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