HBO Max's 'Tokyo Vice': 5 things you didn't know about Ken Watanabe
The Yakuza have been the subject of many films and some of the biggest names, including Ridley Scott, have helmed such projects. Though they've shown us the extortion, prostitution, racketeering, and gambling rings, none have ever given us a first-hand peek into the world, or rather underworld, of the richest and most sophisticated organized crime syndicate.
Hoping to fill that void comes 'Tokyo Vice.' The HBO Max series, starring Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe, is an adaptation of 'Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan' by Jake Adelstein, who worked as a reporter at Yomiuri Shimbun for 12 years, covering the Yakuza and other criminal activities in Japan. Adelstein was also the first foreign reporter ever to work as a staff writer for a Japanese national newspaper. He started writing about the Yakuza after finding out about their investments in up-and-coming tech firms and has more-or-less become a subject matter expert since then, having written extensively about them for nearly three decades. While Elgort plays Adelstein, Watanabe will be seen as a detective who takes him under his wing and guides him through the murky waters of the Japanese underworld.
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For those unaware, here's the official synopsis of 'Tokyo Vice', "Based on Jake Adelstein's non-fiction first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat, the drama series captures Adelstein's (played by Ansel Elgort) daily descent into the neon-soaked underbelly of Tokyo, where nothing and no one is truly what or who they seem."
Ken Watanabe as Hiroto Katagiri
Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor and will be seen as Hiroto Katagiri in 'Tokyo Vice'. He initially wanted to be a musician, having played the trumpet since childhood, but his dreams were squashed due to his father's ailments, which resulted in Watanabe not having enough money for tuition and giving up on his attempts to enter a conservatory. He moved to Tokyo after graduating high school and started looking for openings as an actor. He got his big break with a local theater troupe and it was during this time that Watanabe began to get noticed.
He started acting in Japanese shows and films soon after and was eventually cast as Katsumoto Moritsugu in Tom Cruise's 'The Last Samurai' in 2003. This was followed by roles in 'Memoirs of a Geisha', 'Batman Begins', 'Inception', 'Godzilla', 'Transformers: Age of Extinction', 'Pokemon Detective Pikachu', and 'Godzilla: King of Monsters'. 'Tokyo Vice' marks Ken Watanabe's TV debut.
Rachel Keller as Samantha
Rachel Keller is an American actor, who is part Jewish. She will be seen as Samantha, an American ex-pat in Tokyo, who makes a living as a hostess. Keller was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Minnesota. She attended the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014.
She began acting in short films and soon landed guest roles in shows such as 'The Mentalist' and 'Supernatural' Keller's big break came in the form of a recurring role as Simone Gerhardt in Season 2 of 'Fargo'. She is also known for appearing as Sydney Barrett in 'Legion'. Rachel Keller will soon be seen in an important role in the Tom Hanks starrer 'A Man Called Otto'.
Other cast members
Other actors who are a part of 'Tokyo Vice' are Ansel Elgort, Ella Rumpf, Rinko Kikuchi, Hideaki Ito, Show Kasamatsu, Tomohisa Yamashita, Shun Sugata, Masato Hagiwara, Ayumi Tanida, and Kosuke Toyohara.
The first 3 episodes of 'Tokyo Vice' are available for streaming on HBO Max. The remaining episodes will drop on Thursdays, starting April 14.