Ueno made her television debut in 2002 at the age of 16 in the
NHK series
Seizon before making her first film major appearance in 2003 in
Chirosoku no Natsu which won her the Sponichi Grand Prize New Talent Award at the
Mainichi Film Awards along with her performance in the 2004 film,
Swing Girls.
Swing Girls proved to be a breakthrough when she received critical acclaim and awards for Best Newcomer at the
Yokohama Film Festival (she was also honored for her performance in
Joze to Tora to Sakana Tachi) and the
Japanese Academy Awards. In 2004, Ueno took on a supporting role in
TBS's romance drama,
Orange Days, and co-starred in 2005 with
Takuya Kimura in
Fuji TV's romantic comedy
Engine as Misae Hoshino. She also appeared with
Kazuya Kamenashi in the special television movie of ''
Kinda'ichi Shōnen no Jikenbo'' the same year taking over the role of Miyuki Nanase from
Anne Suzuki. Ueno's popularity rose further when she was cast as Megumi Noda ("Nodame") in the 2006 live-action television adaptation of the popular
manga Nodame Cantabile. Co-starring opposite
Hiroshi Tamaki, the series' 11-episode run was a success with an average viewership rating of 18.79% with the season finalé garnering 21.7% of the viewership share for its time slot. Ueno's portrayal as the eccentric and disorganized but yet extremely affable and talented pianist won her "Best Lead Actress" at the 51st Television Drama Academy Awards while the show won "Best Drama". The show was also recognized overseas at the 2nd Seoul Drama Festival where it was awarded "Best Miniseries". Ueno and Tamaki reprised their roles in 2007 in the two-part special,
Nodame Cantabile Shinshun Special in Europe, which chronicles their individual struggles to achieve success on Europe's storied classical music stage whilst being away from each other. In 2008, Ueno reunited with
Nodame co-stars
Eita and
Asami Mizukawa in Fuji TV's drama,
Last Friends, as Ruka Kishimoto, a talented
motocross racer with a hidden secret she cannot discuss with friends or family. Taeko Asano, the
screenwriter of
Last Friends praised Ueno's acting of Ruka, stating that Ueno is a "natural genius" and that she became "the character itself". Ueno won "Best Supporting Actress" at the 12th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix and The 57th Television Drama Academy Awards for her role. The Japanese version of
Vogue named her as one of the "Women of the Year 2008". On 9 December 2008, it was announced that she would reprise her role as "Nodame" in a new
Nodame Cantabile two-movie sequel slated for release in 2010, with filming to start in May 2009. On 25 January 2010, it was announced that Ueno would be the lead in the 2011 NHK Taiga drama
Gō based on an original script by
Atsuhime writer . with filming starting in August 2010. The series is Ueno's first role in a historical drama.
Gō is NHK's 50th Taiga drama, and only its 10th drama with a woman as the main character. On April 15, 2010, Ueno took the role of "Haru" in the spring J-Drama
Sunao ni Narenakute which tells a story of the blossoming friendship between five people through
Twitter, along with
Eita],
Hero Jaejoong,
Megumi Seki and
Tetsuji Tamayama. On 11 September 2010, Ueno guest starred in the Korean variety show
MBC's
We Got Married Season 2 while promoting
Nodame Cantabile - The Movie and paid a visit to
SNSD's
Seohyun and
CN Blue's
Jung Yong-hwa. In 2013 she returned to acting with a leading role in the romance film
Girl in the Sunny Place opposite actor
Jun Matsumoto which was based on the best selling novel of the same name. The film opened in Japanese theaters on October 12 and was a commercial success topping the box office and grossing ¥763 million after eight days. In 2014 she starred in the
TBS revenge drama
Alice no Toge as Mizuno Asumi a young woman who becomes a doctor at the hospital her father was treated at in order to get revenge on those responsible for his death. This was followed by another leading role in the
TBS television drama
Ouroboros based on the manga of the same name and opposite actors
Toma Ikuta and
Shun Oguri. This marks her first time starring in a detective drama. and she joined alongside Korean singer
T.O.P for romantic
Web drama titled
Secret Message. In 2021, Ueno starred in 'Is Love Sustainable?' == Personal life ==