Hiroyuki Sanada, MBE (真田 広之 Sanada Hiroyuki, born Hiroyuki Shimosawa (下澤 廣之 Shimosawa Hiroyuki) on 12 October 1960 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese character-actor.
No matter the project, you can pretty much depend on Sanada to bring a certain gravitas and respectibility, likely due to his Shakespearian background. He's Big in Japan, not inaccurately described by Damon Lindelof as "Japan's Harrison Ford". He's also a contemporary and old friend to Jackie Chan, and does a lot of his own choreography and stuntwork in his films due to being trained in Shorinji Kempo and Kyokushin Karate.
Most recently, he's made a home on Western television by starring in shows such as Helix, Extant, Westworld and Shōgun (2024).
Film Roles
- 1978 Message from Space as Shiro
- 1981 Makai Tenshō as Iga no Kirimaru
- 1983 Legend of Eight Samurai as Inue Shinbei Masashi
- 1986 Royal Warriors as Peter Yamamoto
- 1998 Ring as Ryûji Takayama
- 2002 The Twilight Samurai as Iguchi Seibei
- 2003 The Last Samurai as Ujio
- 2005 The White Countess as Matsuda
- 2005 The Promise (2005) as General Guangming
- 2007 Rush Hour 3 as Kenji
- 2007 Sunshine as Captain Kaneda
- 2008 Speed Racer as Mr. Musha
- 2013 The Wolverine as Shingen Yashida
- 2013 47 Ronin as Ôishi
- 2013 The Railway Man as Takeshi Nagase
- 2015 Minions as Dumo the Sumo (Voice)
- 2017 Life as Sho Kendo
- 2018 The Catcher Was a Spy as Kawabata
- 2019 Avengers: Endgame as Akihiko
- 2021 Mortal Kombat as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion
- 2021 Army of the Dead as Bly Tanaka
- 2022 Bullet Train as The Elder
- 2023 John Wick: Chapter 4 as Shimazu Koji
Television Roles
- Super Sentai:
- 1977 J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai as Katsuya Nakayama
- 1984 Choudenshi Bioman as Captain Ayate
- 1987 Dokuganryu Masamune as Matsudaira Tadateru
- 1991 Taiheiki as Ashikaga Takauji
- 1996 Hideyoshi as Ishida Mitsunari
- 2010 Lost as Dogen
- 2011 Revenge as Satoshi Takeda
- 2014 Helix as Dr. Hiroshi Hatake
- 2014 Extant as Hideki Yasumoto
- 2016 The Last Ship as Takehaya
- 2018-2020 Westworld as Musashi/Sato
- 2024 Shōgun as Lord Yoshi Toranaga
