On Sunday, Anna Sawai became the first person of Asian descent to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. The Shogun star, who plays the noblewoman and practicing Catholic Mariko in the hugely successful series, is an extremely versatile performer, who has also impressed in dramas such as Giri/Haji and Pachinko. To celebrate her triumph at the Emmy Awards, we’re looking at her life and career to date. Here are some things you may or may not have known about Anna Sawai. 

List of Contents:

10 Facts About Anna Sawai

1. She lived in New Zealand, Hong Kong and the Philippines during her youth  

Anna Sawai was born in New Zealand’s capital of Wellington to parents of Japanese descent on June 11, 1992. When she was 3, her mother started teaching her to sing and play the piano. Her father worked at an electronics company and regularly had to move around for his job. The family lived in Hong Kong for a year and the Philippines for five before finally settling in Yokohama when Sawai was 10.

2. Sawai’s debut role was a starring one in the musical production Annie

In 2004, two years after arriving in Japan, a 12-year-old Sawai made her acting debut. She beat off competition from around 10,000 applicants to land the coveted lead role in the stage production of “Annie” that was also broadcast on Nippon TV. She shared the role with Riko Miyahara. At a press conference prior to the show, the pair appeared in Annie outfits and both performed “Tomorrow,” supported by 26 other children. 

3. For her first Hollywood role, Sawai played a kunoichi  

In 2006, Sawai signed with the famous entertainment conglomerate Avex and appeared in her first Hollywood feature film three years later. She played the rebellious teenage kunoichi (female ninja) Kiriko in James McTeigue’s action thriller Ninja Assassin. The story centers around Raizo, played by South Korean entertainer Jung Ji-hoon (better known as Rain), one of the world’s deadliest assassins. It also stars Naomie Harris, who’s most well known for playing Eve Moneypenny in three James Bond films. 

4. She sang the U.S. national anthem to kick off the MLB season in 2012 

During her late teens and early 20s, Sawai was better known as a singer than an actor. In 2012, she sang the U.S. national anthem in a match at the Tokyo Dome between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics to kick off the Major League Baseball season. Later that year, she joined ARA (Avex Rising Angels), but they disbanded in early 2013. Sawai then joined FAKY (Five Ass Kicking Youngsters) as one of the lead vocalists. 

5. Her agency forced her to turn down an audition for Suicide Squad

Sawai sang with FAKY for five years before quitting to pursue a career as an actor. She later revealed that she wanted to audition for the role of Katana in the 2016 superhero flick Suicide Squad. Her agency, however, told her she couldn’t go for it as the other members of the group wouldn’t have anything to do for a month. “It felt like they were really tying me down,” said Sawai. The part went to Karen Fukuhara.

6. Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster advised Sawai to ‘trust’ herself during fight scenes

After leaving FAKY, Sawai appeared in the Japanese drama Colors before raising her international profile as Eiko in the popular BBC 2 crime drama Giri/Haji. She then appeared in F9, the ninth film in the Fast and Furious franchise, which involved fight scenes with Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster. “They taught me that you don’t have anything to worry about,” said Sawai. “Just be yourself, just be confident in what you do, trust yourself, and you are here for a reason.” 

7. Sawai’s mother faced a similar situation to her character Naomi in Pachinko

Not wanting to be stereotyped as an action star, Sawai’s next role was as Naomi, a woman climbing the corporate ladder in 1980s Japan in the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ drama Pachinko. “My mom was actually working around the same time and went through similar things that Naomi did — you know, not being taken seriously and just expected to stay at a company for three or four years until they get married to one of the guys working there,” Sawai told The New York Times. 

8. Sawai was initially turned down for the role of Mariko  

“They didn’t like me,” Sawai told The Standard when asked about her audition for the role as Mariko in Shogun. “I didn’t get it, so I was moving on to the next project.” However, as the creators couldn’t find a suitable alternative, Sawai was requested to read again. “I think when I taped, I was a bit too modern, aggressive, powerful,” said Sawai. “Whereas they wanted Mariko to have more quiet power within her. That made sense. And I guess they liked my new version.” 

9. She drew on her experience during the Tohoku earthquake to portray Cate’s PTSD in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters 

A day after filming for Shogun ended, Sawai was on set for her next project, the Godzilla spin-off Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Playing Cate Randa, a character traumatized by Godzilla attacking San Francisco in 2014, she reflected on her memories from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. “I didn’t lose family, but so many Japanese people lost important people to them,” Sawai told The Hollywood Reporter. “I also couldn’t live in my neighborhood, because the water had stopped, and we had no food coming in.”

10. Florence Pugh would be one of her ideal dinner guests  

Asked by The Cut which five celebrities (dead or alive) she would invite to a dinner party, Sawai’s first answer was Lady Macbeth actress Florence Pugh as “she just has that energy, she seems like so much fun.” The other four she named are also actresses: Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone and Natalie Portman, as well as Monarch: Legacy of Monsters co-star Kiersey Clemons. “I just like people that seem funny and have positive energy,” she added. 

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