1. Hiroyuki Sanada 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.
Hiroyuki Sanada began his career in the mid-1960s at the age of five, and was the protege of actor Sonny Chiba.
Hiroyuki Sanada is best known to international audiences for his roles as Ryuji Takayama in Ring where he played alongside Nanako Matsushima, who was his co-star in a 1997 television drama A Story of Love.
Hiroyuki Sanada had recurring roles on Lost and the HBO series Westworld.
Hiroyuki Sanada gained acclaim for his role in the FX historical drama series Shogun as Yoshii Toranaga, the titular character, a fictionalized version of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Hiroyuki Sanada began playing baseball at age 8 as a catcher.
Hiroyuki Sanada was mentored by actor Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba, and was a member of his Japan Action Club, becoming his protege.
At the age of five, Hiroyuki Sanada had his first role in the 1966 film Game of Chance as the son of Chiba's character.
Hiroyuki Sanada had several roles in Japanese television and films, but quit temporarily so he could focus on living a normal childhood.
Hiroyuki Sanada said this gave him "a good chance to watch movies as the audience", helping his perspective.
Hiroyuki 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.
Hiroyuki Sanada began acting again with a part in a film by Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku.
Hiroyuki Sanada received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film Science from Nihon University in 1982.
In 1992, Hiroyuki Sanada played Yoshinari, a stockbroker turned yakuza in the comedy film Keisho Sakazuki, with Ogata Ken.
In 1997 Hiroyuki Sanada starred in a television drama A Story of Love, 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.
Also in 1998, Hiroyuki Sanada starred as Asami in Jun Ichikawa's Tadon to Chikuwa.
Hiroyuki Sanada's role followed the story of a writer suffering from writer's block.
In 1999, Hiroyuki Sanada starred in Mayonaka Made as Moriyama Koji, a confident jazz trumpet performer who performs at a club called Cotton Tail.
Hiroyuki Sanada was convinced after the producers assured him that he was "an actor first before [being] Japanese or Asian".
Hiroyuki Sanada played Matsuda, a man who befriends Ralph Fiennes' character Todd Jackson, in The White Countess directed by James Ivory.
Hiroyuki Sanada starred in the Chinese film The Promise directed by Chen Kaige as General Guangming.
Hiroyuki Sanada appeared in Rush Hour 3 with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, Danny Boyle's Sunshine as Kaneda, and The City of Your Final Destination, in which he plays Pete, the younger lover of Anthony Hopkins's character Adam Gund.
Hiroyuki Sanada joined the cast of the ABC TV series Lost in 2010 during its sixth and final season.
Hiroyuki Sanada portrayed Dogen, a high-ranking member of "The Others".
Hiroyuki Sanada voiced "Sumo Villain" in Minions, a master of strength and power who pursues the Minions.
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.
Hiroyuki Sanada starred in the 2017 movie Life with Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ryan Reynolds.
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, Hiroyuki Sanada was cast in the Mortal Kombat reboot as Scorpion.
In 2020, Hiroyuki Sanada starred alongside Johnny Depp in the film Minamata.
In 2022, Hiroyuki Sanada took the major supporting role of the Elder in Bullet Train opposite Brad Pitt.
In 2021, Hiroyuki Sanada was announced as producer and part of the cast of the FX limited series Shogun, adapted from the James Clavell novel, playing the part of Lord Toranaga.
In 2024, Hiroyuki 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 Shogun.
Hiroyuki Sanada was a recipient of the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series for his role as a producer for the series.
Hiroyuki Sanada received the inaugural award for best TV series performance at the EnergaCamerimage International Film Festival for the role.
Hiroyuki Sanada 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.
In 1990, Hiroyuki Sanada married actress Satomi Tezuka and had two sons, but they divorced in 1997 after a very well publicized affair with a younger actress with whom he had co-starred in a film.