Ken Watanabe
Birthday:
Birthplace:
Koide (now Uonuma), Niigata prefecture
Despite the fact that veteran Japanese actor Ken Watanabe has been appearing in films since the early '80s (foreign film buffs may remember him from a supporting role in the 1985 art-house "noodle Western" Tampopo), it wasn't until his breakthrough role in the Tom Cruise adventure The Last Samurai that the frequent onscreen samurai eventually came to the attention of stateside audiences. Watanabe has been a mainstay of Japanese cinema beloved by legions of older fans overseas, but his performance as the last in a long line of ancient warriors in The Last Samurai is what finally found the modest actor courting international success. Watanabe was born in Niigata to schoolteacher parents -- his father taught calligraphy and his mother general education. A blissful childhood spent exploring the countryside and skiing with his brother Jun was rounded out by Watanabe's love of the trumpet and his involvement with the school band, and though he studied acting early on, he was hesitant to pursue a career before the cameras. Convinced by a director from England's National Theater Company that he was truly gifted in the art of performing, the then 24-year-old hopeful soon landed his first film role. Initial bliss was followed by harsh uncertainty when Watanabe was diagnosed with leukemia shortly thereafter, but the disease would eventually go into remission and his career would skyrocket. Though Watanabe has portrayed many different types of characters in his long and varied career, it is his skill with a sword that has truly cemented his status as a star in Japan -- he has played more samurai than even he can keep track of. It was this magnetism that attracted the attention of Last Samurai director Edward Zwick, who quickly made the decision to cast him in the popular blockbuster. His impressive performance in the film found him nominated for both a 2003 Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Watanabe's son is an actor and his daughter a model.
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
| RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71% | Fukushima 50 |
|
— | 2020 |
| 42% | Godzilla: King of the Monsters |
|
— | 2019 |
| 68% | Pokémon Detective Pikachu |
|
— | 2019 |
| 46% | Bel Canto |
|
— | 2018 |
| No Score Yet | The King and I |
|
— | 2018 |
| 15% | Transformers: The Last Knight |
|
$130.2M | 2017 |
| 17% | The Sea of Trees |
|
$20.6k | 2016 |
| No Score Yet | Rage (Ikari) |
|
— | 2016 |
| 4% | Shanghai |
|
$45.2k | 2015 |
| 17% | Transformers: Age of Extinction |
|
$206.8M | 2014 |
| 76% | Godzilla |
|
$173M | 2014 |
| No Score Yet | Hi Wa Mata Noboru |
|
— | 2014 |
| 94% | Yurusarezaru mono (Unforgiven) |
|
— | 2014 |
| 87% | Inception |
|
$292.6M | 2010 |
| 38% | Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant |
|
$13.9M | 2009 |
| No Score Yet | Hoshi hitotsu no yoru |
|
— | 2007 |
| 86% | Memories of Tomorrow (Ashita no kioku) |
|
— | 2007 |
| 91% | Letters from Iwo Jima |
|
$13.7M | 2006 |
| 35% | Memoirs of a Geisha |
|
$57M | 2005 |
| 84% | Batman Begins |
|
$204.2M | 2005 |
| 66% | The Last Samurai |
|
$111M | 2003 |
| No Score Yet | Sennen no Koi Genji Monogatari |
|
— | 2001 |
| No Score Yet | Space Travelers (Supêsutoraberâzu) |
|
— | 2000 |
| 88% | Welcome Back Mr. McDonald |
|
— | 1999 |
| No Score Yet | Karate Warrior |
|
— | 1988 |
| No Score Yet | The Sea and Poison (Umi to dokuyaku) |
|
— | 1987 |
| 100% | Tampopo |
|
$0.3M | 1985 |
| No Score Yet | Setouchi shonen yakyu dan (MacArthur's Children) |
|
— | 1984 |
TV
| RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet |
Great Performances
1972
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Quotes from Ken Watanabe's Characters
| Saito: | You musn't be afraid to dream a little bigger darling. |
| Eames: | You musn't be afraid to dream a little bigger darling. |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | We call him...... ???! |
| Crosshairs: | We'll let Prime figure this one out. |
| Drift: | Very wise. |
| Crosshairs: | There's no fragging way I'm staying down here with them. No way, no way! |
| Drift: | I was expecting a big car. |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | The arrogance of men is thinking that nature is in our control, and not the other way around. |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in his control, and not the other way around. Let them fight. |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | Nature has an order, a power to restore balance. |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | In 1954, the first time a nuclear submarine ever reached the lower depths, it awakened something ... |
| Vivienne Graham: | The Americans first thought it was the Russians. The Russians thought it was the Americans. All those nuclear tests in the Pacific? Not tests ... |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | They were trying to kill it. |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | The arrogance of men is thinking nature is in their control and not the other way around. Let them fight. |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control, and not the other way around... Let them fight. |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | Let them fight. |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | Godzilla |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | Let them fight |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | A God, an alpha predator, Godzilla. |
| Admiral William Stenz: | This alpha predator of yours doctor, do you really think he has a chance? |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control, and not the other way around. Let them fight. |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | Let them fight. |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | In 1954, we awakened something..... |
| Vivienne Graham: | All those nuclear tests in the pacific........weren't tests! |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | They were trying to kill it! |
