Person
Ken Watanabe
Acting · Born 1959-10-21 · Uonuma, Niigata, Japan
Biography
Ken Watanabe (born October 21, 1959) is a Japanese stage, film, and television actor. To English-speaking audiences he is known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in Letters from Iwo Jima and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in The Last Samurai, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Among other awards, he has won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Actor twice, in 2007 for Memories of Tomorrow and in 2010 for Shizumanu Taiyō. He is also known for his roles in director Christopher Nolan's Hollywood blockbusters Batman Begins and Inception.
Known for
Inception
Saito
Alice in Borderland
Old Gentleman
Batman Begins
Ra's al Ghul
Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen
1990
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
Tokyo Vice
Hiroto Katagiri
The Last Samurai
Moritsugu Katsumoto
Godzilla
Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
Transformers: The Last Knight
Drift (voice)
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Drift (voice)
Filmography
- 2026Samurai VengeanceKinji Shinoda
- 2026Kyotojin no Hisokana Tanoshimi Rouge: Keisho東雲朔太郎
- 2025The Final PieceShigeyoshi Toumyo
- 2025LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER
- 2025KokuhoHanjiro Hanai
- 2025UnboundTamema Okitsugu
- 2025TRUE COLORSTaichirou Tsujimura
- 2024All Lives
- 2024Kensuke's KingdomKensuke (voice)
- 2023True Love: Making The CreatorSelf
- 2023The CreatorHarun
- 2022Tokyo ViceHiroto Katagiri
- 2020Alice in BorderlandOld Gentleman
- 2020Toubousha
- 2020劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編
- 2020Fukushima 50Masao Yoshida
- 2019Godzilla: King of the MonstersDr. Ishiro Serizawa
- 2019Pokémon Detective PikachuLieutenant Hide Yoshida
- 2019An Artist of the Floating WorldOno Masuji
- 2018The King and IThe King of Siam
- 2018Bel CantoKatsumi Hosokawa
- 2018Isle of DogsHead Surgeon (voice)
- 20187 Guardians of the TombFather
- 2018SegodonShimazu Nariakira
- 2017NHK WORLD PRIMESelf - Presenter
- 2017Transformers: The Last KnightDrift (voice)
- 2017Dirty, Clean, & InbetweenRestaurant Patron
- 2017The Memories of HappinessTaro Miura
- 2016五年目のひとり키자키 슈지
- 2016RageYohei Maki
- 2016The Sea of TreesTakumi Nakamura
- 2015The Secret Lives of Kyoto Folk東雲朔太郎
- 2014Evolution Within ExtinctionSelf
- 2014Snow JackReiji Kurata
- 2014Back of FatherTakamura Kouji
- 2014Transformers: Age of ExtinctionDrift (voice)
- 2014GodzillaDr. Ishiro Serizawa
- 2013UnforgivenJubee Kamata
- 2012Hayabusa: The Long Voyage HomeJunichiro Kawaguchi
- 2011Gyoretsuno dekiru sodanjoRegular
- 2011Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera -
- 2010A School Behind Bars
- 2010InceptionSaito
- 2010ShanghaiTanaka
- 2009Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's AssistantMr. Tall
- 2009The UnbrokenHajime Onchi
- 2009刑事一代 平塚八兵衛の昭和事件史
- 2008ツナガルココロ 3 LOVE STORIES
- 2007EarthNarrator (voice)
- 2007星ひとつの夜Nonoyama Hiroji
- 2007Red Sun, Black Sand: The Making of 'Letters from Iwo Jima'Self
- 2006Letters from Iwo JimaGeneral Tadamichi Kuribayashi
- 2006Memories of TomorrowMasayuki Saeki
- 2005Memoirs of a GeishaLe président
- 2005Batman BeginsRa's al Ghul
- 2005Ashes and SnowJapanese Narrator (voice)
- 2005Year One in the NorthKomatsubara Hideaki
- 2004Vessel of SandShuichiro Imanishi
- 2003川、いつか海へ 6つの愛の物語
- 2003The Last SamuraiMoritsugu Katsumoto
- 2003第三の時効
- 2003Another Battle/ConspiracyFujimaki Hiroaki
- 2003藤田宜永サスペンス「異端の夏」
- 2003T.R.Y.Masanobu Azuma
- 2002Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko
- 2002横山秀夫サスペンス シリーズ (TBS)
- 2002強行犯捜査第七係
- 2002Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHSOkubo
- 2001Love of a Thousand Years - Story of Genji
- 2001Drowning FishMiyota
- 2001Hojo TokimuneHojo Tokiyori
- 2000The Whispered CityIshida
- 2000Ikebukuro West Gate ParkYokoyama
- 2000Space TravelersSakamaki ("Crusher")
- 1998Shimei Tehai
- 1998BondsDetective Sako Akio
- 1997Welcome Back, Mr. McDonaldRaita Onuki
- 1995Gokenin ZankuroZankuro Matsudaira
- 1993Baian the Assassin: ShowdownDr. Baian
- 1993The Fire Still BurnsFujiwara Tsunekiyo
- 1993Kagi-shi
- 1993Hanzo, the Razor
- 1992Chronicle of the Town MagistrateMochizuki Koheita
- 1992Waga Machi
- 1992Izakaya Chōji
- 1992Oda Nobunaga
- 1992Ganryujima: Kojiro and MusashiKojirō
- 1991Baian the AssassinFujieda Baian
- 1991A Naive History of the Bakumatsu EraRyoma Sakamoto
- 1991Takeda ShingenNarrator
- 1990Baian the AssassinDr. Baian
- 1990Musuko no Gokikan
- 1990Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen
- 1989HarimaoProducer
- 1989Oda Nobunaga
- 1987Masamune Shogun伊達政宗
- 1987Commando Invasion
- 1986The Sea and PoisonToda
- 1986HanekonmaGenzo Onodera
- 1986The Making of "Tampopo"Self
- 1985TampopoGun
- 1985Kekkon Annai Mystery
- 1984MacArthur's ChildrenTetsuo Nakai
- 1984A Tale of Two Truncheons
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