Hiroyuki Sanada (真田 広之, Sanada Hiroyuki?, born October 12, 1960 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese actor. He began training with Sonny Chiba's Japan Action Club. Originally aiming to be an action star, he developed good all-round martial arts ability.
He was first noticed as a serious actor in the movie "Mahjong Hourouki" directed by Makoto Wada. Wada and Sanada's relationship is similar to that of John Huston and Humphrey Bogart and since then Sanada has acted in every one of Wada's movies. Those works are filled with a sense of humor and nostalgic attachment for classic movies.
He has established himself as a character actor who can play many different roles. Some of his most famous movies are: Tasogare Seibei (The Twilight Samurai), Ringu, Kaitou Rubi and The Last Samurai.
He also made an appearance in the 2005 Hollywood film The White Countess directed by James Ivory, and the Chinese film The Promise directed by Chen Kaige.
His current projects include: Sunshine directed by Danny Boyle, The City of Your Final Destination another James Ivory film, and Rush Hour 3 with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
In 1999 and 2000, he performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in their production of King Lear. This marked the first time a Japanese actor had performed with the theatrical group, and earned Sanada an MBE.
