Ken Watanabe Japanese film, theater and stage actor Date of Birth: 21.10.1959 Country: Japan

Biography of Ken Watanabe

Ken Watanabe is a Japanese film, theater, and stage actor. He has predominantly appeared in Japanese films and television dramas, portraying villains, heroes, generals, and samurais. Gradually, Watanabe started living, thinking, and fighting like a samurai, despite not having any ancestors who served the emperor. In the movie "The Last Samurai," his character's name is Katsumoto, but in reality, he goes by Ken Watanabe. Watanabe is a pure-blooded Japanese, despite his classical American name. He is known for his handsome appearance, with his large eyes, refined nose, and lips, standing at a height of almost 190 cm.

Watanabe speaks English better than his character in movies. He learned acting in an English theater company, where he was told that he had abundant stage talent. At the age of 24, Watanabe entered the world of doubles and special effects. He primarily played villains, heroes, generals, and samurais in Japanese films and television dramas. As a result, Watanabe gradually started living, thinking, and fighting like a samurai. Director Edward Zwick, for example, recalls that even a kitchen knife in Ken's hands immediately became a samurai sword. Watanabe demonstrated tricks with any stick or object longer than 20 cm. In moments of special favor, he invited the film crew to his home and personally prepared sushi by skillfully cutting raw salmon and tuna. "They must be made with love," Ken taught the Americans, "otherwise, you'll definitely cut yourself. In general, one should handle a sushi knife more carefully than a dagger, or else you might lose a finger." However, after getting to know Ken better, Zwick admitted that the Japanese actor was completely opposite to all the samurais he had portrayed. He was not only "strong and calm," but also had a tremendous sense of humor and charm.

Ken Watanabe's parents were teachers, with his father teaching calligraphy to restless Japanese children. Calligraphy itself requires diligence and willpower, so it seems that Ken and his brother Yūnō were not able to relax in their childhood. They were always busy with something: if they were not practicing calligraphy, they were wandering for kilometers in the neighborhood - by foot in the summer and on skis in the winter. Ken also played the trombone in a school ensemble, so he did not roam the stairwells and backstreets, drink, smoke, or burden his karma. But Ken faced a challenge when his life somehow settled down and, one might say, fell into place. He got married, had a son, and received his first role on TV. Unexpectedly, Ken, a strong and healthy young man, began to feel tired, dizzy, lost weight, and became emaciated. The diagnosis was terrifying - leukemia. Fortunately, in Japan, everything is done on time: treatment helped, and now Watanabe has been in remission for several years. A beautiful daughter was born after his son, but a few years later, Ken realized that his family life was a disaster. It was not due to his profession, which took up a lot of time, but because love suddenly left, slamming the door. Love for his wife. As for the children... Now, after finally going through a complicated divorce after 20 years, Ken tries not to talk or think about it. Too much of his life has been sacrificed - to society, the peace of mind of loved ones, circumstances... Perhaps this is also something samurai-like. Or maybe the opposite of a samurai - after all, ancient Japanese warriors easily parted with those they loved in the name of noble goals, did not become attached to people, and did not accumulate wealth.

A few years ago, Watanabe starred in a film called "Godzilla" to bring joy to his children. He did not like the script, but he knew that his son and daughter would go to the cinema and point their fingers at the screen, saying, "Daddy, Daddy!" Just like in "The Last Samurai," he found common ground with Tom Cruise. They had too much in common - a difficult separation from a woman and their children. Cruise even brought Watanabe's children to the film sets in New Zealand and Los Angeles. Ken became sentimental, although samurais, of course, don't cry.

In the late 1980s, the actor married for the first time. His wife was Yumiko Watanabe, with whom he had two children: son Dai Watanabe and daughter Anna, who works as a model in Tokyo. In 2016, Anna made Ken a proud grandfather of two adorable twin granddaughters and in 2017, she gave him a grandson. In 2005, the couple divorced due to Watanabe's multiple extramarital affairs. Watanabe currently lives alone in his luxurious Tokyo apartment. He meditates under the neon lights of advertising signs, paints increasingly perfect calligraphic symbols in his album, and writes in his diary that he doesn't need a woman for all of this. Work, asceticism, and inspiration are also the path of a samurai.

In 2006, the actor appeared in Clint Eastwood's war drama "Letters from Iwo Jima" as the real-life Japanese general Kuribayashi. This thought-provoking and ambiguous film about the senselessness and cruelty of war won the Academy Award for Best Sound and the Golden Globe Award in 2007. In the same year, the drama film "Memories of Tomorrow" was released in Japan, portraying a manager of a major company who develops Alzheimer's disease. Ken Watanabe received the highest award from the Japan Academy for his role in this film.

In 2010, Christopher Nolan invited Watanabe to play one of the leading roles - the wealthy businessman Saito - in his science fiction thriller "Inception." The film won an Oscar in four categories and grossed $825 million worldwide. In 2014, the sci-fi film "Godzilla," directed by Gareth Edwards, was released, with Watanabe portraying the scientist Ichiro Serizawa. And in 2015, director Gus Van Sant presented his film "The Sea of Trees" at the Cannes Film Festival. The film depicted an American tourist (Matthew McConaughey) who gets lost in the Japanese "suicide forest" and an unsuccessful suicide attempt (Ken Watanabe).

In 2016, during a routine examination, Watanabe was diagnosed with early-stage stomach cancer. He postponed his performance in the Broadway musical "The King and I" and underwent surgery at a leading oncology clinic in Japan. Throughout his life, Ken Watanabe has appeared in more than 70 films and TV dramas and has participated in several projects as a producer or co-producer.