It was 16 years ago that Hollywood took its last shot at Godzilla.

The 1998 film was directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich, who had just come off a massive hit with Independence Day, and it starred a charming, wide-eyed Matthew Broderick. The execs at Sony and Columbia must have been licking their lips.

But although Emmerich’s feature ended up making back its $130-million budget on U.S. box office alone (albeit barely), it would be wrong to classify the effort as anything more than a failure.

Reviled by critics and fans alike, Godzilla served as a cautionary tale about what can happen when a studio tries to revitalize a well-known story.

Well, then, Warners must be banking on the adage that time heals all wounds, because, on the 60th anniversary of Godzilla’s inception, the studio is releasing the spiny lizard back into movie theatres on Friday (May 16).

And though the film is directed by the relatively green Gareth Edwards (2010’s low-budget, critically acclaimed Monsters is the only other feature he’s directed), that didn’t hinder anyone from scoring a cast that includes Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen, and Ken Watanabe.

Watanabe, who has gained Western fame appearing in blockbusters like Batman Begins and Inception, was definitely hesitant when he was first in talks about appearing in the film as Dr. Ichiro Serizawa.

“I got an offer from Gareth,” the actor recalls, calling the Georgia Straight from Los Angeles. “And, of course, I needed to meet him and I asked: ‘What do you think of…Godzilla?’ I was worried, because the last one in Hollywood—not good.”

Edwards’s in-depth knowledge of the source material was essential for Watanabe. “Then he told me he knew about Godzilla, Godzilla’s history and how important to the culture in Japan he is. He knew. He totally understood about how Godzilla was born out of fear, how he became associated with nuclear weapons.”

Referencing the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Watanabe continues: “We had very hard experiences three years ago in Japan. Over 60 years has passed, but Japan still has fear over nuclear power. And you know Gareth and I were on the total same page. So I said I would like to join this project.”

Watanabe, who grew up in the city of Uonuma, was a fan of the early Godzilla films. Now he’s able to appreciate the larger role the monster plays in Japanese culture.

“Always summer vacation and winter vacation, we’d watch the movies and enjoy them,” he says. “But when I was young, I didn’t realize, I couldn’t understand, about the metaphor. Then I became an adult and started realizing. I was so surprised, because the story is so dark and so political, and a great metaphor.”

The actor first caught the attention of North American audiences when he garnered a supporting-actor Oscar nomination playing opposite Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai (2003). “Some kind of window opened after Samurai, and then I could meet some very talented directors in Hollywood,” he says. Since then, Watanabe has become one of Japan’s most recognized Hollywood actors while still staying active back home.

As for the latest Godzilla reboot, Watanabe has very specific reasons for its relevance. “This year marks the 60th anniversary of Godzilla, and 60 years has a really important meaning for the culture in Japan and Asia. Each year has an animal name. Twelve years, five times, is 60. A round of life. Sixty-years anniversary is important. It means to be reborn, and Godzilla was reborn with this movie.”