When it comes to choosing her roles, TV Performer of the Year Anna Sawai says she 'always wants to do something very different.' But when she signed on to play Toda Mariko, the heart of FX's Emmy-winning smash Shōgun, she had no idea what kind of impact the role would have on her career.
The series turned into one of the network's biggest hits to date, and Sawai partook in its awards season success with her first Emmy win for Lead Actress in a Drama. Having delivered one of the year's most committed and heartbreaking performances, the recognition was well-deserved.
Unlike the 1980 miniseries produced by NBC, FX's version centers its story of feudal Japan not on the white characters but its Japanese leads, with characters speaking in period-authentic Japanese with subtitles for a good portion of screen time.
Playing a translator was a unique experience for Sawai, even though she is fluent in both Japanese and English. 'Because when I'm speaking Japanese or when I'm speaking English, my personality does shift,' she says. 'I think that English allows me to be a little bit more free.'
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