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Neighbourhood > Actor Profiles > Takaya Honda

Takaya Honda was born in Canberra in 1987, moving to Sydney with his family at a young age. The son of gymnastic coach parents, his father coached the Australian Women's National Gymnastics Team. Sporty himself, Takaya considered studying in America to play baseball at college level.

Well-educated Takaya graduated from Barker College in 2005 before briefly attending the UNSW College of Fine Arts, studying Digital Media, before switching to the University of Technology in Sydney. He studied for a BA in Communication (Media, Arts and Production), graduating in 2011.

Takaya's acting career began when he was invited to perform with the Sport for Jove Theatre Company. He was noticed through this and got an agent, spending two summers with the theatre company, performing Shakespeare, from 2009 to 2011. Takaya appeared as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Paris in Romeo and Juliet and Dennis and Forrester in As You Like It. He returned from 2012 to 2013 to appear in the critically acclaimed production of Hamlet.

He got his break into television in 2010 playing Josh in children's show A gURLs wURLd. This was both his first audition and his first role. Following this, Takaya won roles in series such as The Code (2014) and Family Law (2016), for which he was part of the cast who won two Ensemble Awards. He has also featured in films such as 2015's Skin Deep, the short Empty Cigarettes, the 2017 comedy Naked Strangers and short Boyz. He also wrote, directed and starred in the film Rememb..., which won Best Editing at the Safezone Film Festival 2006. As well as being a talented actor, Takaya also worked as a TV presenter, having presented children's television series My Great Big Adventure and Play School for a number of years.

But the role that Takaya became most well-known for is Neighbours' Dr David Tanaka, one of Paul Robinsons long-lost twin boys, joining the cast with co-star Tim Kano, who played his brother, Leo, in 2016. During his time on Neighbours, Takaya and the writing team took David on a long journey, from a shy young man, searching for his dad, to a confident, capable doctor, who was brave enough to come out as gay. David was paired up with Aaron Brennan, played by Matt Wilson, to become Neighbours' longest-running same sex couple.

Takaya was part of some ground breaking scenes, as Neighbours went to Sydney Mardi Gras and even hosted their own Erinsborough Pride, aiming to show that they are a series that truly celebrates love and diversity. David and Aaron got married in September 2018, with Neighbours airing the first gay wedding on Australian television, following same sex unions being legalised in the country.

In his own life, Takaya became an Ambassador for Dementia in 2017, a cause very close to his heart, as in 2009, his mother, aged only 52, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. In 2019, Takaya and his girlfriend, Amy got engaged, marrying in November 2020, having been dating for five years. During his vows, Takaya said, "Amy, you have never been a question. You have always been an answer. Life never feels like an if, but a when with you." The couple have talked openly about their fertility struggles.

Takaya made the decision to leave Neighbours in 2021 but when the news hit that the show was to be cancelled in 2022, he agreed to stay on until the series finished, in order to give David and Aaron the happy ending they deserved. However, when Amazon Freevee revived the show the following year, Takaya and Matt were both asked back. Then, in an even bigger twist, it transpired that Takaya had only returned to finish David's story once and for all and in some of the most tragic scenes in the show's history, David was killed, falling over a cliff edge, saving Leo's life. David's last scenes were aired in February 2024. At the time of filming, Takaya was enduring his own tragedy, as his mother was dying and passed away within days of David's death. He has spoken of such love for his Mum, who was already ill when he won the role of David so never completely got to experience him on Neighbours.

He wrote on his Instagram: "As this scene approached my thoughts of her, began turning into more of a motivation. I wasn't using mum to create the emotion for the scene, but for some reason I just felt like I was doing the scene FOR her. I didn't know why at the time but when she passed a few days later it finally made sense to me, why I felt so motivated and why she would pass away at the beginning of my last week of filming. She wanted me to know that she knew, that she had been watching, and she was proud. And as she had been non verbal for years, this was the only way she could tell me."

In his hiatus from Neighbours, Takaya signed up to work on a romantic comedy, The Gift That Gives, which won best film at the New York International Women's Film Festival. Photography is also a real passion of Takaya's, which has since become part of his work. He has worked as a theatre poster, production and rehearsal photographer. He has also worked as a cameraman, editor and producer for a range of promotional videos, as well as his own short films.