| Ford Brody: | Can we kill it? |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | I believe something can....... |
| Ford Brody: | .......a monster?......... |
| Vivienne Graham: | No....... A god! |
| Dr. Ishiro Seriwaza: | "The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control, and not the other way around." |
| Nathan Algren: | What does it say? |
| Katsumoto: | I belong to the warrior in whom the old ways have joined the new. |
| Katsumoto: | Life in every breath. That is the way of the warrior. That is Bushido! |
| Nathan Algren: | Hai. |
| Katsumoto: | When I took these, you were, my enemy. |
| Katsumoto: | When I took these, you were my enemy. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | When I found you in that jail, you were lost. But I believed in you. I took away your fear and I showed you a path. You were my greatest student. It should be you standing by my side, saving the world. |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | I'll be standing where I belong. Between you and the people of Gotham. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | No one can save Gotham. |
| Henri Ducard: | Tomorrow, you will be released. If you are bored of brawling with thieves and want to achieve something there is a rare blue flower that grows on the eastern slopes. Pick one of these flowers. If you can carry it to the top of the mountain you may find what you were looking for in the first place. |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | And what was I looking for? |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Only you can know that. |
| Katsumoto: | You believe a man can change his destiny? |
| Nathan Algren: | l think a man does what he can until his destiny is revealed to him. |
| Saito: | I bought the airline. It seemed neater! |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | You're stronger than your father. |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | You didn't know my father. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | But I know the rage that drives you. That impossible anger strangling the grief, until the memory of your loved one is just... poison in your veins. And one day, you catch yourself wishing the person you loved had never existed so you'd be spared your pain. |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | You're not Ra's Al Ghul. I watched him die. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | But... is Ra's Al Ghul immortal? Or are his metods supernatural? |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | Or cheap parlor tricks to conceal your true identity, Ra's. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Surely a man who spends his nights scrambling over the rooftops of Gotham... wouldn't begrudge me dual identities. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | You have travelled the world to understand the criminal mind and master its secrets. But... a criminal is not complicated. What you really fear is inside yourself. You fear your own power. You fear your anger, the drive to do great or terrible things. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | You have learned to bury your guilt with anger. I will teach you to confront it and to face the truth. You already know how to fight six men. We can teach you how to engage six hundred. You already know how to disappear, we can teach you to become truly invisible. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Gotham's time has come. Like Constantinople or Rome before it the city has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die. This is the most important function of the League of Shadows. It is one we've performed for centuries. Gotham... must be destroyed. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | When a forest grows too wild a purging fire is inevitable and natural. Tomorrow, the world will watch in horror as its greatest city destroys itself. The movement back to harmony will be unstoppable this time. |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | You've attacked Gotham before? |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Of course. Over the ages our weapons have grown more sophisticated. With Gothan we tried a new one: economics. But we underestimated certain of Gotham's citizens... such as your parents. Gunned down by one of the very people they were trying to help. Create enough hunger and everyone becomes a criminal. Their deaths galvanized the city into saving itself and Gotham has limped on ever since. We are back to finish the job. And this time no misguided idealists will get in the way. Like your father you lack the courage to do all that is necessary. If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them... and stab them in the heart. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | You will never learn. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Gentlemen, time to spread the word. And the word is panic. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | You were my greatest student. It should be you standing by my side, saving the world. |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | I'll be standing where I belong. Between you and the people of Gotham. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | No one can save Gotham. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Well, well. You took my advice about theatricality a bit... literally. |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | You're not Ra's al Ghul. I watched him die. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | But is Ra's al Ghul immortal? Are his methods supernatural? |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | Or cheap parlor tricks to conceal your true identity, "Ra's"? |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | Or cheap parlor tricks to conceal your true identity, 'Ra's '? |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | Or cheap parlor tricks to conceal your true identity, 'Ra's'? |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Surely, a man who spends his nights scrambling over the rooftops of Gotham wouldn't begrudge me dual identities? |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | I saved your life. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | I warned you about compassion, Bruce |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | I warned you about compassion, Bruce. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Familiar. Don't you have anything new? |
