Ken Watanabe

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

95

Gender

Male

Birthday

1959-10-21 (65 years old)

Place of Birth

Uonuma, Niigata, Japan

Ken Watanabe

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

  • Alice in Borderland

    Alice in Borderland

  • Inception

    Inception

  • Batman Begins

    Batman Begins

  • Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen

    Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen

  • Transformers: The Last Knight

    Transformers: The Last Knight

  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters

    Godzilla: King of the Monsters

  • Transformers: Age of Extinction

    Transformers: Age of Extinction

  • Godzilla

    Godzilla

  • The Last Samurai

    The Last Samurai

  • The Creator

    The Creator

  • Tokyo Vice

    Tokyo Vice

  • Isle of Dogs

    Isle of Dogs

  • Earth

    Earth

  • The Fire Still Burns

    The Fire Still Burns

  • Tampopo

    Tampopo

  • Hojo Tokimune

    Hojo Tokimune

  • Hanekonma

    Hanekonma

  • The Sea of Trees

    The Sea of Trees

  • Pokémon Detective Pikachu

    Pokémon Detective Pikachu

  • Kokuho

    Kokuho

  • Memoirs of a Geisha

    Memoirs of a Geisha

  • Segodon

    Segodon

  • Ikebukuro West Gate Park

    Ikebukuro West Gate Park

  • Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald

    Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald

  • Letters from Iwo Jima

    Letters from Iwo Jima

  • Memories of Tomorrow

    Memories of Tomorrow

  • Masamune Shogun

    Masamune Shogun

  • The Final Piece

    The Final Piece

  • All Lives

    All Lives

  • The Sea and Poison

    The Sea and Poison

  • NHK WORLD PRIME

    NHK WORLD PRIME

  • True Love: Making The Creator

    True Love: Making The Creator

  • Unforgiven

    Unforgiven

  • MacArthur's Children

    MacArthur's Children

  • Bel Canto

    Bel Canto

  • Shanghai

    Shanghai

  • Year One in the North

    Year One in the North

  • Fukushima 50

    Fukushima 50

  • 7 Guardians of the Tomb

    7 Guardians of the Tomb

  • Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

    Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

  • Evolution Within Extinction

    Evolution Within Extinction

  • Commando Invasion

    Commando Invasion

  • Another Battle/Conspiracy

    Another Battle/Conspiracy

  • The Unbroken

    The Unbroken

  • Rage

    Rage

  • Baian the Assassin: Showdown

    Baian the Assassin: Showdown

  • Hanzo, the Razor

    Hanzo, the Razor

  • Ganryujima: Kojiro and Musashi

    Ganryujima: Kojiro and Musashi

  • Drowning Fish

    Drowning Fish

  • Chronicle of the Town Magistrate

    Chronicle of the Town Magistrate

  • The Making of "Tampopo"

    The Making of "Tampopo"

  • Bonds

    Bonds

  • Red Sun, Black Sand: The Making of 'Letters from Iwo Jima'

    Red Sun, Black Sand: The Making of 'Letters from Iwo Jima'

  • Kekkon Annai Mystery

    Kekkon Annai Mystery

  • Snow Jack

    Snow Jack

  • An Artist of the Floating World

    An Artist of the Floating World

  • Space Travelers

    Space Travelers

  • Oda Nobunaga

    Oda Nobunaga

  • Unbound

    Unbound

  • Baian the Assassin

    Baian the Assassin

  • Gokenin Zankuro

    Gokenin Zankuro

  • Back of Father

    Back of Father

  • T.R.Y.

    T.R.Y.

  • Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS

    Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS

  • The Whispered City

    The Whispered City

  • A School Behind Bars

    A School Behind Bars

  • TRUE COLORS

    TRUE COLORS

  • Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko

    Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko

  • Waga Machi

    Waga Machi

  • Revenge in Kobikicho

    Revenge in Kobikicho

  • The King and I

    The King and I

  • Kensuke's Kingdom

    Kensuke's Kingdom

  • 劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編

    劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編

  • Toubousha

    Toubousha

  • LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER

    LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER

  • Vessel of Sand

    Vessel of Sand

  • Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home

    Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home

  • 川、いつか海へ 6つの愛の物語

    川、いつか海へ 6つの愛の物語

  • Baian the Assassin

    Baian the Assassin

  • A Tale of Two Truncheons

    A Tale of Two Truncheons

  • 横山秀夫サスペンス シリーズ (TBS)

    横山秀夫サスペンス シリーズ (TBS)

  • Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera -

    Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera -

  • 五年目のひとり

    五年目のひとり

  • Oda Nobunaga

    Oda Nobunaga

  • Dirty, Clean, & Inbetween

    Dirty, Clean, & Inbetween

  • Shimei Tehai

    Shimei Tehai

  • Gyoretsuno dekiru sodanjo

    Gyoretsuno dekiru sodanjo

  • 強行犯捜査第七係

    強行犯捜査第七係

  • Kagi-shi

    Kagi-shi

  • 藤田宜永サスペンス「異端の夏」

    藤田宜永サスペンス「異端の夏」

  • Izakaya Chōji

    Izakaya Chōji

  • Musuko no Gokikan

    Musuko no Gokikan

  • The Memories of Happiness

    The Memories of Happiness

  • 第三の時効

    第三の時効

  • A Naive History of the Bakumatsu Era

    A Naive History of the Bakumatsu Era