Actor Hiroyuki Sanada MBE was born in Japan on October 12, 1960. He was the protégé of actor Sonny Chiba and started his career at the age of five in the 1960s. A Kyokushin Karate black belt, he first became well-known for his parts in action movies from Japan and Hong Kong before making a name for himself as a committed actor.
International audiences are most familiar with him from his performances as Ryuji Takayama in Ring (1998). He gained theatrical recognition for his portrayal of the Fool in a 1999–2000 production of King Lear by Shakespeare, which resulted in his 2002 designation as an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire. With parts like Seibei Iguchi in The Twilight Samurai (2002), Ujio in The Last Samurai (2003), and Kenji in Rush Hour 3 (2007), Sanada expanded his Hollywood profile early in the 2000s.
Hiroyuki Sanada's movies and TV shows
The following list has all the movies and TV shows Sanada has featured in:
| Films | ||
| Year of Release | Movie Title | Character |
| 1966 | Game of Chance | Kenichi Endō |
| 1967 | Game of Chance 2 | Kenichi Endō |
| Game of Chance 3: Lullaby for My Son | Kenichi Endō | |
| 1969 | Abashiri Prison: Drifter at the Edge of the World | Shōichi |
| 1970 | Legacy of Honor | Ichiro Kawamata |
| Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7 | Yasuo Hanada | |
| 1974 | The Executioner | Young Ryūichi Kōga |
| 1978 | Shogun’s Samurai | Hayate |
| Message from Space | Shirō Hongō | |
| 1979 | Sanada Yukimura no Bōryaku | Isa Nyūdō Miyoshi |
| G.I. Samurai | Takeda Katsuyori | |
| Tonda Couple | Hoshida | |
| Shogun's Ninja | Takamaru Momochi | |
| 1981 | Samurai Reincarnation | Iga no Kirimaru |
| Roaring Fire | Jōji Hibiki/Tōru Hinohara | |
| The Kamikaze Adventurer | Akira Hoshino | |
| The Blazing Valiant | Joe | |
| 1982 | Lovers Lost | Kunihiko Yasuoka |
| Ninja in the Dragon's Den | Genbu | |
| Fall Guy | Himself | |
| Ninja Wars | Jōtarō | |
| 1983 | Kabamaru the Ninja | Shizune Mejiro |
| Legend of the Eight Samurai | Shinbei Inue | |
| 1984 | The Street of Desire | Jōji Tanaka |
| Kōtarō Makaritōru! | Tatsuya Yoshioka | |
| Mahjong hōrōki | Tetsu Bōya | |
| 1985 | The Dagger of Kamui | Jiro (voice) |
| 1986 | House on Fire | Chūya Nakahara |
| Inuji ni Seshi Mono | Shigesa | |
| Cabaret | Tanokura | |
| In the Line of Duty: Royal Warriors | Kenji "Peter" Yamamoto | |
| 1987 | Sure Death 4: Revenge | Ukyōnosuke Okuda |
| 1988 | Kaitō Ruby | Tōru Hayashi |
| 1989 | Who Do I Choose? | Jun Yamamoto |
| 1990 | Yellow Fangs | Eiji |
| Let's Go to the Hospital | Kōhei Shintani | |
| Tsugumi | Kyōichi | |
| 1992 | Succession | Masakazu Yoshinari |
| Let's Go to the Hospital 2 | Ichirō Katakura | |
| 1993 | We Are Not Alone | Keiichi Takahashi |
| Nemuranai Machi: Shinjuku Same | Takashi Samejima | |
| 1994 | Uneasy Encounters | Man |
| Hero Interview | Jinta Todoroki | |
| Crest of Betrayal | Takumi-no-kami Asano | |
| 119 | Headquarters member | |
| 1995 | Sharaku | Tonbo |
| East Meets West | Kenkichi Kamijō | |
| Emergency Call | Hideyuki Harada | |
| 1998 | Ring | Ryūji Takayama |
| Spiral | Ryūji Takayama | |
| Murder on D Street | Seiichirō Fukiya | |
| Tadon to Chikuwa | Asami | |
| 1999 | Ring 2 | Ryūji Takayama |
| 2000 | First Love | Shinichirō Fujiki |
| 2001 | Minna no Ie | Bartender |
| Round About Midnight | Kōji Moriyama | |
| Onmyōji | Dōson | |
| 2002 | Vengeance for Sale | Sukeroku Sukedachiya |
| The Twilight Samurai | Seibei Iguchi | |
