INCEPTION - Ken Watanabe Interview

[AmyFanRetaken]

Beautiful suits and businessmen...

Haha, Ken found the appeal behind it for us, girls! ;)

[netisforporn666]

This guy is so fukin awesome. Def. one of my favorite actors.

[dkupke]

I don't care what Shane Black says; The Mandarin is THE villain choice for Iron Man 3, and Ken Watanabe was born to play him.

[icyrazor]

@dkupke The Mandarin is Chinese

[dkupke]

@icyrazor I am aware, but considering the new Superman is being played by a British man, and Wolverine is an Aussie, nationality is hardly a concern. And I can see Watanabe giving the character a great intensity and charisma, and he is a prominent enough name that he would not be overshadowed by Robert Downey Jr.

[dkizzlemynizzle]

what a name to carry..

[hacksign000]

His English is really good, I'd like to see the people who are criticizing him speaks Japanese.

P.S he's so handsome :)

[ReturnOfJackDawson]

I LOVE THIS GUY.

[revolutionforjapan]

maybe he studied english when he was in the last samurai so he has a japanese accent . i hope he can improve it next movie.

[sparklingdark]

and I was all like...bitch, i bought the airline

[ashleybot3000]

I love him whether he's in English or Japanese films/shows! His English is amazing. People need to realize that it would only be flawless if it were his 1st language.

[qwertyuiopz123]

hes hot for his age! TOTAL DILF

[mikeismad61]

Ken has real real impact upon the screen, I would love to see him in more movies.

[moviewatcher304]

Do you think if I asked that he would teach me how to be a bawss like him?

[diogosushi]

why are you making fun of him?!i would like to see you speak perfect japanese

[don0nami]

nice, no idea what the f*#! he is talking about... who edited out the questions?

[aman4is]

I think his English is pretty good actually. I loved him in The Last Samurai!

[pompom2001]

He's so handsome. If I wasn't 17, I'd tap that.

[Brazzle]

@pompom2001 That's special.

[mindxcircus]

@pompom2001 c'mon that shouldnt stop us, LET'S TAP HIM ANYWAY! His a realll hot daddddy hahaha!

[AmyFanRetaken]

@pompom2001 I'm 17 too. But I'd still tap that.

[jondavis1234]

I have such a hard time understanding what this man says.

"INCEHPTIAN... is it possibru?!"

[ctweebee]

@jondavis1234 Watch the English TV series Life on Mars. Near impossible to understand, and they're speaking english. What Ken lacks in his pronunciations he make up for in looks--he's a great actor.

[RussiaRulesUSSR]

"I Still Honor The Arrangement "

[avshaman]

Most idiots who make fun of people's accents when speaking a second language can't even speak a second language themselves.

It is extremely hard to learn a foreign language as an adult. To get to his level of fluency takes a lot of hard work and is a huge achievement.

I would love to see some of you try to learn to speak some of the other languages that I speak. Most of you probably couldn't speak a second language anywhere near as good as Ken Watanabe speaks English.

[maer15232005]

at least his pronunciation is not so bad that you understand what he says.

[masnak1994]

man... his awesome...

[milfinator]

how this guy didnt win the oscar for last samurai only god know, especially that scene hes dying on the battlefield talking about the cherry blosom.

[nspfs]

@kk666u Hep C, not AIDS

[gingernutz09]

he's like the asian Morgan Freeman

[EvilKris]

Gotta give this guy credit for his English. I teach here in Japan and believe me, they all have English complex's -that's the first hurdle to giving live interviews,having balls, secondly, for him to have such a pretty accent and a decent vocabulary, that takes a lot of work for Japanese people. Him speaking English *that* well after only starting at 40 shows determination on par with Christian Bale losing weight for The Machinist. Bravo Watanabe Ken!

[ThisIsMyReflection]

@Hananim91 Me too. xD My family is Japanese and the tallest one in my family is like 6'1.

[ThisIsMyReflection]

I love Ken Watanabe. He's just seems to cool.

