Mackenyu Arata is a Japanese-American actor who has also performed voice acting roles in anime and video game projects. He was born Mackenyu Maeda on November 16, 1996, in Los Angeles, California, and is the son of the late renowned Japanese actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba. Before establishing his acting career, he attended Beverly Hills High School. His career in entertainment began in his teens, and he rose to prominence in Japan with leading roles in live-action film adaptations of popular manga and anime, including the Chihayafuru trilogy, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I, and Tokyo Ghoul S.

Mackenyu's debut as a voice actor came in 2019 when he was cast as Haru in the animated fantasy film Ni no Kuni. In the film, Haru is a high school student and star basketball player who, along with his friend Yuu, is transported to a parallel magical world to save their childhood friend Kotona. This role marked his first foray into voicing an anime character, sharing the screen with other prominent Japanese voice actors such as Kento Yamazaki and Mei Nagano.

In 2023, Mackenyu took on the role of Akuta in the Disney+ original series Dragons of Wonderhatch, a unique project that blends live-action with anime segments. In this series, he portrayed Akuta, a heroic dragonrider and leader of a unit in a fantastical parallel world. While Mackenyu appeared as Akuta in the live-action portions of the show, the character was also featured in the anime segments, which were voiced by other cast members such as Yu Shimamura and Kenta Miyake.

While primarily known for his live-action work, Mackenyu's involvement with voice acting extends to video games. In 2025, he was cast in the video game Assassin's Creed Shadows, providing the Japanese and English voice for the character Gensuke. This role was announced by Ubisoft and represents a significant expansion of his voice work into the video game industry.

Throughout his career, Mackenyu has received recognition for his acting abilities. In 2017, he won the Newcomer of the Year Award at the Japan Academy Film Prize for his performance in the Chihayafuru live-action films. He gained international fame for his portrayal of Roronoa Zoro in Netflix's 2023 live-action adaptation of the One Piece manga, further solidifying his status as a leading actor in live-action anime adaptations.