KW
Ken Watanabe
Actor, Producer, Additional CreditsBorn October 21, 1959 (65 years)
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
Featured Videos
Filmography
| 2025 | |
| 2025 | |
| 2025 | Kokuho · as Hanjiro Hanai |
| 2025 | Unbound (TV Series) · as Tamema Okitsugu |
| 2024 | |
| 2023 | Kensuke's Kingdom · as Kensuke (voice) |
| 2023 | The Creator · as Harun |
| 2023 | Shikakenin Fujieda Baian · as Cast |
| 2022 | Tokyo Vice (TV Series) · as Hiroto Katagiri |
| 2020 | Fukushima 50 · as Masao Yoshida |
| 2019 | Godzilla: King of the Monsters · as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa |
| 2019 | Pokémon: Detective Pikachu · as Lieutenant Hide Yoshida |
| 2019 | An Artist of the Floating World · as Ono Masuji |
| 2018 | The King and I · as The King Of Siam |
| 2018 | |
| 2018 | Isle of Dogs · as Head Surgeon (voice) |
| 2018 | 7 Guardians of the Tomb · as Father |
| 2018 | Mr. Saigō (TV Series) · as Shimazu Nariakira |
| 2017 | Transformers: The Last Knight · as Drift (voice) |
| 2017 | The Memories of Happiness · as Taro Miura |
| 2016 | Rage · as Yohei Maki |
| 2015 | The Sea of Trees · as Takumi Nakamura |
| 2014 | Transformers: Age of Extinction · as Drift (voice) |
| 2014 | Godzilla · as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa |
| 2013 | Unforgiven · as Jubee Kamata |
| 2012 | Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home · as Junichiro Kawaguchi |
| 2010 | |
| 2010 | Inception · as Saito |
| 2010 | Shanghai · as Tanaka |
| 2009 | Clouds Over the Hill (TV Series) · as Narration |
| 2009 | The Unbroken · as Hajime Onchi |
| 2009 | Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant · as Mr. Tall |
| 2007 | |
| 2006 | Letters from Iwo Jima · as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi |
| 2006 | Memories of Tomorrow · as Masayuki Saeki |
| 2005 | Moonlight in Tokyo · as Inspector |
| 2005 | Memoirs of a Geisha · as Chairman |
| 2005 | Batman Begins · as Ra's Al Ghul |
| 2005 | Ashes and Snow · as Japanese Narrator |
| 2005 | Year One in the North · as Komatsubara Hideaki |
| 2004 | The Castle of Sand (2004) (TV Series) · as Shuichiro Imanishi |
| 2003 | The Last Samurai · as Moritsugu Katsumoto |
| 2003 | T.R.Y. · as Masanobu Azuma |
| 2002 | Another Battle/Conspiracy · as Fujimaki Hiroaki |
| 2002 | |
| 2002 | Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS · as Okubo |
| 2001 | Chushingura 1/47 · as Cast |
| 2001 | Sennen no koi - Hikaru Genji monogatari · as Fujiwara No Michinaga |
| 2001 | Drowning Fish · as Miyota |
| 2001 | Hojo Tokimune (TV Series) · as Hojo Tokiyori |
| 2000 | The Whispered City · as Ishida |
| 2000 | Ikebukuro West Gate Park (TV Series) · as Yokoyama |
| 2000 | Space Travelers · as Sakamaki ("crusher") |
| 1998 | Kizuna · as Detective Sako Akio |
| 1997 | Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald · as Raita Onuki |
| 1995 | Zankuro (TV Series) · as Zankuro Matsudaira |
| 1993 | |
| 1991 | Bakumatsu jyunjyoden · as Ryoma Sakamoto |
| 1990 | Takeda Shingen (1991) (TV Series) · as Narrator |
| 1987 | Masamune the One-Eyed Dragon (TV Series) · as 伊達政宗 |
| 1986 | |
| 1986 | The Sea and Poison · as Toda |
| 1985 | Tampopo · as Gun |
| 1985 | |
| 1984 | MacArthur's Children · as Tetsuo Nakai |
| 1980 | Bruce's Fists of Vengeance · as Samurai Master |