He has acted in two films by director Takeshi Kitano. In 2003, in Zatoichi, he portrayed the child Seitaro who, when older, disguised himself as a geisha (played by Daigoro Tachibana). Though in a different troupe from Tachibana, the two have frequently practiced and performed together. Saotome was also in Kitano's 2005 film, Takeshis', in which he was credited as himself, playing a young female impersonator and dancer.
