film Miss Osaka and has an online following from her YouTube channel.
You (Yukiko Ehara) plays Hime
Who is Hime? Hime is a formidable figure in the Yakuza, although her interest in Suzie and Masa is shrouded in mystery.
What else has You been in? Yukiko Ehara, better known by the stage name You, is best known for presenting the reality series Terrace House. She has also acted in various Japanese films and television shows.
Judy Ongg plays Noriko Sakamoto
Who is Noriko? Noriko is the mother of Masa, who has a somewhat fraught relationship with Suzie. Although devastated by their loss, she is able to keep more publicly composed than her daughter-in-law.
What else has Judy Ongg been in? Ongg has a long list of credits in Japanese film and television, across a career dating back to the 1960s. She has also found success as a singer, including with her 1979 single Miserarete, which sold more than 2 million copies.
Jun Kunimura plays Yuki Tanaka
Who is Yuki? Yuki is a roboticist, who worked alongside Masa before his untimely death.
What else has Jun Kunimura been in? Kunimura has appeared in live-action adaptations of several major anime franchises, including Parasyte, Attack on Titan, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Fullmetal Alchemist. He also provided the voice of Hattori in acclaimed Studio Ghibli film The Wind Rises. Film fans may also recognise Kunimura from Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Netflix action flick Kate.
Sunny is available to stream exclusively on Apple TV+. New episodes weekly. Subscribe to Apple TV+ for £8.99 per month.
Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
