Ken Watanabe

Ken Watanabe
Biographical Information
Birthname	渡辺 謙
Born	October 21, 1959
Nationality	Japanese
Gender	Male
Eye Color	Brown
Hair Color	Black
Career
Years Active	1979—present
Inception Role	Saito
Academy Awards	Nomination: Best Perfomance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (2004)

Ken Watanabe (渡辺 謙, Watanabe Ken) (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 Moritsu 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 the father of actors Dai and Anne Watanabe from a previous marriage.

He portrays Saito in Inception.

Awards

• Elandor Awards - Newcomer Award (1987)
• Blue Ribbon Awards - Special Award (2004)
• Television Drama Academy Awards (Winter) - Best Supporting Actor
• Hochi Film Awards - Best Actor
• Nikkan Sports Film Awards - Best Actor
• Blue Ribbon Awards - Best Actor
• Japan Academy Awards - Best Actor
• Fujimoto Prize - Special Prize
• Kinema Junpo Awards - Best Actor
• Hochi Film Awards - Best Actor
• Japan Academy Awards - Best Actor

Award Nominations

• Japanese Academy Awards - Best Supporting Acto
• Japan Academy Awards - Best Supporting Actor
• Japan Academy Awards - Best Supporting Actor
• Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards - Best Supporting Actor
• Academy Awards - Best Supporting Actor
• Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actor
• Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards - Best Supporting Actor
• Golden Globe Awards - Best Supporting Actor
• Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards - Best Supporting Actor
• Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards - Best Supporting Actor
• Satellite Awards - Best Supporting Actor
• Screen Actors Guild Awards - Best Supporting Actor