The Stunning Transformation Of Shogun Star Anna Sawai

From its original conception in 2018, writers Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks ambitiously set out to create the FX series "Shōgun." Named after the highest title given to those in the Japanese military during the feudal period, the show is a massive retelling of the 1975 novel with the same title and depicts the political climate in feudal Japan. Among the star-studded cast was Anna Sawai, who instantly garnered positive praise when the show aired. Though this may have been the first time some of us saw her on the big screen, this doesn't mean she was an unfamiliar face in Hollywood. 

In fact, Sawai was already one of Hollywood's most in-demand actors. That alone proved to be a testament to her entire acting career, which, in its early stages, was inconsistent due to other career obligations. Sawai assured Elle in 2024 that her success was the byproduct of her hard work rather than luck. "My mom taught me that if you want to do something special, you really have to put your time into it," she explained. "If it's just luck, it's going be a one-time thing, so you have to keep patiently working on it." These words remained true for Sawai as she continued to find success. Whether it be her early days in theater or her impressive run as a musical artist, Sawai's growth has been incredible to watch. To learn more about her catapult into stardom, here is the stunning transformation of Anna Sawai!

Born on June 11, 1992, Anna Sawai was the youngest of two children. While most actors seemingly come from humble beginnings, Sawai was privileged enough to lead a life most of us could only imagine. Since birth, Sawai moved across various countries throughout the first ten years of her life. When asked about this during her appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in 2024, she spoke fondly about this time, discussing the number of countries she's lived in and for how long. "I was born in New Zealand," she explained. "Two years in New Zealand, then I moved to Japan, then to Hong Kong, then to the Philippines for 5 years, and then I went back to Japan when I was 10."

The reason for these frequent moves was her father's career in the electronics industry. The more job opportunities he garnered, the more often Sawai and her family would have to relocate. Luckily, Sawai noted that moving every few years wasn't a bad experience. Once she moved back to Japan, however, Sawai noticed a shift in how she was perceived. In a 2024 interview with Vulture, Sawai spoke about how she didn't particularly fit into Japan's societal norms. As a result, those around her oftentimes acknowledged her as someone outside of their culture. "Japan will always be home," she stated. "But some Japanese people will look at me and be like, 'Oh, she's not completely Japanese. There's some foreign element to her.'"

For Anna Sawai, music played a big part in her life. By the time she turned 3, Sawai was already learning to play piano thanks to her mother. Her passion for music only grew the more she engaged with Western media, which caused her to become a huge fan of celebrities like the stunning Angelina Jolie. Despite this, however, there was one celebrity that Sawai became enamored with during her formative years.

As a self-proclaimed '90s baby, Sawai grew up at the height of Britney Spears' stunning transformation into a major pop star. Like most, Sawai became enthralled with the pop star's career, so much so that it inspired her to become a musician as well. Sawai spoke about this during her interview with the New York Times, stating that since the age of 7, she looked to Spears as inspiration. "I remember seeing Britney's concert video," she recalled. "It was my dream to do that. I want to become like Britney Spears. I mean, I still do." She continued to divulge this information during her 2024 interview with W Magazine, further adding how fascinated she was with her as a child. "I had a poster of Britney Spears on my wall," she said. "I was obsessed with her."

As a child, it was clear Anna Sawai had a deep desire to perform. While her sister, Reina Sawai, excelled in ballet at a young age, Anna didn't quite find her niche. It wasn't until she moved back to Japan that her mother decided to get her involved in an extracurricular activity. In doing so, her mother stumbled upon an opportunity for Anna to be part of the Japanese production of the notable musical, "Annie."

Despite her eagerness to perform, it didn't work out initially the way she hoped. During her appearance on "Live! with Kelly and Mark" in 2024, Anna recalled not getting the part after her first audition. By the time she turned 11, however, she got the role after spending the better part of the year preparing for it. "When we moved back to Japan, my mom was looking for something that I could do, and she found an audition for 'Annie,' she said. "So I auditioned, didn't get it. I wasn't prepared, but then I practiced every single day for the next year and then I became Annie in 2004." With this being her first acting gig, Anna thinks fondly of her time performing. In addition to showcasing the Japanese renditions of classics like "It's a Hard Knock Life" and "Tomorrow," Anna took to Instagram in 2018 to share an early recording of her performance as Annie. "Throwback Thursday to 11-year-old baby me," she wrote. "From my first recording ever."