[stefiprincess]

I love Ken he is so .... ah.. I cant seem to find a word close enough to describe him.... But a close word i AWESOME!!! I really love him and his acting and yes his English may not be the best but admit it.... u like the way he talks!!! xD :D

[iaidosamurai]

I like ken and feel the accent makes him unique..

[vasia48]

amazing actor

[Ladylicios]

i saw many complaining Comment´s about his accent! c´mmon ppl why are bitchin about that so much?

I also love Jackie chan and his english wasn´t perfect too at his beginning in America! :)

and Ken is one of the coolest actor EVER!!!

[PVTfluffy]

we'll be fine saito can hold the off. saito:ahhhgggahh lol

[Manschaft13Legend]

Is he still lost in limbo ?

[KazAtsuko]

@Manschaft13Legend

haha, did u watch the film?

[atopar33]

LAST SAMSUN...

[MrBluewatson]

this dude was so pimp in the movie.

[ResidencijaZLA]

Katsumoto!!! 

[FallofDarkness55]

SAITO IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lisa2480]

He started learning English after 40. Can you speak second language if you start learning like 40s?? I don't think so. Don't be rude.

[TheMadi99]

"I bought the airline." ..."It seemed neater."

[Xam271]

he was all like: bitch, i bought the airline!

[Skidonti]

A great role in this movie.

[Raidmasterprod]

My mom wants to marry him, seriously!

[0neofthem]

he's awesome!

[KiroToru]

Sexy Beast.

[dexterme]

" i bought the airline"

[SoftBank47]

@dexterme It seemed neater.

[EdNortonisMineLol]

He's gorgeous! Damn!

[BoznianBeast]

Bunch of Errrr...errr...rrrr.....errrrs

[billtamer]

@BoznianBeast not any more than Ellen Page in her interviews

[karakuridoller]

欧米人にすこぶる評判の良い渡辺謙さんの英会話。

謙さんのように、ネイティブみたいに流暢に話さなくても、声の高­さ、話すスピード、アクセント、抑揚に気をつけることで、英語下­手な日本人でも好印象を得るヒントがこの話し方にはあるかもしれ­ない。

[Tommy9834]

His English may not be the best, but it's good enough to buy your airlines.

[ayanome]

@Tommy9834 EXACTLY XDD (good one!)

[blitzkrieg969]

@Tommy9834 He is japanese you stupid. Speaking English is an accomplishment for him.

[imjustherex3]

This is probably going to come off as gay, but I love the way Ken speaks. I want him to talk to me haha

[Kadec09]

You know you're a great actor when you can act well in your second language 

[PureMVGal]

Meow....hawt accent...xD

[MrMICHAELCABOOSE]

"I bought the airline..... it seemed appropriate."

I burst out laughing when he said that.

[BananaPeaceKarmi]

@MrMICHAELCABOOSE Ohmygoodness, me too. I was like, "Wow. Okay then, problem solved XD"

[red84ro]

@MrMICHAELCABOOSE It's ..... "I bought the airline..... It seamed neater "

That was the funnies part in the movie and I did the same:)

[GregoryF1919]

@MrMICHAELCABOOSE he said it seemed neater

[FRANKORILLA]

@MrMICHAELCABOOSE bet english is all you know

[MrMICHAELCABOOSE]

@FRANKORILLA I know English, and Spanish.

And who responds to a 9 month old comment? I mean seriously...

[FRANKORILLA]

@MrMICHAELCABOOSE 2 languages only? haha oh yeh your comment was set somewhere on the top so I saw it and replied~seriously what? lol

[PrincessArishima]

@MrMICHAELCABOOSE Try to speak Japanese if you are so smart ;P

[Hananim91]

I'm Korean and no offence, Ken is the tallest japanese I ever seen. ^___^

[chaingang6666]

while you're whining about his english, he buys your airlines!!!

[InvaderCereal]

So English-speaking-Japanese-anim­e-loving-wannabes failing at Japanese = OK,

and

Japanese-speaking-genuine-Engl­ish-learners not sounding too great = fail ?

...I don't think so.

Ken, you're awesome. You're a great actor, so just keep up what you've always been doing and give it your best, and screw the rest (except the fans and people who actually root for you).

