Tadanobu Asano
浅野 忠信
Asano at the world premiere of Thor, 2011
Born
Tadanobu Satō
佐藤 忠信

(1973-11-27) November 27, 1973
Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Occupations
  • Actor
  • musician
Years active1988–present
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1995; div. 2009)​
    Kurumi Nakata
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2022)​
    Children2
    Websiteasanotadanobu.com

    Tadanobu Satō (佐藤 忠信, Satō Tadanobu, born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Tadanobu Asano (浅野 忠信, Asano Tadanobu), is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in Electric Dragon 80.000 V, Kakihara in Ichi the Killer, Mamoru Arita in Bright Future, Hattori Genosuke in Zatoichi, Kenji in Last Life in the Universe, A man in Survive Style 5+, Ayano in The Taste of Tea, Temujin in Mongol, Captain Yugi Nagata in Battleship, Lord Kira Yoshinaka in 47 Ronin[1] and Hogun in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, based on the Marvel Comics character. In 2016, he appeared as the Interpreter in Martin Scorsese's Silence. Three years later, he portrayed Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi in Roland Emmerich's Midway (2019). He portrayed the thunder god Raiden in the 2021 film Mortal Kombat.

    Early life

    Asano was born in the Honmoku area,[2] Yokohama, to artist Yukihisa Satō (佐藤 幸久, Satō Yukihisa)[2] and mother Junko (順子). His maternal grandfather was Willard Overing, a U.S. citizen of Norwegian ancestry, whom Asano never met.[2] Asano has an older brother, Kujun Satō, born in 1971,[3] who is a musician and a partner in Anore Inc. (now Adonis A), a talent agency Asano and their father Yukihisa Satō founded.

    Career

    Asano's father, an actors' agent, suggested he take on his first acting role in the TV show Kinpachi Sensei at the age of 16. His film debut was in the 1990 Swimming Upstream (Bataashi Kingyo), though his first major critical success was in Shunji Iwai's Fried Dragon Fish (1993). His first critical success internationally was Hirokazu Kore-eda's Maboroshi no Hikari (1995), in which he played a man who inexplicably throws himself in front of a train, widowing his wife and orphaning his infant son. He also worked with Kore-eda in the pseudo-documentary Distance in 2001. His best known works internationally are the samurai films Gohatto (aka Taboo, 1999) and Zatoichi (2003), as well as the critically acclaimed Bright Future.

    Asano acted in Katsuhito Ishii's 2003 film The Taste of Tea, which premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. He appeared as the lead actor in Last Life in the Universe (2003) by Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and starred in Ratanaruang's 2006 follow-up film, Invisible Waves. In 2007, he starred as the young Genghis Khan in Sergei Bodrov's Oscar-nominated film Mongol.[4] In Villon's Wife (2009), he played the part of an alcoholic writer, stating that, since he doesn't drink alcohol, he based his performance on people he knows.[5] In 2011, he starred in the Marvel Studios film Thor as the Asgardian warrior Hogun, a member of the Warriors Three and companion to Thor.[6] He reprised the role in 2013's Thor: The Dark World[7] and 2017's Thor: Ragnarok.[8]

    Asano appeared in the 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot as Raiden.[9] In September 2021, Asano was announced as part of the cast of the FX limited series Shogun, adapted from the James Clavell novel.[10]

    In addition to his acting career, Asano directed commercial TV spots for his then-wife, Chara.[11] He formed the band MACH-1.67 with director Sogo Ishii in 1996 and has also played in the bands Peace Pill and Safari.[12] He is an artist and a model, most notably for Japanese fashion designers Jun Takahashi and Takeo Kikuchi, for whom he filmed a series of commercial spots directed by Wong Kar-wai, including the short film wkw/tk/1996@7'55"hk.net.

    Asano and his father previously ran the actor's agency Anore Inc. (now Adonis A), but they left in 2022. After leaving the agency, he continued to give it his support.[13]

    Personal life

    Asano met J-pop singer Chara on the set of Iwai's Picnic (1994). They were married in March 1995 while Chara was pregnant with their first child, a daughter named Sumire, who was born on July 4 that same year.[14] In 1999, they had a son named Himi.[15] In July 2009, Chara announced on her website that the couple were divorcing. She received custody of both their children.[16]

    In August 2022, Asano announced through his Twitter and Instagram accounts that he had married model and actress Kurumi Nakata (b. 1991) whom he has been dating for six years.[17]

