Ken Watanabe To Star In 'Memoirs Of A Geisha'


Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai) has signed on to play the male lead in the film adaptation of Memoirs of a Geisha with Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) in final negotiations to play the title character, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh and Koji Yakusho also are in final negotiations to join the cast, which Rob Marshall is directing.

Watanabe will portray the Chairman, a high-powered executive with whom the young geisha, Sayuri, falls in love. The Chinese-born Zhang will play Sayuri, the young orphan from a remote fishing village whose life changes when she is sent to the city to learn the ways of the geisha.

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