Tadanobu Satō, better known by his stage name Tadanobu Asano, is a Japanese actor and musician. 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 the 47 Ronin, 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 AdmiralTamon Yamaguchi in Midway.
Early life
Asano was born in the Honmoku area, Yokohama, to artist Yukihisa Satō and mother Junko. His maternal grandfather was Willard Overing, a U.S. citizen, whom Asano never met, and who was of Norwegian and Dutch ancestry. Asano has an older brother, Kujun Satō, born in 1971, who is a musician and a partner in Anore Inc., a talent agency Asano and their father Yukihisa Satō founded.
Career
His father, an actors' agent, suggested he take on his first acting role in the TV showKinpachi Sensei at the age of 16. His film debut was in the 1990 Swimming Upstream, though his first major critical success was in Shunji Iwai's Fried Dragon Fish. His first critical success internationally was Hirokazu Kore-eda's Maboroshi no Hikari, 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-documentaryDistance in 2001. His best known works internationally are the samurai filmsGohatto and Zatoichi, as well as the critically acclaimed Bright Future. He 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 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. In Villon's Wife, he played the part of an alcoholic writer, stating that, since he doesn't drink alcohol, he based his performance on people he knows. 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. He reprised the role in 2013's ' and 2017's '. Asano was announced to appear in 2021's Mortal Kombat reboot as the character of Raiden. In addition to his acting career, Asano directed commercial TV spots for his then-wife, Chara. He formed the band MACH-1.67 with director Sogo Ishii in 1996 and has also played in the bands Peace Pill and Safari. 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: one released under the name "wkw/tk/1996@7'55"hk.net". Asano and his father run the actor's agency Anore Inc. which represents Japanese actors like Ryō Kase and Rinko Kikuchi.
Personal life
Asano met J-Pop singer Chara on the set of Iwai's Picnic. They were married in March 1995 and Chara became pregnant with their first child, Sumire, who was born on July 4 that same year. In 1999, they also had a son. In July 2009, Chara announced on her website that the couple would be getting an amicable divorce. She received custody of both their children.
