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