Tamlyn Naomi Tomita (born January 27, 1966) is a Ryukyuan Japanese actress, who has appeared in many Hollywood films and television series.
Tomita was born in Okinawa, the daughter of Shiro and Asako Tomita. She is of one quarter-Filipino descent (her mother is half Filipina, half Japanese). Before becoming an actress, she won the title of Queen at the Nisei Week Pageant in Los Angeles in 1984, and Miss Nikkei International in 1985.
In 1986, Tomita made her acting debut in The Karate Kid, Part II, playing Ralph Macchio's love interest. On the film's set, she met Nobu McCarthy, herself a former beauty queen. McCarthy became a role model, mentor and close friend to Tomita, making it especially difficult when in 2002 McCarthy died unexpectedly while on location in Brazil with Tomita, filming Gaijin 2 - Ama-me como sou.
Until the spring of 2006, she dated Japanese American actor Greg Watanabe (brother of American Girls bassist Miiko Watanabe), whom she met when they starred together in The Summer Moon at Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre.
