Anna Sawai’s Ascent: From Shogun to Breakthrough Star in the Wake of Oscars So White

“It seems that, due to the difficulty of the role, there were times when she felt she wasn’t doing enough and lost confidence. However, this uncertainty and the desire to not want to live aligned with Mariko’s emotions, allowing her to honestly portray the character. She has openly admitted this,” said the aforementioned producer.

Through her struggles, Anna Sawai’s efforts have paid off as she won the Emmy Award for Best Actress and is now climbing the ladder toward becoming a Hollywood star. However, her success is not only attributed to the charm of the work and her acting skills but also to the changing landscape of the entertainment industry in American society, which has acted as a tailwind for her career.

Black filmmaker Spike Lee boycotts the awards ceremony.

“In the early 2010s, there was a notion that films wouldn’t succeed unless directed by white filmmakers. However, after white actors dominated the acting categories at the Academy Awards for two consecutive years in 2016, renowned Black filmmaker Spike Lee boycotted the ceremony. This led to the rise of the “#Oscar So White” movement, which called for greater diversity in Hollywood. As a result, in 2020, Bong Joon-ho, a South Korean director, won the Academy Award for Best Picture with “Parasite”, the first non-English language film to achieve this. Such changes have also acted as a tailwind for “SHOGUN”, propelling Anna Sawai into the spotlight,” said a director from the production company.

Furthermore, the global pandemic during the COVID-19 crisis created a stay-at-home demand, leading to a rise in viewers wanting to enjoy films and streaming dramas in audio form, similar to the hit “Squid Game”. This increase in viewers has also popularized watching with subtitles, contributing to the appeal of “SHOGUN”, where Japanese characters speak in Japanese.

Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that Mariko will have opportunities to appear in the second or third seasons of SHOGUN. However, Anna is already receiving numerous offers for film and drama roles.

We hope to see her take on new characters that break away from the image of Mariko in her next projects.