In 2013, Mackenyu turned his full attention to acting- including roles in the feature film Buzz (So-On: The Five Oyaji) (2014) and TV movie Yonimo kimyô na monogatari (2014).
In 2015, he also landed his first lead roles in two USA film productions, Take a Chance (2015) and Tadaima (2015); for the latter he won a best actor award.