The Oscar-nominated actor tells Tatler about working on the new crime drama, which also stars Ansel Engort—and capturing the fascinating criminal underworld of the Japanese capital in the 1990s
Ken Watanabe is starring in HBO Max’s Tokyo Vice, a highly anticipated new crime drama directed and written by J.T. Rogers premiering on April 7.
The show is based on the 2009 memoir by American investigative journalist Jake Adelstein, who worked at a major Japanese newspaper in the 1990s as a reporter and was its first foreign staffer. In the show, Adelstein—portrayed by Ansel Elgort—explores the seedy Tokyo underworld with the help of Watanabe’s Hiroto Katagiri, a Japanese detective who takes Adelstein under his wing.
Don’t miss: First Look: HBO’s ‘Tokyo Vice’ Trailer Reveals a Neon-Soaked Crime Underworld
Watanabe, who began his film career in 1979, is one of the most recognisable faces in Asian entertainment. Perhaps the most famous Japanese actor in Hollywood, he played Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in 2003’s The Last Samurai, and his performance earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the following year. Other notable works include Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) and Godzilla (2014). He has won numerous acting awards in his home country, including Best Actor in the 2007 and 2010 Japan Academy Film Prize.
In an exclusive with Tatler, the actor dives into his character in Tokyo Vice and weighs on whether the series shows the real Japan.
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