[YourKissCreature]

Ken is one of my favorites actors!! I love you Ken!!

[dietsnapple89]

Ken is one of my favorite actors just based on Inception, Letters from Iwo Jima, Last Samurai and his small part as the fake Ras Al'Ghul in Batman Begins, lol

[AtiaRotias]

I'm Japanese but he's the only Japanese actor I know and like.

I just love that voice !! bit of English is "arere?" but that somehow makes him nicer.

[Uberboy07]

kens accent is awesome. imagine if he did what kanye did...i think he would have gotten away with it. /shrug

[johnlocke555]

He works very hard. He is a great actor!

[inception4ever]

ken rules! haters back off of him, he bought the airline!

[fa11enempire]

Ken is Rock ! Fantastic job in Inception.

[SuperUCanDoit]

hollywood sometimes is sh__IT, they can't do a good view with a decent sound, at the beginning of the answer of Ken we can't listen the voice of ken...

[Haokunc255246]

i think his japanese accept makes him more successful. its not hard to understand but its just awesome lol

[NorbPwn]

His accent is badass,

He was awesome in the movie,

great film

[turkeydinners]

i freaking looooved saito in inception. such a BAMF.

[kazu9yuki]

英語うまい

[fchuangdi]

I loved this movie.

Mr. Watanabe is a great actor!



[MANABUR]

how come some people condemn to his Eiglish skills ?? of course Certainly his Eiglish pronunciation was not good as well Eiglish speakers , but it's OK !! his own language is Japanese !! so what's problem ?? yeah Eiglish speakers especially American people can speak Japanese naturally as well him ?? No way !! as Japanese speaker , his Eiglish is totally fin !! How about you people japanese skills ? Can you speak Japanese !?

[Uberboy07]

wow anyone that doesn't like Ken are nerf herders. japanese accents sound cool. :>

[3edere]

I actually find him and his accent sexy...better than many European not-English speaking countries anyway.

[kstnr120]

@hulu55565 U IDIOT

[dreamcaster555]

Personally, I find his accent pretty hot.

[ShifTDigit]

@dreamcaster555 Agree

[hulu55565]

KOREAN ACTORS ARE THE BEST IN ASIA. JAP CANT SPEAK ENGLISH.

[ShifTDigit]

@hulu55565 maybe, but still Ken is still one of the best in acting

[Larukuislove]

@hulu55565 oh yeah definitelly, cause english is what makes a good actor right?

...xD

[sabupeco]

@hulu55565 Ugly korean.

I understand why japanese hate korean.

[hulu55565]

@sabupeco you are ugly racist

[makemoneyspendmoney]

@hulu55565

koreans=chinks :)

[Hellbitat]

@hulu55565

That's an ugly korean rat, stupid gook with inferiority complex. Really? You have to come here and troll herp derp korea herp derp. Nobody cares about you and your country, fuckin' gook.

[swirlcrop]

This is a really good movie.

[icefall1793]

I like his accent, it makes it perfect for the character he acted. Imagine a japanese mafia boss that speaks perfect english...... it ruins the mood, but a slight accent make it look more badass.

[mplusvme]

I like Ken Watanabe, especially his efforts to speak Ingurishu....but I cant help but laugh while i chatter with friends regarding Ken's accent in the movie....

I struggled understanding his dialogue, and the worse thing happened to him in the movie,,,HE GOT SHOT!!! omg, it made it even harder to understand his words...

lol, but all is in good spirits, its cool though...no need to be a critical dilwad and argue with serious peeps on yuotube...

GET OVER IT! its just a movie...

[otasatiek]

why would you offend his accent? Its his japanese accent that also creates this character

[qwuezalothus]

Not much of telling...

[birdandbeecreed]

fuck anyone who makes fun of his accent. you put zero effort in to learning his language. fuck off until you've tried that.

[OmgitsNeens]

His accent isn't/shouldn't be a big deal at all. I never have trouble understanding anything he says in English.

