True story: I did not watch Shōgun, but I was absolutely aware of how popular the show is and how everyone was thrilled with the latest adaptation. Critics and casual viewers were raving about it for months, and it was really cool to see the show get so much love at last night’s Emmys. Shōgun became the first Japanese-language TV show to win an Emmy for Best Drama Series, and it ended up winning 18 Emmys in total.
Anna Sawai became the first Asian actress to win an Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series. Anna is Japanese, born in New Zealand, and she’s worked in Japanese and Western films and TV shows. I was surprised, on the red carpet, that she’s sort of adopted a flat American accent. Anyway, she’s beautiful and she wore a custom Vera Wang dress for the Emmys. She was so emotional the whole night – she cried on the red carpet, she cried during the ceremony, and she cried on stage as she accepted her Emmy. What a sweetheart.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Getty.
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- West Hollywood, CA – Emmy-winning actress Anna Sawai brought her award for Best Lead Female in a Drama for her role in Shogun to the Lalo Tequila Emmy after-party in West Hollywood. Pictured: Anna Sawai BACKGRID USA 16 SEPTEMBER 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- West Hollywood, CA – Emmy-winning actress Anna Sawai brought her award for Best Lead Female in a Drama for her role in Shogun to the Lalo Tequila Emmy after-party in West Hollywood. Pictured: Anna Sawai BACKGRID USA 16 SEPTEMBER 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- West Hollywood, CA – Anna Sawai carries her Emmy award as she’s seen arriving to Vas Morgans house to celebrate after attending the 2024 Emmy awards in West Hollywood. Pictured: Anna Sawai BACKGRID USA 16 SEPTEMBER 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: The Hollywood Curtain / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
I’m so happy for this crew. This show meant a lot to us as do the actors.
I’m thrilled as well. The show was a visual feast and had so much talent packed into a single show. And what a gorgeous group picture.
The show was incredible. I was a little hesitant to watch it at first since it was mostly in subtitles, but it ended up being incredible because I had to give my full attention to everything. One of the only shows in the last few years I haven’t also been scrolling on my phone while watching.
I loved this show so much and am so happy for Anna. Her character Mariko was so good, I was sad when I finished and am so happy they have decided to do a second season. It was originally planned as a limited series.
I think it is the best show I have seen in years.
It’s an excellent show, I’ve seen it twice already!
Glad Hiroyuki Sanada got recognised too, finally! Almost 60 years in the business and no awards seemed ridiculous, he’s a very good actor.
Congratulations to all the Shogun team! 👏
Completely agree about Hiroyuki Sanada. He is an absolute scene-stealer and fantastic in everything he does.
I’m with you, this is lovely!
So thrilled for her and the show as well. Anna is also in Pachinko (AppleTV+)—another terrific performance.
Glad Shogun is getting all the awards. Finally a show where I don’t have to squint and can still see everything even when a scene is set at night. I also tried watching Mr&Mrs Smith after it got a lot of nominations but could not even make it through the first 20 minutes because of the poor lighting.
We started watching this and are about halfway through. I love it but I’ve realized how much I tend to scroll on my phone when I’m “watching” TV because I can’t do that with the subtitles lol. But it really is excellent, the costumes and sets are stunning, etc.
I have been watching the majority of international show for the last 4 years, I enjoy them so much more because I can’t just scroll on my phone. I pay attention so am really seeing the whole show.
I’m gonna have to watch this show now. What a gorgeous lady! I love her gown too. Congrats to Anna!
My son told me about this show. It’s based on a true story and he loved it. I felt like I didn’t need to watch it after he told me so much, but now I do!
Anna brought her mother as her date. So special. She started her career as a J-Pop idol in 2018, then moved into acting. Multi talented lady.
Is this a remake of the Richard Chamberlain Shogun from many years ago?
yes and no. It’s based on the book Shogun, and there was a miniseries years ago, but my understanding is this one was different, in that there was a lot of input from Japanese writers and historians and this one was more from the perspective of the Japanese characters. I think I head that they didn’t do subtitles for the Japanese characters in the old miniseries, to make it more from Blackthorn’s perspective. I never saw the old one, but heard it was very popular at the time. This one was so good
I remember calling in sick to work because I couldn’t put the book down! The only other book I’ve done this with was Gone with the Wind.
Shogun is amazing, like just flat-out incredible. Anna was phenomenal as Mariko and she definitely deserves to win this award. She gave a lovely speech as well. Congrats to her!
Shogun is in my queue to watch. I’ve heard great things. I watched an incredible documentary on Netflix called “The Age of the Samurai” that talks about all the warring clans/families from 16th century feudal Japan and it was incredible, like the OG Game of Thrones — I think Shogun takes place a century or two after that?
Anyway, my goodness — Anna Sawai is STUNNING. The dress is nice but with that face, she could make a potato sack look elegant. So excited for the history making nature of her win!
I watched both the original 1980 version and this new version of “Shogun” this summer. While I enjoyed both, this new adaptation was really something special. The 1980 version centers the character of Blackthorne while this new version centers it on Toronaga.
Some people didn’t like that change, because they felt liked Cosmo Jarvis’ Blackthorne came across as kind of a doofus, at least compared to the book version and the earlier Richard Chamberlain one. I liked the way they changed him. He was kind of an Every Man, a gifted sailor who had a good heart and was brave when necessary but was also impulsive, a bit hapless sometimes, smart enough but no genius or savant. Anna Sawai’s Mariko was smarter and more badass than Blackthorne and she fell for him anyway. I liked that. I also appreciated that unlike in the book, they didn’t make a point of telling us how well endowed he was all the time. That was cringey.
Beautiful!
I haven’t watched yet either, I’m way behind on series, but I will check it out.
We loved the show and Anna was amazing in it. Her acceptance speech was kind of perfect. I heard they are going to do another season? Maybe two more? It will be interesting to see where they take the story, since what they covered in the original series and I think the books as well has already been handled.
Shogun was visually stunning! I was amazing to watch. The acting was spectacular. I’m not surprised that the show won so many Emmys. Translating the script back and forth to Japanese & English multiple times had to be time consuming and costly but well worth it. Hiroyuki has been in Hollywood for decades it’s good that he was given a chance to be a leading man in Hollywood. I first noticed him in Revenge.
So delighted she won! She really held the whole show together and made it human. So much incredible acting with and without words.
Speaking of words, I noticed she has pretty much always spoken with an American accent in interviews. I’m guessing it’s because she’s been in the biz for so long and was J-pop trained. It’s probably her natural accent now. I remember Anna Paquin saying she can’t even do her original accent anymore lol.
I simply can not afford all the streaming choices.
I would enjoy seeing this show. Heard good reviews.
I adored Shōgun, and the incredibly talented Anna Sawai, so was overjoyed to see her nominated and win the Emmy for Best Actress.
If you liked Shōgun, please, please check out another show Anna is in and that is the brilliant Pachinko on AppleTv. It’s currently on s2, so you can binge s1!
It’s based on the bestselling novel by MinJin Lee and has the same beautiful cinematography and story telling as Shōgun. Although it’s not as action focused in s1, you will be swept away by the heartbreaking story of one woman, Sunja, and her struggle as a Zainichi Korean living with prejudice and discrimination in 1930’s Japan. Anna Sawai plays the colleague and love interest of Sunja’s grandson in the 1980’s portion of the show, and has an expanded role in S2. Older Sunja in the 1980’s is played by Korean Oscar winner Youn Yun Jung.
Season 2 starts with the impact of WWII on Japan, and how that effects the characters in the drama. Beautifully and sensitively told but doesn’t hide the brutal experiences that Koreans endured.