Talk:Hiroyuki Sanada

message: Much of Sanda-san's professional career is documented in various fan sites. A google search will turn up dozens of them. One of the most comprehensive is http://hiroyukisanada.com/ There is an extensive cache of video clips from movies and from the RSC production of "King Lear" in which he played the Fool. This is the performance that got him the Birthday Honours. The Lear video clip I saw was astounding. I had never seen him speak English before, let alone Elizabethan English. I wish I could have seen this production.
The Wikipedia stub barely scratches the surface of his career. I think it would be safe to say he's the hardest working actor in Japanese movies. He's been doing this since he was 17. I think the most extraordinary thing about him is that he's a character actor who has remained true to his craft and not succumbed to the sort of celebrity status that requires him to look exactly the same in every movie. Even though he has been a leading man and a male ingenue, his range is too broad for him to get pigeon-holed as any one sort of character. He's always a pleasure to watch even in cheesy movies. And he still does live theatre.
24.13.104.245 06:31, 24 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sanada Online Fan Community 

message: Hiroyuki Sanada was born Hiroyuki Shimosawa in Tokyo on October 12, 1960. At the age of 5, he began to model for magzine covers. He also appeared in his first movie with Shinichi (Sonny) Chiba, who later would become his mentor. In the meantime, Sanada attends school, and then at the age of 13, he joins Chiba's Japan Action Club (JAC) to begin learning horseback riding, the martial arts, jazz and traditional Japanese Dance. After graduating from Horikoshi Gakuen High School for "talento", or gifted children, he makes his debut with Sonny Chiba in "Yagyu Ichizoku no Inbo" which catapults him into an illustrious career as an action star in samurai and ninja movies in the 70's and 80's. Sanada also appeared in many stage plays with JAC, including "Big River" and various other musicals. He eventually wins an award for "Little Shop of Horrors" in 1987.
In 1982, Sanada san graduated from Nihon University of Art, majoring in Film. He then appeared in a famous action film titled "Shogun's Ninja" with Sonny Chiba. His career takes off in the 80's, with more and more dramatic roles. He appears in a tragic love tale "Dotonborigawa" (Lover's Lost) and Mahjong Horoki (Mahjong Vagrant Life); and in several Hong Kong features, including the famous "Royal Warriors" with Michelle Yeoh. Sanada also released several albums in the 80's and toured Japan in rock concerts.
Over the years, Sanada is recognized as an "actor's actor", with various roles in movies, TV dramas, notably a favorite movie among his legion of fans, "Shinjuku Zame" ("Detective Zame"); and the dramas "Hero Interview", "Tabloid", "Konna Koi no Hanashi" and many others. In 2000, the Royal Shakespeare Company cast him as "The Fool" in "King Lear", alongside the great Sir. Nigel Hawthorne. For his performance and his bringing his cultural heritage and diversity to the London stage he was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) from the Queen of England. He had also played "Hamlet" previously in Japan and London. Sanada is the recipient of five Japan Academy Awards, most recently for his portrayal of a widowed father in "Tasogare Seibei" ("The Twilight Samurai"). The movie was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the American Academy Awards (2004), but alas, didn't win.
Sanada stars as "Ujio" in "The Last Samurai". It is this movie that has gained him accolades internationally, and new fans worldwide. Sanada's most current works are Aimless Aegis, WuJi, White Countess, which have now been released for showing. Still to be released are The Sunshine Project, The City of Your Final Destination and Rush Hour 3.--Jamhin4 03:04, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Another Biography 

message: Does anyone know exactly what kind of martial arts Sanada has done? I'm assuming he's done Kendo and/or Iaido but I wasn't sure. Siyavash 01:20, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Martial arts 

message: not that it's not a very good drawing or anything, but if a real picture is available, we should definitely use it. It's a just policy. 86.45.98.162 (talk) 20:50, 30 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  picture... 

message: Added a short paragraph to Sanada's biography, to include his marriage to Satomi Tezuka and his affair with Riona Hazuki. The latter is an unpleasant detail, but it is well documented fact and throughly sourced (check his Japanese Wikipedia page for confirmation) and explains why his career took a serious hit in the latter half of the 90s. To be blunt, the Japanese Wiki page is much more comprehensive, and his Wiki page here would benefit from an overhaul. Jun Kayama (talk) 02:32, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I undid your edit  per Wikipedia: Biography of Living Persons policies. It isn't enough to assert that a fact is "thoroughly sourced" and refer to another language wiki's version of the article. Inline citations have to be included in the English wiki article to support facts in the article. --Mathew5000 (talk) 16:54, 4 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Biography Addition 

message: "In 1999 and 2000, he performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in their production of King Lear. This marked the first time a Japanese actor had performed with the theatrical group[citation needed], and earned Sanada an MBE." 
I have to dispute this claim. British-based Japanese actor Togo Igawa was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company between 1986 and 1988: 
"In 1983 he moved to England. In 1986, during the opening season of the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon Avon, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company as its first Japanese actor. Since then, he has appeared extensively on stage, film, television and radio. In 2006, he formed the British-Japanese “Ichiza Theatre Company". He lives in north Oxfordshire with his English wife, Adrienne Baba, a potter" CineFile. 
Because I was curious to know why Hiroyuki Sanada, not Togo Igawa, got to receive a MBE (ironically or not, Sanada and Igawa appeared in the same film The Last Samurai), I had to investigate. 
As it turned out, the granting had nothing to do with Sanada being the first. He received a MBE in 2002 "for his contribution to spreading British culture in Japan through his performance in a joint Shakespeare production" and it's clear that Sanada was the only Japanese actor in the production of King Lear between 1999 and 2000 (source: "Japanese actor gets British award for Shakespeare performance", 5 Sept 2002, Kyodo News International, Inc.). 
In other words, Sanada wasn't the first Japanese actor to perform with the RSC. Rather, he was the only Japanese actor in that 1999-2000 production.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 0zero9nine (talk • contribs) 13:28, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  First Japanese actor to perform with the RSC? Questionable.