Ken Watanabe

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

99

Gender

Male

Birthday

1959-10-21 (66 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

  • Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen

    Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen

  • Batman Begins

    Batman Begins

  • Tokyo Vice

    Tokyo Vice

  • Transformers: Age of Extinction

    Transformers: Age of Extinction

  • Isle of Dogs

    Isle of Dogs

  • The Creator

    The Creator

  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters

    Godzilla: King of the Monsters

  • Godzilla

    Godzilla

  • The Last Samurai

    The Last Samurai

  • Transformers: The Last Knight

    Transformers: The Last Knight

  • Ikebukuro West Gate Park

    Ikebukuro West Gate Park

  • The King and I

    The King and I

  • Kokuho

    Kokuho

  • Segodon

    Segodon

  • Pokémon Detective Pikachu

    Pokémon Detective Pikachu

  • Kensuke's Kingdom

    Kensuke's Kingdom

  • Masamune Shogun

    Masamune Shogun

  • Back of Father

    Back of Father

  • Memoirs of a Geisha

    Memoirs of a Geisha

  • The Secret Lives of Kyoto Folk

    The Secret Lives of Kyoto Folk

  • Tampopo

    Tampopo

  • Unbound

    Unbound

  • Chronicle of the Town Magistrate

    Chronicle of the Town Magistrate

  • Letters from Iwo Jima

    Letters from Iwo Jima

  • LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER

    LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER

  • Hojo Tokimune

    Hojo Tokimune

  • The Fire Still Burns

    The Fire Still Burns

  • Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

    Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

  • Gokenin Zankuro

    Gokenin Zankuro

  • Hanekonma

    Hanekonma

  • Vessel of Sand

    Vessel of Sand

  • 7 Guardians of the Tomb

    7 Guardians of the Tomb

  • TRUE COLORS

    TRUE COLORS

  • 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

  • Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko

    Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko

  • Unforgiven

    Unforgiven

  • A Tale of Two Truncheons

    A Tale of Two Truncheons

  • Toubousha

    Toubousha

  • Waga Machi

    Waga Machi

  • Shanghai

    Shanghai

  • Baian the Assassin

    Baian the Assassin

  • NHK WORLD PRIME

    NHK WORLD PRIME

  • The Unbroken

    The Unbroken

  • Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald

    Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald

  • The Sea of Trees

    The Sea of Trees

  • Fukushima 50

    Fukushima 50

  • Earth

    Earth

  • Oda Nobunaga

    Oda Nobunaga

  • Rage

    Rage

  • Bel Canto

    Bel Canto

  • Oda Nobunaga

    Oda Nobunaga

  • An Artist of the Floating World

    An Artist of the Floating World

  • Evolution Within Extinction

    Evolution Within Extinction

  • Kyotojin no Hisokana Tanoshimi Rouge: Keisho

    Kyotojin no Hisokana Tanoshimi Rouge: Keisho

  • Year One in the North

    Year One in the North

  • T.R.Y.

    T.R.Y.

  • 星ひとつの夜

    星ひとつの夜

  • Memories of Tomorrow

    Memories of Tomorrow

  • 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)

  • The Whispered City

    The Whispered City

  • Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home

    Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home

  • Drowning Fish

    Drowning Fish

  • Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS

    Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS

  • Space Travelers

    Space Travelers

  • The Sea and Poison

    The Sea and Poison

  • A Naive History of the Bakumatsu Era

    A Naive History of the Bakumatsu Era

  • Kagi-shi

    Kagi-shi

  • MacArthur's Children

    MacArthur's Children

  • Snow Jack

    Snow Jack

  • Bonds

    Bonds

  • The Final Piece

    The Final Piece

  • All Lives

    All Lives

  • Shimei Tehai

    Shimei Tehai

  • Izakaya Chōji

    Izakaya Chōji

  • 五年目のひとり

    五年目のひとり

  • Revenge in Kobikicho

    Revenge in Kobikicho

  • Musuko no Gokikan

    Musuko no Gokikan

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

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

  • Gyoretsuno dekiru sodanjo

    Gyoretsuno dekiru sodanjo

  • Baian the Assassin: Showdown

    Baian the Assassin: Showdown

  • Another Battle/Conspiracy

    Another Battle/Conspiracy

  • Kekkon Annai Mystery

    Kekkon Annai Mystery

  • The Making of "Tampopo"

    The Making of "Tampopo"

  • 第三の時効

    第三の時効

  • A School Behind Bars

    A School Behind Bars

  • Hanzo, the Razor

    Hanzo, the Razor

  • The Memories of Happiness

    The Memories of Happiness

  • 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」

  • 劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編

    劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編

  • Baian the Assassin

    Baian the Assassin

  • Ganryujima: Kojiro and Musashi

    Ganryujima: Kojiro and Musashi

  • 強行犯捜査第七係

    強行犯捜査第七係

  • True Love: Making The Creator

    True Love: Making The Creator

  • Dirty, Clean, & Inbetween

    Dirty, Clean, & Inbetween

  • Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera -

    Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera -

  • Commando Invasion

    Commando Invasion

  • 刑事一代 平塚八兵衛の昭和事件史

    刑事一代 平塚八兵衛の昭和事件史