Hiroyuki Sanada

This week we're travelling from feudal Japan to the surface of the sun with the career of Hiroyuki Sanada. Sanada began acting at the age of six, rapidly fulfilling his childhood dream as an action star. After a slew of samurai films in the 1970s he went west to Hong Kong to star in martial arts films like Ninja in the Dragon's Den and In the Line of Duty: Royal Warriors. He became a well-respected actor in genre circles in the west after his performance in the 1999 J-Horror Ring. Sanada's desire to push himself saw him leave martial arts mostly behind in the 2000s as he went to Hollywood for films like The Last Samurai, The White Countess and Danny Boyle's Sunshine. He has mostly continued to act in western-financed blockbusters ever since like Speed Racer, The Wolverine and Life. The now 60 year old will return to action this year with Mortal Kombat, Zach Snyder's Army of the Dead and David Leitch's Bullet Train. Sign up to HeadStuff+ at headstuffpodcasts.com for the small price of €5 a month to unlock exclusive bonus episodes of I Know That Face. Andrew Twitter: @Andrew_Carroll0 Stephen Twitter: @StephenPorzio Editor and Community Manager: Charline Fernandez Instagram: @charline_frnndz I Know That Face Twitter: @IKnowThatFaceP1 / Instagram: @iknowthatface / Facebook: @iknowthatfacepod Intro and Outro Music: No Boundaries (motorik groove) by Keshco. Licence Featured Image Credit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices