Hiroyuki Sanada

Hiroyuki Sanada (Japanese: 真田 広之; né Shimozawa; born 12 October 1960) is a Japanese actor. He has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Japan Academy Film Prize, two Hochi Film Awards, a Mainichi Film Award, three Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actor, four Kinema Junpo Awards, and honors from the Yokohama Film Festival. In 2018, he received the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon from the Japanese government for his "artistic developments, improvements, and accomplishments".
He began his career in the mid-1960s at the age of five, and was the protégé of actor Sonny Chiba. A black belt in Kyokushin Karate, he initially gained prominence for his roles in Japanese and Hong Kong action films, later establishing himself as a dramatic actor. He is best known to international audiences for his roles as Ryuji Takayama in Ring (1998) where he played alongside Nanako Matsushima, who was also his co-star in a 1997 television drama A Story of Love. His role as the Fool in a production of the Shakespeare play King Lear (1999–2000) gave him theatrical attention, and led to his appointment as an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2002. Beginning in the 2000s, Sanada grew his Hollywood presence with such roles as Seibei Iguchi in The Twilight Samurai (2002), Ujio in The Last Samurai (2003), and Kenji in Rush Hour 3 (2007).
Sanada's appearances in Hollywood films include Sunshine (2007), Speed Racer (2008), The Wolverine, 47 Ronin (both 2013), Minions (2015), Life (2017), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Army of the Dead (2021), as Hanzo Hasashi / Scorpion in Mortal Kombat (2021), in Bullet Train (2022), and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). He also had recurring roles on Lost (2010) and the HBO series Westworld (2018–2020). Sanada gained acclaim for his role in the FX historical drama series Shōgun (2024) as Yoshii Toranaga, the titular character, a fictionalized version of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Sanada won various best actor accolades for this role.
Born in Tokyo, he was scouted by an entertainer while playing with the son of the actor Kokichi Takada who lived in the same condominium. After working as a model for a magazine for young children, he joined the Himawari Theatre Group at the age of five. Originally planning to be an action movie star, he studied Shorinji Kempo and later took up Kyokushin kaikan karate. He began playing baseball at age 8 as a catcher. Sanada was mentored by actor Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba, and was a member of his Japan Action Club (JAC), becoming his protégé.
At the age of five, Sanada had his first role in the 1966 film Game of Chance (浪曲子守唄) as the son of Chiba's character. He had several roles in Japanese television and films, but quit temporarily so he could focus on living a normal childhood. He said this gave him "a good chance to watch movies as the audience", helping his perspective. By his teenage years he knew how to act, fight, sing, dance, perform stunts, ride horseback, and had developed versatility. Sanada had noticed that many popular actors would develop such skills, and felt it was "the best service for the audience" to do so himself before he practised acting again. He began acting again with a part in a film by Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku.
Sanada received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film Science from Nihon University in 1982. In 1984, Sanada starred with Sonny Chiba and Hiroko Yakushimaru in Legend of the Eight Samurai, which became the number one film in Japan, earning ¥2.3 billion, and was later released in foreign language versions. This film established Sanada as an 80's teen "idol" in Japan. In 1992, Sanada played Yoshinari, a stockbroker turned yakuza in the comedy film Keisho Sakazuki (Succession), with Ogata Ken. In 1997 Sanada starred in a television drama A Story of Love, also known by its Japanese title Konna Koi no Hanashi, where he played the role of Shuichiro Harashima, a wealthy but lonely upper-class businessman who falls in love with a decorating designer from a lower-class family played by Nanako Matsushima. The following year in 1998, Sanada once again co-starred with Nanako Matsushima in the mystery thriller Ringu (Ring) as Takayama Ryuji, the ex-husband of Matsushima's character Reiko, a journalist investigating the death of her niece. Also in 1998, Sanada starred as Asami in Jun Ichikawa's Tadon to Chikuwa. Sanada's role followed the story of a writer suffering from writer's block. In 1999, Sanada starred in Mayonaka Made (Round About Midnight) as Moriyama Koji, a confident jazz trumpet performer who performs at a club called Cotton Tail. In the film, Moriyama sees Michelle Reis's character being attacked by two murderers, who they proceed to chase throughout the film.
In 1999 and 2000, he performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in their production of King Lear. Producer Nigel Hawthorne personally invited Sanada to play the role, yet Sanada had doubts since he had not taken an English-language role before. Sanada was convinced after the producers assured him that he was "an actor first before [being] Japanese or Asian". For this role, he was appointed an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2002, citing his "contribution to spreading British culture in Japan." That year, Sanada played the lead role of the low-ranking Seibei Iguchi in The Twilight Samurai. It follows the turbulent life and times of the character, and documents the financial woes that a 19th-century Japanese warrior could have faced.
In 2003, Sanada's role as Ujio, a master swordsman, opposite Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai, brought him praise. Sanada played Matsuda, a man who befriends Ralph Fiennes' character Todd Jackson, in The White Countess (2005) directed by James Ivory. He starred in the Chinese film The Promise directed by Chen Kaige as General Guangming. Sanada appeared in Rush Hour 3 (2007) with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, Danny Boyle's Sunshine (2007) as Kaneda, and The City of Your Final Destination (2009), in which he plays Pete, the younger lover of Anthony Hopkins's character Adam Gund.
Sanada joined the cast of the ABC TV series Lost in 2010 during its sixth and final season. He portrayed Dogen, a high-ranking member of "The Others". In 2013, he appeared in 47 Ronin (the first English-language adaptation of the Chushingura legend, Japan's most famous tale of samurai loyalty and revenge) alongside Keanu Reeves, as Shingen Yashida in The Wolverine opposite Hugh Jackman, and as Takashi Nagase in The Railway Man, a story of vengeance and reconciliation co-starring Stellan Skarsgård and Colin Firth. He voiced "Sumo Villain" in Minions, a master of strength and power who pursues the Minions.
Sanada was a guest star as Takehaya, a former Japanese Navy officer and legendary pirate captain in post-plague Asia, in the apocalyptic drama series The Last Ship. He also starred in the 2017 movie Life with Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ryan Reynolds. In 2018, he began a recurring role as swordmaster Musashi on the HBO series Westworld and played the minor role of Akihiko in the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame. That year, he received the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon from the Japanese government for his "artistic developments, improvements, and accomplishments" In August 2019, Sanada was cast in the Mortal Kombat reboot as Scorpion. In 2020, Sanada starred alongside Johnny Depp in the film Minamata. In 2021, he played the shrewd casino owner Bly Tanaka in Zack Snyder's action film Army of the Dead.
In 2022, Sanada took the major supporting role of the Elder in Bullet Train opposite Brad Pitt. In 2023, he portrayed Koji Shimazu, manager of the Osaka Continental Hotel, in John Wick: Chapter 4, and was featured in a multi-commercial campaign introducing Mazda CX-90.
In 2021, Sanada was announced as producer and part of the cast of the FX limited series Shōgun, adapted from the James Clavell novel, playing the part of Lord Toranaga. The series has received widespread global critical acclaim, with Sanada's role in the series considered a highlight among many reviewers. In 2024, Sanada became the first Japanese actor or actress to win any Primetime Emmy, and specifically the first Japanese winner of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for his role in Shōgun. Sanada also was a recipient of the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series for his role as a producer for the series. Sanada received the inaugural award for best TV series performance at the EnergaCamerimage International Film Festival for the role. He was nominated for the Gotham TV Award for Outstanding Performance in a Limited Series, and the Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama. Sanada won the prize for Best Actor – Television Series Drama at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, and received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series for the role.