Nakajima started modeling since he was still in college, but his real dream was to become an actor. During his modeling days, he was represented by Gig Management. He quit modeling in January 2012 and started auditioning for roles while working part-time jobs. He made his acting debut on stage in April 2013. In 2015, he played Jun'ichi Amamiya in a stage adaptation of
The Black Lizard alongside
Akihiro Miwa. In 2014, Ayumu Nakajima landed his first regular TV role in the series
Hanako to Anne, where he played Ryūichi Miyamoto. He snagged the
Best New Actor award at the
7th Tama Film Awards. In 2019, he made his first appearance in an international film with
Saturday Fiction, which was selected for the competition section of the
76th Venice International Film Festival. Fast forward to 2021, the film he starred in,
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, won the
Silver Bear at the
71st Berlin International Film Festival. From November 2021, he appeared in the Hong Kong film
Anita, a biographical film about
Anita Mui, which was released mainly across Asia (though it did not hit theaters in Japan, the Director's Cut version started streaming on
Disney+ in Japan from April 2022). In 2022, he won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 35th Takasaki Film Festival for his roles in
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. ==Filmography==