Ken Watanabe
Acting
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.
Born: October 21, 1959 · Uonuma, Niigata, Japan
Filmography (44)
Kokuho
2025
Unbound
2025
TRUE COLORS
2025
Kensuke's Kingdom
2024
The Creator
2023
Tokyo Vice
2022
Alice in Borderland
2020
Fukushima 50
2020
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
2019
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
2019
The King and I
2018
Bel Canto
2018
Isle of Dogs
2018
7 Guardians of the Tomb
2018
Segodon
2018
Transformers: The Last Knight
2017
Rage
2016
The Sea of Trees
2016
The Secret Lives of Kyoto Folk
2015
Back of Father
2014
Transformers: Age of Extinction
2014
Godzilla
2014
Unforgiven
2013
Inception
2010
Shanghai
2010
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
2009
The Unbroken
2009
Earth
2007
Letters from Iwo Jima
2006
Memories of Tomorrow
2006
Memoirs of a Geisha
2005
Batman Begins
2005
Year One in the North
2005
The Last Samurai
2003
Ikebukuro West Gate Park
2000
Space Travelers
2000
Bonds
1998
Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald
1997
Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen
1990
Masamune Shogun
1987
The Sea and Poison
1986
Hanekonma
1986
Tampopo
1985
MacArthur's Children
1984