[tairanotomomori]

Those defending his accent are nice and generous people and I would react the same way if he was not a professional actor. I do think his English is all right. What I'm saying is "all right" or "understandable" is not good enough for a highly-paid professional actor whose job involves delivering lines effectively. Another thing. If you do something as a pro, you don't expect anybody to cut you any slack. I'm sure you are a good teacher to your Japanese students, but he's not one of them.

[bjmensz]

@tairanotomomori I don't understand the problem, in inception he plays a Japanese businessman whose accent is entirely reasonable. It's not like he's being hired to play a native-born english speaker, so why should his performance call on him to deliver his dialog free of an accent? It's certain that the director cast him in part because he WAS a native Japanese actor and could perform the accent and inhabit the character more authentically.

[kimmijrockdork]

@tairanotomomori What about the love interest in this movie leos wife? she has a russian accent so she shouldn't be in the movie either? dumb ass

[tairanotomomori]

Seeing him straining to speak English makes me cringe a bit. As happy as I am to see him getting some recognition overseas, for someone growing up fancying him, it's painful to see him acting in English. He has the most elegant, clear-cut enunciation in Japanese. All that is lost when he starts speaking English. If he were an ordinary person who's simply learning the language, you'd be right in being kind to his effort. But he's a professional actor. If he sounds funny, it's like, "tough".

[quazarphazar]

@tairanotomomori

Do you know how hard it is to learn English? Do you know how hard it is to lose an accent? It's extremely difficult.

In my time teaching English to Japanese people, I have seen various people of different skill levels, but I have yet to find even one person that has fully eliminated his/her accent.

Please cut him some slack and stop complaining about it if you can't see his side. His English is very good and perfectly understandable.

[asenoren]

i think he's very eloquent with the way he expresses himself. i find it impressive that he's comfortable with doing interviews in english. i majored in japanese, and foreign languages aren't easy to master.. nor is it easy to overcome an accent. i think that as long as we can understand him, there's nothing wrong with the way he speaks. are there any mainstream American actors that has yet to star in a movie in japan.. because doing a movie that isn't in your native tongue deserves recognition

[gotahc]

I LOVE this actor! he was awesome in Inception

[MrKUMAKUMA2]

Ken watanabe is one of the best national tresure .In this movie,he doesn't play saito as typical japanese character but as a actor. His attitude always makes me proud of being as japanese.

[boamuro]

Ken Watanabe... come on, you can do it!!!

I had a trouble breathing hearing this interview. I mean, I admire his effort trying to speak English here. He seemed like a kid here trying his best to explain, but just can't get the words out. I'm sure if it were a Japanese interview, it would be smooth. But I like his lighter talk here than his typical accent dialogues where he's all "Samurai Mode" speak.

[kantil17]

Ken Watanabe = Toshiro Mifune of our time. Cool dude and good actor

[agordon3]

ken`s performance trumped leo`s IMO.

[JGLFTW]

Ken and his accent are awesome, back the hell off.

[S0ulmirror]

I respect your attitude, man. Cheers.

[wkl0824]

I like his little stuttering in this interview when he was presenting in his own words, where in the film his english is completely fine. This difference shows his professionalism.

[chozie7]

i know! he's a native born japanese. he speaks great english for someone who like him from JAPAN.

[Symmetryful]

His accent is SO cool; why are peeps complaining?

[yours3lF1987]

@Symmetryful Because the western influence in global cinema is so great that seeing actors like Ken to not have that western accent ala american is a BIG break from the viewers' comfort zone. Besides where would the authenticity be to have a japanese man speaking american english?

People are just naturally racist.

[carrchrist1965]

I'm a fan. I fell in love with his work in Memoires of a Geisha and I LOVE his accent.

[ASacredSpirit]

@carrchrist1965 He did a great job in that film, yes.

[sootyxsnowpetal]

The Japanese language's pronunciation is really different from English's pronunciation, so Japanese people especially have a harder time getting the right accent (compared to other Asian languages). He's very understandable, and at least he's able to speak English with all the right grammar. I can understand him perfectly fine; I guess people with a less diverse experience with accents don't? Either way, he was awesome in this movie. Kudos to him.

[deadpatronus]

It was an audition. *changes face* and you FAILED

[Egamixar]

1:10 - 1:12

Continuoslowly

[ShifTDigit]

I like him in this movie so much. Actually I like him in every movie!

[paintdataint]

Ken Watanabe is awesome. He is an extremely memorable actor.

[suemorphplus2009]

Isn't he the guy from Batman Begins who was trashing Christian Bale

[gaby666]

he's Japanese, right? most of Japanese actors/celebrities speak 100 times worse English than he does. he's really not bad, actually

[silverfoxtrot13]

I love you Ken!!!!

[blasphemymaster]

What accent?

[willieoppa]

you're giving him shit because he tries very hard at speaking a second language? why don't you guys start learning Japanese and see how fluent you get with it,

good job Ken, your character was one of my favorites in the movie :]

[thetimewontlast]

Ken is an outstanding actor. He should have a couple of Oscars by now. He got robbed for both Letters From Iwo Jima and The Last Samurai.

[Galwynd]

Ken Watanbe is sooooo Amazing :D

[mwarrior17]

If you can't understand his accent DO NOT LEAVE America because you will never understand anyone anywhere with your one dimensional linguistics.

[ChuppahCrunch]

His accent isnt really that strong...I dont know what you people are talking about when you say you dont understand him.

[Taka014]

language is no barrier when it comes to Ken. This ( In my opinion) is one of his best movies. Letters from Iwo-jima was also amazing. (Japanese version) He is an amazing actor, and i recognize him for his skill.

[xcaaamrynx]

to the people giving him shit about his accent;

this role was specifically written for him.

you have to be something special to have role in such a fantastic movie written just for you.

[bengalkitty]

I think his accent is very sexy!!!

[Zuberi1989]

truly a great actor

[fairgrey]

I LOVE HIM!!!!! so charming, tall & sexy...

[Jokaanan]

his English is better than your Japanese

[EgyptianAsp]

@Jokaanan damn true

[kimtsan]

I think his accents make him more attractive XD

[xangieILYOO]

geezus, back of his accent. he is an incredible actor, who gives a shit about his accent?

[LIFEINTECHNICOLOR42]

He is A JAPANESE!

[BananaPancake]

I didn't think anything of his accent, probably since my mom is Japanese and my ears are used to an accent. It was such a pleasant suprise to see Watanabe in Inception.

[r412]

Im not a Japanese, but based on my experience, I can say that his English is understandable.. so please stop bringing the accent issue and just focus on everyone's acting, in this case, Watanabe's act, because if he cant act then Nolan wouldnt choose him for this movie, right?

[uskid418]

why do people care so much about his accent?

he grew up in Tokoyo, obviously Japanese would be his first language. It's as if an American or a British would learn Japanese and make movies. Of course their accents wouldn't be as good.

[topraman519]

He's a really good actor. Very intense, but subtle.

[manyworlds123456789]

He added a good background and basement to the story.

[butovas]

I think is English is good! I can understand what he says and I'm not from an English speaking country...as long as people understand what he says who cares about his accent or grammar mistakes or whatever...he is a great actor!

[junkevin]

i do like him and all but his accent made me cringe in the movie. just my opinion

[BROKENHOUSEFILMS]

at the beginning of the film, you think maybe he is gonna be one of the main antagonists and he ends up being one of the most likable characters and you actually care for him.

[dudemeister97]

@BROKENHOUSEFILMS yeah dude I thought he was gonna be the main bad guy before the movie came out, and I was POSITIVE that he would fuck Cobb over

[MaximSagan]

Having lived in Japan myself for the past 4 months (teaching English no less), I would say Ken's English is quite good compared to other Japanese people who claim to speak the language. One thing you have to realise is that trying to explain a specific topic is considerably more difficult than conversational language.

[HICKYCHEEKO16]

UUUUUUUM English is his second language!!!!! So why would anyone talk crap about his accent? Ignorance is ugly.

[1337roflmaorofl1337]

HE BOUGHT THE FUCKING AIRLINE.

[DarkTEFA]

'' i bought the airline " xD