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.

Notable films

Where to start

Highlights from credits and KinoChain journeys.

Tampopo

Appears in a KinoChain journey

Inception

As Saito

Batman Begins

As Ra's al Ghul

The Creator

As Harun

The Last Samurai

As Moritsugu Katsumoto

Godzilla

As Dr. Ishiro Serizawa

Isle of Dogs

As Head Surgeon (voice)

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

As Mr. Tall

Topics

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Related people

Collaborators & neighbours

• 

  Hans Zimmer

  Shared 4 credits

• 

  Cillian Murphy

  Shared 3 credits

• 

  Christopher Nolan

  Shared 2 credits

• 

  Bryan Cranston

  Shared 2 credits

• 

  Michael Caine

  Shared 2 credits

• 

  Koji Yakusho

  Shared 2 credits

• 

  Scarlett Johansson

  Shared a credit

• 

  Gareth Edwards

  Shared 2 credits

Acted

Kensuke's Kingdom

2024 · Kensuke (voice)

The Creator

2023 · Harun

Fukushima 50

2020 · Masao Yoshida

Isle of Dogs

2018 · Head Surgeon (voice)

7 Guardians of the Tomb

2018 · Father

The Sea of Trees

2016 · Takumi Nakamura

Godzilla

2014 · Dr. Ishiro Serizawa

Inception

2010 · Saito

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

2009 · Mr. Tall

Memoirs of a Geisha

2005 · Chairman

Batman Begins

2005 · Ra's al Ghul

The Last Samurai

2003 · Moritsugu Katsumoto

Tampopo

1985 · Gun