    Awards

    Asano won the Most Popular Performer award at the 1997 Japanese Academy Awards for Acri and was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category in 2004 for his performance in Zatôichi. He also received the Upstream Prize for Best Actor at the 2003 Venice Film Festival for his role in Last Life in the Universe.[18] In 2014, he won the award for Best Actor at the 36th Moscow International Film Festival for his role in My Man.[19]

    Filmography

    Film

    Year Title Role Notes
    1990 Bataashi kingyo Ushi
    1991 Aitsu Sadahito Iwata
    1992 Seishun Dendekedekedeke Seiichi Shirai
    1993 Nemuranai Machi: Shinjuku Same Koichi Sunagami
    1994 119 Satoshi Matsushita
    1995 Yonshimai Monogatari Akira Higuchi
    Maborosi Ikuo
    1996 wkw/tk/1996@7'55"hk.net Man Short film
    Picnic Tsumuji
    Helpless Kenji Shiraishi
    Acri Hisoka
    Swallowtail Butterfly Customer in club
    Focus Kanemura
    1997 Yume no Ginga Tatsuo Niitaka
    Tokyo Biyori
    1998 Love & Pop Captain XX
    Screwed (Neji-shiki) Tsube
    Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl Kuroo Samehada
    Rakka Suru Yugata
    1999 Away with Words Asano Takashi
    Gemini Revenger with Sword
    Hakuchi Isawa
    One Step on a Mine, It's All Over Taizo Ichinose
    Gohatto (a.k.a. Taboo) Samurai Hyozo Tashiro
    2000 Gojoe: Spirit War Chronicle Shanao
    Kaza-hana Sawaki
    Party 7 Okita Souji
    2001 Electric Dragon 80.000 V Dragon Eye Morrison
    Distance Sakata
    Ichi the Killer Kakihara
    2002 Woman of Water Yusaku
    2003 Bright Future Mamoru Arita
    My Grandpa S. Nakatoh
    Last Life in the Universe Kenji
    Zatoichi Hattori Gennosuke
    Dead End Run
    Café Lumière Hajime Takeuchi
    2004 Tori Short film
    The Taste of Tea Ayano, the Uncle
    Vital Hiroshi Takagi
    The Face of Jizo Kinoshita
    Survive Style 5+ Aman
    2005 The Buried Forest San-chan
    Takeshis'
    My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? Mizui
    Portrait of the Wind Tamio Murase
    Funky Forest Masaru Tanaka
    Rampo Noir Private detective Kogorô Akechi/A man/Masaki
    Tokyo Zombie Fujio
    2006 Invisible Waves Kyôji
    Hana Jubei Kanazawa
    2007 Mongol Temujin
    Sad Vacation Kenji Shiraishi
    2008 Kabei: Our Mother Yamazaki Toru
    R246 Story
    Yume no Mani Mani Black Marketeer
    2009 42 One Dream Rush Short film
    Mt. Tsurugidake Shibasaki
    Dumbeast Dekogawa
    Redline Frisbee (voice)
    Villon's Wife Otani
    Snow Prince Haigo
    2010 Wandering Home
    Vengeance Can Wait Hidenori Yamane
    2011 Gekkō no Kamen Okamoto
    Thor Hogun
    Korede Iinoda! Eiga Akatsuka Fujio Fujio Akatsuka
    A Ghost of a Chance Ken'ichi Kido
    2012 Battleship Captain Yugi Nagata
    Anata e
    A Terminal Trust Takai
    Fly with the Gold Kitagawa
    2013 Thor: The Dark World Hogun
    47 Ronin[1] Lord Kira
    The Kiyosu Conference Maeda Toshiie
    2014 Lupin III Inspector Koichi Zenigata
    Kiki's Delivery Service Dr. Ishi
    Parasyte: Part 1 Goto
    2015 Parasyte: Part 2 Goto
    Grasshopper Kujira
    Journey to the Shore Yūsuke
    Haha to Kuraseba Kuroda
    2016 Harmonium Yasaka
    Silence Interpreter
    The Wasted Times Watabe
    2017 Dear Etranger Makoto Tanaka
    Thor: Ragnarok Hogun
    Shinjuku Swan II Masaki Taki
    2018 The Outsider Kiyoshi
    Kuso-yarō to Utsukushiki Sekai
    Punk Samurai Slash Down Chayama Hanrō
    Kasane Kingo Habuta
    2019 Chiwawa Sakata
    They Say Nothing Stays the Same
    Noroshi ga Yobu Short film
    Midway Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi
    2020 Minamata Tatsuo Matsumura
    Labyrinth of Cinema Lt. Sako
    Independence of Japan Jirō Shirasu
    2021 Detective Chinatown 3 Chinese film
    Mortal Kombat Lord Raiden
    Kate Renji
    2023 We're Broke, My Lord! Isogai Heihachirō
    Kubi Kuroda Kanbei [20]
    2024 The Box Man [21]
    The Women in the Lakes Isami [22]
    TBA Mortal Kombat 2 Lord Raiden Filming

