Ken Watanabe
Known for: 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.
Filmography
Film
Inception
Saito
2010
Series
Alice in Borderland
Old Gentleman
2020
Series
Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen
1990
Film
Batman Begins
Ra's al Ghul
2005
Series
Tokyo Vice
Hiroto Katagiri
2022
Film
The Creator
Harun
2023
Film
The Last Samurai
Moritsugu Katsumoto
2003
Film
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
2019
Film
Isle of Dogs
Head Surgeon (voice)
2018
Film
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Drift (voice)
2014
Film
Transformers: The Last Knight
Drift (voice)
2017
Film
Godzilla
Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
2014
Series
Segodon
Shimazu Nariakira
2018
Film
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
Lieutenant Hide Yoshida
2019
Film
Memoirs of a Geisha
Chairman
2005
Series
Hanekonma
Genzo Onodera
1986
Series
Unbound
Tamema Okitsugu
2025
Series
Masamune Shogun
伊達政宗
1987
Series
The Secret Lives of Kyoto Folk
東雲朔太郎
2015
Film
Letters from Iwo Jima
General Tadamichi Kuribayashi
2006
Series
Back of Father
Takamura Kouji
2014
Film
The Sea of Trees
Takumi Nakamura
2016
Film
Kokuho
Hanjiro Hanai
2025
Film
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
Mr. Tall
2009
Series
Ikebukuro West Gate Park
Yokoyama
2000
Film
Fukushima 50
Masao Yoshida
2020
Series
NHK WORLD PRIME
Self - Presenter
2017
Series
TRUE COLORS
Taichirou Tsujimura
2025
Film
Tampopo
Gun
1985
Series
Gokenin Zankuro
Zankuro Matsudaira
1995
Series
The Fire Still Burns
Fujiwara Tsunekiyo
1993
Series
Hojo Tokimune
Hojo Tokiyori
2001
Film
Kensuke's Kingdom
Kensuke (voice)
2024
Film
7 Guardians of the Tomb
Father
2018
Film
Year One in the North
Komatsubara Hideaki
2005
Series
川、いつか海へ 6つの愛の物語
2003
Film
Bel Canto
Katsumi Hosokawa
2018
Series
Vessel of Sand
Shuichiro Imanishi
2004
Film
Earth
Narrator (voice)
2007
Series
Kyotojin no Hisokana Tanoshimi Rouge: Keisho
東雲朔太郎
2026
Film
Shanghai
Tanaka
2010
Series
Waga Machi
1992
Film
Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald
Raita Onuki
1997
Film
The King and I
The King of Siam
2018
Series
Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko
2002
Series
A Tale of Two Truncheons
1984
Series
Toubousha
2020
Film
Rage
Yohei Maki
2016
Film
Samurai Vengeance
Kinji Shinoda
2026
Film
Love of a Thousand Years - Story of Genji
2001
Film
The Unbroken
Hajime Onchi
2009
Film
True Love: Making The Creator
Self
2023
Film
Unforgiven
Jubee Kamata
2013
Series
横山秀夫サスペンス シリーズ (TBS)
2002
Film
The Final Piece
Shigeyoshi Toumyo
2025
Film
Evolution Within Extinction
Self
2014
Series
Baian the Assassin
Fujieda Baian
1991
Film
Ashes and Snow
Japanese Narrator (voice)
2005
Film
Memories of Tomorrow
Masayuki Saeki
2006
Film
Red Sun, Black Sand: The Making of 'Letters from Iwo Jima'
Self
2007
Film
MacArthur's Children
Tetsuo Nakai
1984
Film
T.R.Y.
Masanobu Azuma
2003
Shimei Tehai
1998
Film
Snow Jack
Reiji Kurata
2014
Series
Kagi-shi
1993
Oda Nobunaga
1989
Series
Izakaya Chōji
1992
Series
Musuko no Gokikan
1990
Film
Space Travelers
Sakamaki ("Crusher")
2000
Film
The Sea and Poison
Toda
1986
Film
Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS
Okubo
2002
Film
Drowning Fish
Miyota
2001
Film
Oda Nobunaga
1992
Film
LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER
2025
Film
All Lives
2024
Series
五年目のひとり
키자키 슈지
2016
Film
An Artist of the Floating World
Ono Masuji
2019
Film
The Whispered City
Ishida
2000
Film
Commando Invasion
1987
Film
Dirty, Clean, & Inbetween
Restaurant Patron
2017
Film
Ganryujima: Kojiro and Musashi
Kojirō
1992
Film
Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home
Junichiro Kawaguchi
2012
Film
Baian the Assassin
Dr. Baian
1990
Film
Chronicle of the Town Magistrate
Mochizuki Koheita
1992
Film
Hanzo, the Razor
1993
藤田宜永サスペンス「異端の夏」
2003
Series
Gyoretsuno dekiru sodanjo
Regular
2011
Film
A School Behind Bars
2010
Film
Baian the Assassin: Showdown
Dr. Baian
1993
Proof of the Man 2001
Munesue Koichiro
2001
Film
Bonds
Detective Sako Akio
1998
Film
劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編
2020
Film
Takeda Shingen
Narrator
1991
Film
Kekkon Annai Mystery
1985
Film
A Naive History of the Bakumatsu Era
Ryoma Sakamoto
1991
Film
Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera -
2011
Film
Another Battle/Conspiracy
Fujimaki Hiroaki
2003
Film
星ひとつの夜
Nonoyama Hiroji
2007
Film
The Memories of Happiness
Taro Miura
2017
強行犯捜査第七係
2002
Film
The Making of "Tampopo"
Self
1986
Film
第三の時効
2003
刑事一代 平塚八兵衛の昭和事件史
2009