Kento’s first movie was Control Tower which was released in April 2011. He sang and played the guitar in this movie, and his acting was well received. The next year, he appeared in The Wings of the Kirin (2012) and as the lead in the horror thriller film Another, working with Control Tower co-star Ai Hashimoto for the second time. He was later cast in the following films: The Chasing World 3 and Live action of Love for Beginners. In 2013, he led a film with a LGBT theme, Sato Family Breakfast, which aired on TV (BS Japan). He also participated in the 2nd Taiwan International Queer Film Festival (TIQFF) in 2015. Besides that, he took on a supporting role in the film JINX!!! and the TV series 35-sai no Koukousei. In 2014, he starred in a film based on the highly successful manga of the same name, L DK alongside Ayame Goriki. The film was a breakthrough in his career, making him further known to the public. That year, he also played different roles in three drama series, including Baseball Brainiacs, where he was cast with actors Sota Fukushi and Yuto Nakajima. He also made his stage debut as main lead Inuzuka Shino in Satomi Hakkenden. In 2015, he was again cast in a film adaptation of a popular manga titled Heroine Shikkaku alongside Mirei Kiritani. He also played the lead role in Orange alongside Tao Tsuchiya. The film was a great success, grossing almost US$28 million and becoming the 9th-highest-grossing Japanese films of 2016. From those two films, he won the 39th Japan Academy Prize for Newcomers of the Year and was also nominated at 2016 Hochi Film Awards. That same year, he appeared in the television adaptation of the famous manga Death Note as L, and the NHK Asadora Mare, which was led by the aforementioned Tsuchiya Tao.