Ken Watanabe
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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
Credits
Inception (2010)
as Saito
Batman Begins (2005)
as Ra's al Ghul
The Creator (2023)
as Harun
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
as Drift (voice)
Godzilla (2014)
as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
The Last Samurai (2003)
as Moritsugu Katsumoto
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
as Drift (voice)
Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)
as Lieutenant Hide Yoshida
Isle of Dogs (2018)
as Head Surgeon (voice)
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
as Le président
Kokuho (2025)
as Hanjiro Hanai
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi
Tampopo (1985)
as Gun
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)
as Mr. Tall
Shanghai (2010)
as Tanaka
Fukushima 50 (2020)
as Masao Yoshida
The Sea of Trees (2016)
as Takumi Nakamura
Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald (1997)
as Raita Onuki
7 Guardians of the Tomb (2018)
as Father
Earth (2007)
as Narrator (voice)
Kensuke's Kingdom (2024)
as Kensuke (voice)
Bel Canto (2018)
as Katsumi Hosokawa
Rage (2016)
as Yohei Maki
T.R.Y. (2003)
as Masanobu Azuma
Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home (2012)
as Junichiro Kawaguchi
Unforgiven (2013)
as Jubee Kamata
All Lives (2024)
Actor
Year One in the North (2005)
as Komatsubara Hideaki
The Sea and Poison (1986)
as Toda
An Artist of the Floating World (2019)
as Ono Masuji
Space Travelers (2000)
as Sakamaki ("Crusher")
The Unbroken (2009)
as Hajime Onchi
Love of a Thousand Years - Story of Genji (2001)
Actor
Drowning Fish (2001)
as Miyota
Evolution Within Extinction (2014)
as Self
Takeda Shingen (1991)
as Narrator
Snow Jack (2014)
as Reiji Kurata
The Final Piece (2025)
as Shigeyoshi Toumyo
Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS (2002)
as Okubo
MacArthur's Children (1984)
as Tetsuo Nakai
Another Battle/Conspiracy (2003)
as Fujimaki Hiroaki
The Whispered City (2000)
as Ishida
Baian the Assassin (1990)
as Dr. Baian
Bonds (1998)
as Detective Sako Akio
Memories of Tomorrow (2006)
as Masayuki Saeki
A Naive History of the Bakumatsu Era (1991)
as Ryoma Sakamoto
Samurai Vengeance (2026)
as Kinji Shinoda
The Memories of Happiness (2017)
as Taro Miura
Hanzo, the Razor (1993)
Actor
True Love: Making The Creator (2023)
as Self
A School Behind Bars (2010)
Actor
Ashes and Snow (2005)
as Japanese Narrator (voice)
Ganryujima: Kojiro and Musashi (1992)
as Kojirō
Baian the Assassin: Showdown (1993)
as Dr. Baian
Oda Nobunaga (1992)
Actor
The King and I (2018)
as The King of Siam
Kekkon Annai Mystery (1985)
Actor
The Making of "Tampopo" (1986)
as Self
Dirty, Clean, & Inbetween (2017)
as Restaurant Patron
ツナガルココロ 3 LOVE STORIES (2008)
Actor
第三の時効 (2003)
Actor
Commando Invasion (1987)
Actor
Red Sun, Black Sand: The Making of 'Letters from Iwo Jima' (2007)
as Self
劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編 (2020)
Actor
Chronicle of the Town Magistrate (1992)
as Mochizuki Koheita
星ひとつの夜 (2007)
as Nonoyama Hiroji
LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER (2025)
Actor
Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera - (2011)
Actor