What does Steven Seagal's oldest daughter, Ayako, think of her father? Well, one clue is the fact that, as Michael Ordona of the Los Angeles Times told us in 2009, she actually uses her mother's surname. This may have been a smart move, because Ayako Fujitani has been able to carve her own career as a model, an actor and a writer, unencumbered by the name of a dude whose cinematic masterpieces tend to include dozens of broken bones. Fujitani's IMDb page reveals a robust acting career that ranges from goofy Gamera monster movies to creepy art-house, and even Michel Gondry's segment in the episodic movie Tokyo!. Oh, and as Matthew Hernon of Tokyo Weekender tells us, she also happens to be a talented author, and has written and directed short films.
While it might be easy to think that Fujitani doesn't use Seagal's name because she doesn't much care for her famous father, she has said on multiple occasions that the two are actually on fine terms — she just avoids bringing him up to stay out of his shadow. "I have never had a problem talking about him, I just generally prefer not to," she says.