    Television

    Year Title Role Network Notes
    1988 Kinpachi-sensei Masahiro Azuma TBS
    1993 Fried Dragon Fish Natsuro Fuji TV TV movie
    Haru no Ichizoku Tomoki NHK
    2006 Japanorama Himself BBC Three Documentaries
    2011 Sutekina Kakushi Dori: Kanzen Muketsu no Concierge Artist Fuji TV TV movie
    Yonimo kimyô na Monogatari Killer Fuji TV TV movie
    2017 A Life: A Love Masao Danjō TBS
    2019 Idaten Shōjirō Kawashima NHK Taiga drama
    2021 Welcome Home, Monet Shinji Oikawa NHK Asadora
    2024 Shōgun Kashigi Yabushige FX on Hulu Miniseries

    Video games

    Year Title Role Developer Notes
    2011 Shadows of the Damned Garcia Hotspur Grasshopper Manufacture Debut video game dubbing role

    References

    1. 1 2 Keanu's 47 Ronin has A-List Japanese Cast Japan-Zone.com March 2, 2011
    2. 1 2 3 "Tokyo Psycho". Time Magazine. October 21, 2002. Archived from the original on January 28, 2011. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
    3. ↑ "Profile: Kujun". anore. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
    4. ↑ Golovnina, Maria (January 25, 2008). "Mongol actress from soldier dreams to Oscar buzz". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
    5. ↑ Hadfield, James (July 7, 2011). "Tadanobu Asano: The Interview". Time Out Tokyo. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
    6. ↑ "Thor Update: Warriors Three Cast". Marvel. November 16, 2009. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
    7. ↑ Clark, Noelene (August 2, 2012). "'Thor: The Dark World': Christopher Eccleston is villain Malekith". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 8, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
    8. ↑ "Thor: Ragnarok Press Kit" (PDF). Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
    9. ↑ Kit, Borys; Galuppo, Mia (August 16, 2019). "'Mortal Kombat' Movie Adds Fistful of Fighters (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
    10. ↑ Petski, Denise (September 30, 2021). "'Shōgun': Anna Sawai Joins Hiroyuki Sanada & Cosmo Jarvis In FX Limited Series; Full Cast Set". Deadline. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
    11. ↑ Donat, Begoña (January 30, 2004). "Johnny Depp tiene un primo japonés (Johnny Depp has a Japanese Cousin)". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved October 28, 2008.
    12. ↑ Mes, Tom (June 24, 2002). "Tadanobu Asano". Midnight Eye. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
    13. ↑ Wallace, Bruce (June 13, 2008). "12th century leader, 21st century ideas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
    14. ↑ "Chara". November 9, 2000. Archived from the original on November 9, 2000.
    15. ↑ "浅野忠信の息子・佐藤緋美、ドラマ初出演「楽しくてとてもいい経験に」". Oricon. January 27, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
    16. ↑ "Tadanobu Asano, Chara divorce". Tokyograph. July 24, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
    17. ↑ "浅野忠信と中田クルミが１８歳差結婚「愛と笑顔が溢れる日々を」１４年に交際報道/デイリースポーツ online". デイリースポーツ online (in Japanese). Retrieved August 23, 2022.
    18. ↑ Riggs, Thomas (2007). Contemporary Theatre, Film & Television. Gale Cengage Learning. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7876-9050-2.
    19. ↑ "36 MIFF Prizes". MIFF. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
    20. ↑ "北野武監督『首』今秋公開決定！ティザービジュアルが解禁！". Fan's Voice. April 15, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
    21. ↑ "永瀬正敏「20数年の思いこめて」安部公房さん原作映画「箱男」主演 共演は浅野忠信、佐藤浩市". Nikkan Sports. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
    22. ↑ "湖の女たち". eiga.com. Retrieved November 28, 2023.

    [1]

    Bibliography

    • Morris, Jerome C. "I'm Not as Whacked Out as Dragon Eye Morrison" (interview), in Asian Cult Cinema, #54.
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    1. ↑ "Thor: Ragnarok Press Kit" (PDF). Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
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