| 2003 | The Last Samurai | Ujio |
| 2005 | Aegis | Hisashi Sengoku |
| The White Countess | Matsuda | |
| The Promise | General Guangming | |
| 2007 | Sunshine | Kaneda |
| Rush Hour 3 | Kenji | |
| 2008 | Speed Racer | Mr. Musha |
| 2009 | The City of Your Final Destination | Pete |
| 2012 | Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer | Narrator |
| 2013 | The Wolverine | Shingen Yashida |
| The Railway Man | Takashi Nagase | |
| 47 Ronin | Ōishi Yoshio | |
| 2015 | Mr. Holmes | Tamiki Umezaki |
| Minions | Dumo the Sumo (voice) | |
| 2017 | Life | Sho Murakami |
| 2018 | The Catcher Was a Spy | Kawabata |
| 2019 | Avengers: Endgame | Akihiko |
| 2020 | Minamata | Mitsuo Yamazaki |
| 2021 | Mortal Kombat | Hanzo Hasashi / Scorpion |
| Army of the Dead | Bly Tanaka | |
| 2022 | Bullet Train | The Elder |
| 2023 | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Shimaju Koji |
| 2025 | Mortal Kombat 2 | Hanzo Hasashi / Scorpion |
| Television | ||
| Serial No. | Show Title | Year of Release |
| 1 | Freezing Point | 1966 |
| 2 | JNR Inspector No. 36 | |
| 3 | Special Tactical Police | 1967 |
| 4 | Ahirugaoka 77 | 1968 |
| 5 | Mito Kōmon | 1970 |
| 6 | Key Hunter | 1970 |
| 7 | The Gorilla Seven | 1975 |
| 8 | J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai | 1977 |
| 9 | Shinkansen Kōankan | |
| 10 | Message from Space: Galactic Wars | 1978 |
| 11 | The Yagyu Conspiracy | |
| 12 | Seven Detectives | |
| 13 | The Unfettered Shogun | 1979 |
| 14 | Roar! Doberman Cop | 1980 |
| 15 | Yagyu Abaretabi | |
| 16 | Shadow Warriors II | 1981 |
| 17 | Shadow Warriors III | 1982 |
| 18 | Yagyu Jubei Abaretabi | |
| 19 | Wonderful Circus Guy | 1984 |
| 20 | Chōdenshi Bioman | |
| 21 | Shadow Warriors IV | 1985 |
| 22 | And Then the War is Over | |
| 23 | Kamen no Ninja Akakage | |
| 24 | Shadow Warriors: The End of An Era | |
| 25 | Interviewer Saeko: A Returnless Journey | 1986 |
| 26 | Classmate is 13-years-old | 1987 |
| 27 | Dokuganryu Masamune | |
| 28 | Sweet Memories | |
| 29 | Me and Sister | |
| 30 | Tokugawa Ieyasu | 1988 |
| 31 | Love Story in New York | |
| 32 | I Love You So Much | |
| 33 | Nobunaga | 1989 |
| 34 | Sakamoto Ryoma | |
| 35 | Shingo's Ten Duels | 1990 |
| 36 | Taiheiki | 1991 |
| 37 | Fall Guy: Gin-chan Goes | |
| 38 | Seiteki Mokushi Roku | 1992 |
| 39 | Seizoroi Shimizu Ikka: Jirocho Uridasu | |
| 40 | Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Conqueror of a Nation | 1993 |
| 41 | Kōkō Kyōshi | |
| 42 | The Reason I Owed to Her | 1994 |
| 43 | The Abe Clan | 1995 |
| 44 | Miracles in the Holy Night: Santa Claus is Coming to Town | |
| 45 | Hideyoshi | 1996 |
| 46 | Shin Hanshichi Torimonocho | 1997 |
| 47 | A Story of Love | |
| 48 | That Man's Fear | 1998 |
| 49 | That Man's Fear | |
| 50 | Summer of Detectives | 1999 |
| 51 | Furuhata Ninzaburō | |
| 52 | Kujira o Mita hi | |
| 53 | Unmarried Family | 2001 |
| 54 | Locked-in Syndrome | 2004 |
| 55 | Lost | 2010 |
| 56 | Revenge | 2011 |
| 57 | Hellix | 2014 |
| 58 | Extant | |
| 59 | The Last Ship | 2016 |
| 60 | Westworld | 2018 |
| 61 | Hawkeye | 2021 |
| 62 | Shōgun | 2024 |
FAQs about Hiroyuki Sanada
Yes, the Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada does his own stunts.
Yes, Hiroyuki Sanada was in Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame. He portrays Akihiko in the film.
Hiroyuki Sanada began training with a sword during his childhood days. He still practises his swordsman skills to this day.