While Anna Sawai's portrayal of "Annie" may have prepared her for future roles, it didn't cause her to dive headfirst into acting immediately. Instead, Sawai pursued a music career. After joining a music agency, Sawai honed her skills as a performer throughout her teenage years. Ironically enough, her partnership with the agency allowed her to audition for a role in the 2009 film, "Ninja Assassin," which was her first acting gig at the time. During her 2024 interview with Steverm Prusakowski from Awards Radar, she spoke fondly about how the role came to be.  "We had a notice where they were looking for a Japanese girl around maybe like 15-years-old, who could speak English and there weren't a lot of people that could speak English fluently and wanted to act," she explained. "And so I went into the audition and I got very lucky."

Despite her role being relatively small, it was a major accomplishment for Sawai as the film saw some success. During her appearance on Variety's "Actors on Actors" with "Loki" actor, Tom Hiddleston, she noted that this served as her introduction to the acting industry. When Hiddleston asked about the experience as a whole, Sawai stated that her inclusion in the film sparked her passion for acting. "I loved it," she said. "I was like, 'This is what I want to do. I feel like I could do this for the rest of my life."

Despite her positive experience filming "Ninja Assassin," Anna Sawai continued to solely pursue a music career for several more years. During this time, she was training under a Japanese record company known as Avex Trax, where she practiced dancing, singing, and modeling. After years of working with the label, Sawai finally got the opportunity to audition as a lead vocalist for the J-Pop group FAKY. Following the successful audition, Sawai and four other girls made their debut in 2013 — which is ironically the same year K-pop group BTS made their debut.

Their debut was a success, and they maintained prominent careers in the following years. As for the meaning of the name, Sawai told W Magazine there was a link behind the acronym and how they were promoted to the public. "They were labeling us as the 'real girls' like we were going to be very authentic," she explained. "So, they thought the name showed self-awareness — like, we'll call this fake because we're so real." Despite having notable hits like "Better Without You" and their EP "Candy," maintaining relevancy proved to be a struggle as the group frequently cycled through members. While Sawai stayed throughout the group's reformation in 2015, this experience as a whole caused her to suggest to W Magazine that having a J-pop career isn't as glorious as it seems, stating, "I would never recommend to anyone, 'You should go join the J-pop industry.'"

Given Anna Sawai's disdain for the J-Pop industry, it's safe to assume that a string of events likely caused her to oppose it. As an outspoken member of FAKY, Sawai always stated that her music label encouraged her to focus solely on music. This allegedly culminated in 2015, when Sawai stumbled upon an ad looking for a Japanese girl to play Katana in the DC film, "Suicide Squad." With notable names like "Barbie" actor Margot Robbie and the stunning Viola Davis joining the fray, starring in the movie would've been the opportunity of a lifetime for Sawai and her acting career.

Sadly, Sawai told Hollywood Reporter in 2024 that her manager kept her from auditioning for the role. "I was like, 'This is my chance!' And then I go to my manager, and he's like, 'You can't audition,'" she recalled. "They basically told me if I'm gone for over a month, the girls [the other members of FAKY] are not going to have anything to do." Her attempt to reason with her label failed as the role inevitably went to Karen Fukuhara, who's most notably known for playing Kimiko Miyashiro in "The Boys." Since this left Sawai feeling tied down by her label, it wasn't a surprise when she decided to depart from FAKY in 2018 to fully pursue her acting career. 

Luckily, missing out on a notable franchise didn't seem to affect Anna Sawai's budding acting career. Within a year of leaving the J-Pop industry, Sawai had already booked a role in the mini-series "Girl/Haji." She didn't stop there: In 2019, she took to Instagram to announce that she was joining the "Fast & Furious 9" — or "F9: The Fast Saga" — as the martial arts specialist, Elle. 

