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Portrait of Ken Watanabe

Ken Watanabe

(1959) Street Sweeper Japan

28 quotes in 211 categories

Ken Watanabe is a street sweeper from Japan, best known for Problem solving 101.

Quick Facts About Ken Watanabe

Born: October 21, 1959
Nationality: Japan
Profession: Street Sweeper
Notable works: Problem solving 101

About Ken Watanabe

Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. He is best 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, Watanabe has won the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Actor twice, in 2007 for Memories of Tomorrow and in 2010 for The Unbroken. He is also known for his roles in Christopher Nolan's films Batman Begins and Inception, as well as Memoirs of a Geisha, and Pokémon Detective Pikachu.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Quotes by Ken Watanabe

I went to a foreign country as a Japanese actor, not a Hollywood actor. This takes courage.

Actor

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I'm not a big star in Japan. I'm an actor. I have a very normal life. Four days a week, I cook…

Actors

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If I'm in a restaurant, and someone recognizes me and asks for a signature or a photograph after a drink, that's good…

Actor

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Do what is right because it is right.

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The King struggles to work with other countries. It's a warrior's concern, and as current events [demonstrate], the challenges in working with…

Challenges

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About half the scripts sent to me feature characters I just can't identify with, particularly one-dimensional businessmen or, if it's a comedy,…

About

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Actors are always afraid of ending up like overcooked old soup over time. What's risky is that you don't realize this has…

Ending

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I have no sense of myself as a sex symbol at all. But the meaning of sex symbol might be a little…

Case

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If the script is good, the cast and director good, I'll go anywhere.

Anywhere

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My identity and my background still remain with me when I go to a foreign country. I have kept my nationality.

Background

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I try to differentiate between what I need and don't need. I talk to my wife and children before buying things.

Buying

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Each director is different. Clint Eastwood and Chris Nolan are completely different, and I need to adjust to the story and character…

Actor

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When you're sick, you're not thinking 24 hours a day about your suffering, about dying. You want to talk and laugh and…

Day

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The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one and it would not be a wasted…

Dream

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As a Japanese actor, I really want to work with a lot of actors and actresses in the world and many directors…

Actor

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In 'Letters from Iwo Jima,' there were times when I told Eastwood, 'This is just not believable.'

Believable

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Don't you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone!

Dies

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“Remember, I will always be in front of you.”

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Before 'The Last Samurai,' I couldn't believe I could do that. I didn't think I would be able to explain myself and…

Believe

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All small countries have the same problems and concerns about being protected from larger countries and their influences.

About

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With 'Letters from Iwo Jima,' then 'Memories of Tomorrow,' I reached a sort of turning point in my acting. I had poured…

Acting

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I can't become another person, no matter how much makeup I wear. Something of your own past, your experiences and personality always…

Acting

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English is a very expressive language.

English

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Musicals are written in English, and then we import them to Japan. When we translate them into Japanese, the sounds of the…

Best

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English is like music. The English language is really fit for singing. The notes match the feelings, and it makes sense.

English language

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