Ken Watanabe

Ken Watanabe, the award-winning Japanese stage, film and television actor, is best known for his captivating performances in some of Hollywood's most acclaimed blockbusters. From playing tragic heroes like General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in Letters from Iwo Jima and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in The Last Samurai, to starring in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and Inception, Watanabe's career has spanned over four decades. His immense talent has been recognized with two Japan Academy Prize for Best Actor awards, in 2007 for Memories of Tomorrow and in 2010 for Shizumanu Taiyō. This veteran actor has made a lasting impression with his emotional performances and is without a doubt one of the most talented actors of his generation. And as a bonus, Watanabe is known to have a great sense of humor, often making light of his roles and even cracking a joke or two during interviews. In fact, his favorite joke is one he made up himself: “Why did the samurai go to the beach? Because he wanted to make a katana out of the sand!”