During her interview with Who What Wear, she explained just how important joining the "Fast & Furious" cast meant to her. "It was a film that I grew up watching. It's really big in Japan as well. They had 'Tokyo Drift,' which was huge," she stated. "In recent years, the industry has become a lot more diverse, and we are heading in the right direction, but back when the first film came out, I don't think a lot of other films had as much diversity. It's been very inclusive since the beginning. Seeing people who look like me is what I really love about the films." The release of "F9" in 2021 was met with several nominations ranging from People's Choice Awards to winning the most popular U.S. film in China at the Chinese American Film Festival. With its array of films garnering box office success through each release, being part of the franchise was surely the stamp of approval Sawai sought as an actor.

With some credible roles on her resume, Anna Sawai quickly transitioned from an aspiring actor to a solidified name in Hollywood. While her inclusion in "F9" proved to be a success for Sawai, she also found her footing in 2022 when she appeared in the historical drama based on the 2017 novel of the same name, "Pachinko." In it, Sawai portrayed Naomi, a Harvard graduate and co-worker of Solomon Baek. 

Given the show's serious tone, "Pachinko" was a departure from what Sawai was known for. The show tackled Korean discrimination in Japan during the early 1900s, but also covered the hardships women faced in the workplace, a message showrunners felt was so important that they needed to create Naomi despite her not appearing in the novel. This gave Sawai a sense of direction for how she wanted the character to represent Asian women during that period. 

In addition to drawing from Asian women from past generations to fuel her role as Naomi, Sawai specifically told Gold House that one of her main inspirations for the character was her mother, who struggled with the same issues her fictional counterpart did (via TikTok). "Once I read the script, it felt like she was part of my mom's generation, and it reflected all of the struggles that she went through," she explained. "And so, it was meaningful to me in that way, and I wanted to tell her story."

As Anna Sawai took on more acting roles, she continued to pull experiences from her personal life for her fictional characters. This remained true when she starred alongside Kurt Russell and his son, Wyatt, in the Apple TV+ series "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" in 2023. Set within the Godzilla universe, the series followed two siblings discovering secrets of their family's past after Godzilla re-emerged. In it, Sawai portrayed Cate Randa, a teacher from San Francisco suffering from PTSD due to her witnessing Godzilla's previous attack. 

In 2023, Sawai appeared on "The Movie Podcast" to speak about her character's backstory and how she prepared for the role. While discussing one specific scene where Godzilla attacked the Golden Gate Bridge, she stated that she used her experience of witnessing the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011 to fully connect with her fictional counterpart. "Right now, like when earthquakes happen, we'll get alarms on our phones, and that creeps me out. ...I think I do have — not to the extent of Cate — but some type of trauma from it," she said. "So, I kind of had to confront how I felt those days. I kind of blocked it, but I have pictures and diaries that I read, and it really helped me bring that trauma to that scene."

2024 quickly became Anna Sawai's breakthrough year as she earned her most notable role yet in "Shōgun" as Toda Mariko. Given Sawai's Japanese roots, this wasn't anything new to her, and her prior role in "Pachinko" was heavily based on a different historical era. The only question Sawai had was how this would be different from other Asian-focused projects in the past. According to her interview with Town and Country, it was the show's authenticity in terms of her culture that caused her to pursue the role. "That meant a lot to me because I don't know if I've seen anything that, as a Japanese person, [I] could say, 'That is accurate.'" she stated.

Today Mariko was based on the historical figure Hosokawa Gracia, and Sawai has shined in accurately portraying the struggles of Japanese women both during that period and in the modern day. During her "Actors on Actors" conversation with Tom Hiddleston, she said she became aware of this after screening two episodes of "Shōgun" for a Japanese community in Washington D.C. "After the screening, multiple young girls came up to me being like, 'This is the first time I'm seeing a real Japanese character that I can really relate to.'" she recalled. Ultimately, her performance led to a record-breaking accomplishment, as in 2024, Sawai became the first actor of Asian descent to take home an Emmy for best actress in a drama series.