Ken Watanabe photo

🎭 Acting

Ken Watanabe

Age · 66 Born · Oct 21, 1959 From · Uonuma, Niigata, Japan Films · 68

🎬 IMDb ▶ Watch movies

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

Samurai Vengeance poster

Samurai Vengeance

The Final Piece poster

The Final Piece

Kokuho poster

All Lives poster

Career timeline

2026

Samurai Vengeance Notable

Kinji Shinoda · 2026

2025

The Final Piece Notable

Shigeyoshi Toumyo · 2025

LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER

Hanjiro Hanai · 2025

2024

Kensuke's Kingdom Notable

Kensuke (voice) · 2024

2023

True Love: Making The Creator Notable

The Creator Notable

2020

劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編 Notable

Masao Yoshida · 2020

2019

Godzilla: King of the Monsters Notable

Dr. Ishiro Serizawa · 2019

Pokémon Detective Pikachu Notable

Lieutenant Hide Yoshida · 2019

An Artist of the Floating World

Ono Masuji · 2019

2018

The King and I Notable

The King of Siam · 2018

Katsumi Hosokawa · 2018

Isle of Dogs Notable

Head Surgeon (voice) · 2018

2017

Transformers: The Last Knight Notable

Drift (voice) · 2017

Dirty, Clean, & Inbetween

Restaurant Patron · 2017

The Memories of Happiness

Taro Miura · 2017

2016

Yohei Maki · 2016

The Sea of Trees

Takumi Nakamura · 2016

2014

Evolution Within Extinction Notable

Reiji Kurata · 2014

Transformers: Age of Extinction Notable

Drift (voice) · 2014

2013

Jubee Kamata · 2013

2012

Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home

Junichiro Kawaguchi · 2012

2011

Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera -

2010

A School Behind Bars Notable

Inception Notable

2009

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant Notable

Mr. Tall · 2009

Hajime Onchi · 2009

2007

Narrator (voice) · 2007

星ひとつの夜

Nonoyama Hiroji · 2007

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

2006

Letters from Iwo Jima Notable

General Tadamichi Kuribayashi · 2006

Memories of Tomorrow

Masayuki Saeki · 2006

2005

Memoirs of a Geisha Notable

Le président · 2005

Batman Begins Notable

Ra's al Ghul · 2005

Ashes and Snow Notable

Japanese Narrator (voice) · 2005

2003

The Last Samurai Notable

Moritsugu Katsumoto · 2003

第三の時効

Another Battle/Conspiracy

Fujimaki Hiroaki · 2003

2002

Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS Notable

Frequently appears with

Kazuki Kitamura

Kentaro Sakaguchi

Kuranosuke Sasaki

Tsuyoshi Ishiba

Mahiro Takasugi

Full filmography

Samurai Vengeance poster

Samurai Vengeance

The Final Piece poster

The Final Piece

LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER poster

LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER

Kokuho poster

All Lives poster

Kensuke's Kingdom poster

Kensuke's Kingdom

True Love: Making The Creator poster

True Love: Making The Creator

The Creator poster

劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編 poster

劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編

Fukushima 50 poster

Godzilla: King of the Monsters poster

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Pokémon Detective Pikachu poster

Pokémon Detective Pikachu

An Artist of the Floating World poster

An Artist of the Floating World

The King and I poster

Bel Canto poster

Isle of Dogs poster

7 Guardians of the Tomb poster

7 Guardians of the Tomb

Transformers: The Last Knight poster

Transformers: The Last Knight

Dirty, Clean, & Inbetween poster

Dirty, Clean, & Inbetween

The Memories of Happiness poster

The Memories of Happiness

Continue exploring

🎯

Curated collectionsMovies by mood & theme

Samurai VengeanceView movie page

The Final PieceView movie page