Tatsuya Nakadai (仲代 達矢, Nakadai Tatsuya, born Motohisa Nakadai December 13, 1932) is a Japanese film actor famous for the wide variety of characters he has portrayed and many collaborations with famous Japanese film directors.

He was featured in 11 films directed by Masaki Kobayashi, including the The Human Condition trilogy, wherein he starred as the lead character Kaji, plus Harakiri, Samurai Rebellion and Kwaidan.

Nakadai worked with a number of Japan's best-known filmmakers—starring or co-starring in five films directed by Akira Kurosawa, as well as being cast in significant films directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara (The Face of Another), Mikio Naruse (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs), Kihachi Okamoto (Kill! and Sword of Doom), Hideo Gosha (Goyokin), Shirō Toyoda (Portrait of Hell) and Kon Ichikawa (Enjo and Odd Obsession).

Biography

Nakadai grew up in a very poor family and was unable to afford a university education, prompting him to take up acting. He greatly admired American films and was a fan of actors such as John Wayne and Marlon Brando. Nakadai was working as a shop clerk in Tokyo before a chance encounter with director Masaki Kobayashi led to him being cast in the film The Thick Walled Room. The following year, he made a brief and uncredited cameo in Seven Samurai where he is seen for a few seconds as a samurai walking through town.Nakadai's role in Seven Samurai is technically his debut as The Thick-Walled Room's release was delayed for three years due to controversial subject matter. His major breakthrough as an actor came when he was given the part of Jo, a young yakuza in Black River, another film directed by Kobayashi.

Nakadai appeared in two Kurosawa films from the 1980s: Kagemusha where he plays both the titular thief turned body-double and the famous daimyo Takeda Shingen, as well as his role in Ran where he plays another daimyo, Hidetora Ichimonji, who is loosely based on Shakespeare's play King Lear.

He taught and trained promising young actors including Kōji Yakusho, Mayumi Wakamura, Tōru Masuoka, Azusa Watanabe, Kenichi Takitō and others.

In 2015, he received the Order of Culture.

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