Ken Watanabe is a well-known Japanese actor, born in Koide, Niigata to school teacher parents. Ken was part of a band during his school days and was always inclined towards joining the film industry. He got his break in the Japanese television show Mibu Na koiuta and went on to act in a few Japanese films like The Sea and Poison (1986), Kizuna (1988) and Oboreru Sakana (2001). He made his Hollywood debut with the commercially successful and critically acclaimed film The Last Samurai (2003). Ken received an Oscar as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his brilliant performance in the film. A few of his other notable works include Batman Begins (2005), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Inception (2010), Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), Isle of Dogs. (2018).

His 2019 releases include Pokemon Detective and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.