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

All Lives
2024

True Love: Making The Creator
Self
2023

The Creator
Harun
2023

劇場の灯を消すな!PARCO劇場編
2020

Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
2019

Pokémon Detective Pikachu
Lieutenant Hide Yoshida
2019

Bel Canto
Katsumi Hosokawa
2018

Isle of Dogs
Head Surgeon (voice)
2018

Transformers: The Last Knight
Drift (voice)
2017

Dirty, Clean, & Inbetween
Restaurant Patron
2017

Rage
Yohei Maki
2016

The Sea of Trees
Takumi Nakamura
2016

Evolution Within Extinction
Self
2014

Snow Jack
Reiji Kurata
2014

Transformers: Age of Extinction
Drift (voice)
2014

Godzilla
Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
2014

Unforgiven
Jubee Kamata
2013

Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home
Junichiro Kawaguchi
2012

Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera -
2011

A School Behind Bars
2010

Inception
Saito
2010

Shanghai
Tanaka
2010

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
Mr. Tall
2009

The Unbroken
Hajime Onchi
2009

Earth
Narrator (voice)
2007

Letters from Iwo Jima
General Tadamichi Kuribayashi
2006

Memories of Tomorrow
Masayuki Saeki
2006

Batman Begins
Ra's al Ghul
2005

Year One in the North
Komatsubara Hideaki
2005

The Last Samurai
Moritsugu Katsumoto
2003

T.R.Y.
Masanobu Azuma
2003

Drowning Fish
Miyota
2001

Space Travelers
Sakamaki ("Crusher")
2000

Hanzo, the Razor
1993

Chronicle of the Town Magistrate
Mochizuki Koheita
1992

Oda Nobunaga
1992

Commando Invasion
1987

Tampopo
Gun
1985

第三の時効

盤上の向日葵
2025

Kokuho
Hanjiro
2025

Unbound
Tamema Okitsugu · (40 episodes)
2025

TRUE COLORS
Taichirou Tsujimura · (9 episodes)
2025

Kensuke's Kingdom
Kensuke (voice)
2024

Tokyo Vice
Hiroto Katagiri · (18 episodes)
2022

Toubousha
(2 episodes)
2020

Fukushima 50
Masao Yoshida
2020

An Artist of the Floating World
Ono Masuji
2019

The King and I
The King of Siam
2018

7 Guardians of the Tomb
Father
2018

Segodon
Shimazu Nariakira · (17 episodes)
2018

NHK WORLD PRIME
Self - Presenter · (1 episode)
2017

The Memories of Happiness
Taro Miura
2017

五年目のひとり
키자키 슈지 · (1 episode)
2016

Back of Father
Takamura Kouji · (1 episode)
2014

Gyoretsuno dekiru sodanjo
Regular · (1 episode)
2011

Memoirs of a Geisha
Chairman
2005

Vessel of Sand
Shuichiro Imanishi · (11 episodes)
2004

川、いつか海へ 6つの愛の物語
(6 episodes)
2003

Another Battle/Conspiracy
Fujimaki Hiroaki
2003
藤田宜永サスペンス「異端の夏」
(1 episode)
2003

Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko
(4 episodes)
2002

横山秀夫サスペンス シリーズ (TBS)
(6 episodes)
2002
強行犯捜査第七係
(1 episode)
2002

Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS
Okubo
2002

Hojo Tokimune
Hojo Tokiyori · (49 episodes)
2001

The Whispered City
Ishida
2000

Ikebukuro West Gate Park
Yokoyama · (11 episodes)
2000
Shimei Tehai
(4 episodes)
1998

Bonds
Detective Sako Akio
1998

Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald
Raita Onuki
1997

Gokenin Zankuro
Zankuro Matsudaira · (8 episodes)
1995

Baian the Assassin: Showdown
Dr. Baian
1993

The Fire Still Burns
Fujiwara Tsunekiyo · (35 episodes)
1993

Kagi-shi
(1 episode)
1993

Waga Machi
(10 episodes)
1992

Izakaya Chōji
(1 episode)
1992

Ganryujima: Kojiro and Musashi
Kojirō
1992

Baian the Assassin
Fujieda Baian · (5 episodes)
1991

A Naive History of the Bakumatsu Era
Ryoma Sakamoto
1991

Baian the Assassin
Dr. Baian
1990

Musuko no Gokikan
(2 episodes)
1990

Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen
(5 episodes)
1990
Oda Nobunaga
(1 episode)
1989

Masamune Shogun
伊達政宗 · (50 episodes)
1987

The Sea and Poison
Toda
1986

Hanekonma
Genzo Onodera · (156 episodes)
1986

The Making of "Tampopo"
Self
1986

Kekkon Annai Mystery
1985

MacArthur's Children
Tetsuo Nakai
1984

A Tale of Two Truncheons
(13 episodes)
1984