| Lucius Fox: | How about *this*? |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Only a cynical man would call what these people have "lives," Wayne. Crime, despair... this is not how man was supposed to live. The League of Shadows has been a check against human corruption for thousands of years. We sacked Rome, loaded trade ships with plague rats, burned London to the ground. Every time a civilization reaches the pinnacle of its decadence, we return to restore the balance. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Only a cynical man would call what these people have 'lives,' Wayne. Crime, despair... this is not how man was supposed to live. The League of Shadows has been a check against human corruption for thousands of years. We sacked Rome, loaded trade ships with plague rats, burned London to the ground. Every time a civilization reaches the pinnacle of its decadence, we return to restore the balance. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | When a forest grows too wild, a purging fire is inevitable and natural. |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | You never learned to mind your surroundings. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Have you finally learned to do what is necessary? |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | I won't kill you. But I don't have to save you. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Tomorrow the world will watch in horror as its greatest city destroys itself. The movement back to harmony will be unstoppable this time. |
| Batman/Bruce Wayne: | You attacked Gotham before? |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Of course. Over the ages, our weapons have grown more sophisticated. With Gotham, we tried a new one: Economics. But we underestimated certain of Gotham's citizens...such as your parents. Gunned down by one of the very people they were trying to help. Create enough hunger and everyone becomes a criminal. Their deaths galvanized the city into saving itself...and Gotham has limped on ever since. We are back to finish the job. And this time no misguided idealists will get in the way. Like your father, you lack the courage to do all that is necessary. If someone stands in the way of true justice...you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart. |
| Saito: | Do you want to take a leap of faith or become an old man filled with regret waiting to die alone !!! |
| Saito: | Do you want to take a leap of faith or become an old man filled with regret waiting to die alone! |
| Saito: | Are you here to kill me? |
| General Kuribayashi: | Everything Happens in Three's |
| General Kuribayashi: | Everything happens in three's. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | "Death does not wait for you to be ready! Death is not considerate, or fair! And make no mistake: here, you face Death. " |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Death does not wait for you to be ready! Death is not considerate, or fair! And make no mistake: here, you face Death. |
| Arthur: | If I say to you, don't think about elephants what do you think about? |
| Saito: | Elephants. |
| Katsumoto: | You believe a man can change his destiny? |
| Nathan Algren: | I think a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed. |
| Katsumoto: | What happened to the warriors at Thermopylae? |
| Nathan Algren: | Dead to the last man. |
| Katsumoto: | Well, they won't surrender. |
| Katsumoto: | Katsumoto: The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life. [With his dying breath] Perfect... They are all... perfect... |
| Katsumoto: | The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life. [With his dying breath] Perfect... They are all... perfect... |
| Saito: | I'm gonna buy the airlines, it's neater |
| Saito: | I'm gonna buy the airlines, it's neater. |
| Eames: | No place for tourist in this job |
| Saito: | No room for a tourist on this job. |
| Arthur: | If I say to you don't think about elephants, what's the first thing you think about? |
| Saito: | Elephants. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart. |
| Ra's Al Ghul: | Justice is balance. You burned my house and left me for dead. Consider us even. |
| Saito: | "Are you willing to take a leap of faith, or become an old man filled with regret, waiting to die alone?" |
| Saito: | Don't you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone! |
| General Kuribayashi: | "The United States is the last country in the world that Japan should fight!" |
| General Kuribayashi: | The United States is the last country in the world that Japan should fight. |
| Saito: | Do you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, and die alone? |
| Saito: | I'm asking you to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, destined to die alone? |
| Saito: | I'm asking you to take a leap of faith. Or do you want to become an old man, filled with regret, destined to die alone? |
| Nathan Algren: | There is Life in every breath... |
| Katsumoto: | That is, Bushido. |
| General Kuribayashi: | A day will come when they will weep and pray for your souls. |
| General Kuribayashi: | I am determined to serve and give my life for my country. |
| Arthur: | Don't think about Elephants. What are you thinking about? |
| Saito: | Elephants. |
| Arthur: | It would have to be a 747. |
| Cobb: | Why is that? |
| Arthur: | Because in a 747, the pilot?s up top, and the first class cabin?s in the nose, so no one would walk through. But you?d have to buy out the entire cabin. And the first class flight attendant? |
| Saito: | I bought the airline. It seemed neater. |
| Saito: | Don't you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone! |