Ken Watanabe
Known For
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
Oct 21, 1959 (66 years old)
Place of Birth
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
| 2026 | Samurai VengeanceKinji Shinoda | |
| 2026 | Kyotojin no Hisokana Tanoshimi Rouge: Keisho東雲朔太郎 | |
| 2025 | KokuhoHanjiro Hanai | |
| 2025 | The Final PieceShigeyoshi Toumyo | |
| 2025 | LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER | |
| 2025 | UnboundTamema Okitsugu | |
| 2025 | TRUE COLORSTaichirou Tsujimura | |
| 2024 | All Lives | |
| 2024 | Kensuke's KingdomKensuke (voice) | |
| 2023 | The CreatorHarun | |
| 2023 | True Love: Making The CreatorSelf | |
| 2022 | Tokyo ViceHiroto Katagiri | |
| 2020 | 劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編 | |
| 2020 | Fukushima 50Masao Yoshida | |
| 2020 | Toubousha | |
| 2020 | Alice in BorderlandOld Gentleman | |
| 2019 | Godzilla: King of the MonstersDr. Ishiro Serizawa | |
| 2019 | Pokémon Detective PikachuLieutenant Hide Yoshida | |
| 2019 | An Artist of the Floating WorldOno Masuji | |
| 2018 | Isle of DogsHead Surgeon (voice) | |
| 2018 | Bel CantoKatsumi Hosokawa | |
| 2018 | The King and IThe King of Siam | |
| 2018 | 7 Guardians of the TombFather | |
| 2018 | SegodonShimazu Nariakira | |
| 2017 | Dirty, Clean, & InbetweenRestaurant Patron | |
| 2017 | Transformers: The Last KnightDrift (voice) | |
| 2017 | The Memories of HappinessTaro Miura | |
| 2017 | NHK WORLD PRIMESelf - Presenter | |
| 2016 | RageYohei Maki | |
| 2016 | The Sea of TreesTakumi Nakamura | |
| 2016 | 五年目のひとり키자키 슈지 | |
| 2015 | The Secret Lives of Kyoto Folk東雲朔太郎 | |
| 2014 | GodzillaDr. Ishiro Serizawa | |
| 2014 | Transformers: Age of ExtinctionDrift (voice) | |
| 2014 | Evolution Within ExtinctionSelf | |
| 2014 | Snow JackReiji Kurata | |
| 2014 | Back of FatherTakamura Kouji | |
| 2013 | UnforgivenJubee Kamata | |
| 2012 | Hayabusa: The Long Voyage HomeJunichiro Kawaguchi | |
| 2011 | Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera - | |
| 2011 | Gyoretsuno dekiru sodanjoRegular | |
| 2010 | InceptionSaito | |
| 2010 | ShanghaiTanaka | |
| 2010 | A School Behind Bars | |
| 2009 | Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's AssistantMr. Tall | |
| 2009 | The UnbrokenHajime Onchi | |
| 2009 | 刑事一代 平塚八兵衛の昭和事件史 | |
| 2007 | EarthNarrator (voice) | |
| 2007 | Red Sun, Black Sand: The Making of 'Letters from Iwo Jima'Self | |
| 2007 | 星ひとつの夜Nonoyama Hiroji | |
| 2006 | Letters from Iwo JimaGeneral Tadamichi Kuribayashi | |
| 2006 | Memories of TomorrowMasayuki Saeki | |
| 2005 | Batman BeginsRa's al Ghul | |
| 2005 | Year One in the NorthKomatsubara Hideaki | |
| 2005 | Memoirs of a GeishaLe président | |
| 2004 | Vessel of SandShuichiro Imanishi | |
| 2003 | The Last SamuraiMoritsugu Katsumoto | |
| 2003 | T.R.Y.Masanobu Azuma | |
| 2003 | 第三の時効 | |
| 2003 | Another Battle/ConspiracyFujimaki Hiroaki | |
| 2003 | 川、いつか海へ 6つの愛の物語 | |
| 2003 | 藤田宜永サスペンス「異端の夏」 | |
| 2002 | Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHSOkubo | |
| 2002 | 横山秀夫サスペンス シリーズ (TBS) | |
| 2002 | 強行犯捜査第七係 | |
| 2002 | Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko | |
| 2001 | Drowning FishMiyota | |
| 2001 | Hojo TokimuneHojo Tokiyori | |
| 2000 | Space TravelersSakamaki ("Crusher") | |
| 2000 | The Whispered CityIshida | |
| 2000 | Ikebukuro West Gate ParkYokoyama | |
| 1998 | BondsDetective Sako Akio | |
| 1998 | Shimei Tehai | |
| 1997 | Welcome Back, Mr. McDonaldRaita Onuki | |
| 1995 | Gokenin ZankuroZankuro Matsudaira | |
| 1993 | Hanzo, the Razor | |
| 1993 | Baian the Assassin: ShowdownDr. Baian | |
| 1993 | Kagi-shi | |
| 1993 | The Fire Still BurnsFujiwara Tsunekiyo | |
| 1992 | Ganryujima: Kojiro and MusashiKojirō | |
| 1992 | Oda Nobunaga | |
| 1992 | Chronicle of the Town MagistrateMochizuki Koheita | |
| 1992 | Izakaya Chōji | |
| 1992 | Waga Machi | |
| 1991 | A Naive History of the Bakumatsu EraRyoma Sakamoto | |
| 1991 | Takeda ShingenNarrator | |
| 1991 | Baian the AssassinFujieda Baian | |
| 1990 | Baian the AssassinDr. Baian | |
| 1990 | Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen | |
| 1990 | Musuko no Gokikan | |
| 1989 | Oda Nobunaga | |
| 1987 | Commando Invasion | |
| 1987 | Masamune Shogun伊達政宗 | |
| 1986 | The Making of "Tampopo"Self | |
| 1986 | The Sea and PoisonToda | |
| 1986 | HanekonmaGenzo Onodera | |
| 1985 | TampopoGun | |
| 1985 | Kekkon Annai Mystery | |
| 1984 | MacArthur's ChildrenTetsuo Nakai | |
| 1984 | A Tale of Two Truncheons |
| 2022 | Tokyo ViceExecutive Producer | |
| 2012 | Hayabusa: The Long Voyage HomeProduction Manager | |
| 2006 | Memories of TomorrowExecutive Producer | |
| 1989 | HarimaoProducer |