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