Age: 66
male
Ken Watanabe (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 Moritsugu 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 also known for his roles in director Christopher Nolan's Hollywood blockbusters Batman Begins and Inception.
The Star Wars Prequels chronicle the tragic fall of Anakin Skywalker from gifted Jedi Knight to the dark side, ultimately becoming Darth Vader. Set decades before the original trilogy, the saga follows young Anakin's discovery by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his training under Obi-Wan Kenobi. As the Clone Wars erupt across the galaxy, Anakin becomes increasingly powerful yet tormented by visions of his wife Padmé's death. Manipulated by the sinister Chancellor Palpatine—secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious—Anakin seeks forbidden knowledge to save those he loves. His descent culminates in a devastating betrayal of the Jedi Order and a catastrophic duel with Obi-Wan on a volcanic planet. The trilogy explores themes of ambition, corruption, love, and destiny while revealing how the Galactic Republic falls to tyranny and the Jedi are nearly extinguished. Through political intrigue, epic battles, and intimate character drama, the Prequels complete the Skywalker saga's tragic arc.
