Hiroyuki Sanada is a Japanese actor and martial artist.
22 Facts About Hiroyuki Sanada
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Hiroyuki Sanada is best known to international audiences for his roles as Genbu in Ninja in the Dragon's Den, Ryuji Takayama in Ring, Seibei Iguchi in The Twilight Samurai, Ujio in The Last Samurai, Kenji in Rush Hour 3, and Scorpion in Mortal Kombat.
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In Japan, Sanada is known for songs he recorded for movies he was in as well as songs he has performed for the public.
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Hiroyuki Sanada made his first major Hollywood appearance portraying Ujio in The Last Samurai, later appearing in such films as Sunshine, Speed Racer, The Wolverine, 47 Ronin, Minions, Life, Avengers: Endgame, Army of the Dead, Bullet Train, and John Wick: Chapter 4.
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Hiroyuki Sanada had a recurring role on the HBO series Westworld.
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Hiroyuki Sanada made his film debut in 1966 in the ninkyo yakuza film Game of Chance starring Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba, reprising his role as Chiba's character's son in two sequels released the following year.
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Hiroyuki Sanada began playing baseball at age 8 as a catcher, and started training at the age of 11 with Chiba's Japan Action Club, where he developed good all-around martial arts ability and soon became Chiba's protege.
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In Japan, Hiroyuki Sanada established himself as a character actor in the 1984 movie Mahjong Hourouki directed by Makoto Wada.
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Hiroyuki Sanada went on to perform roles in major films such as Tasogare Seibei, Ring and Kaito Ruby.
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Hiroyuki Sanada played Matsuda in the 2005 film The White Countess directed by James Ivory.
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Hiroyuki Sanada starred in the Chinese film The Promise directed by Chen Kaige as General Guangming.
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Hiroyuki Sanada appeared in Rush Hour 3 in 2007 with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, Danny Boyle's Sunshine, and The City of Your Final Destination in 2009 in which he plays the younger lover of Anthony Hopkins' character Adam Gund.
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Hiroyuki Sanada joined the cast of the ABC TV series Lost in 2010 during its sixth and final season.
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Hiroyuki Sanada portrayed Dogen, a high-ranking member of "The Others".
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Hiroyuki 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.
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Hiroyuki Sanada starred in the 2017 movie Life with Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ryan Reynolds.
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In 2020, Hiroyuki Sanada starred alongside Johnny Depp in the film Minamata.
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In 2021, Hiroyuki Sanada was announced as part of the cast as well as a producer of the FX limited series Shogun, adapted from the James Clavell novel, playing the part of Lord Toranaga.
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In 2022, Hiroyuki Sanada had a major supporting role in Bullet Train opposite Brad Pitt, and in 2023, he portrayed Koji Shimazu, manager of the Osaka Continental Hotel, in John Wick: Chapter 4.
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Also in 2023, Hiroyuki Sanada was featured in a multi-commercial campaign introducing Mazda's CX-90.
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Hiroyuki Sanada received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Nihon University.
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From 1980 to 1991, Hiroyuki Sanada released a series of albums and singles in Japan as a singer; several of these were tied to films, TV shows, or stage productions he was starring in.