Age: 66
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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.
Mortal Kombat Chapter I is a 2024 American fantasy film based on the video game series Mortal Kombat. It is the first installment in the Mortal Kombat Cinematic Universe. Directed by James Wan, produced by Ed Boon, and written by Guillermo del Toro, the film stars Keanu Reeves in the lead role, alongside Mila Kunis, Jimmy Wong, Donnie Yen, Zachary Quinto, Margot Robbie, Scott Adkins, Chris Evans, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jackie Chan, Donald Glover, Ken Watanabe, Hulk Hogan, and Dave Bautista. It is set during the present time, where Raiden and his team are invited to a tournament known as Mortal Kombat, and Raiden is convinced that Liu Kang is the chosen one and must defeat Shang Tsung. Raiden is very furious once he realizes that he is wrong as his amulet becomes increasingly damaged. Mortal Kombat Chapter I was released on March 19th 2024; it was a box-office success, grossing $716 million worldwide. The film was met with largely positive reviews, with praise for the tone, Reeves's performance, action sequences, visual effects, score, direction, screenplay, and the emotional weight compared to previous Mortal Kombat films. Its respect to the source material was also well-received. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and has been cited as one of the greatest and most influential game adaptions of the 2020s. A sequel entitled Mortal Kombat Chapter II: The Rise of Shinnok is in development.
