Anna Sawai is having a breakthrough moment.
Fresh off starring in Pachinko and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Sawai takes on the role of Lady Mariko (also referred to as Toda Mariko) in FX's Shōgun remake, anchoring the series as the female lead. Mariko is one of the few characters in the show who speaks both Japanese and Portuguese (which is rendered as English for the American audiences), so she acts as a translator between John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada). While Shōgun is not a historical drama—it's adapted from James Clavell's bestselling novel—Sawai's Mariko is based on the true story of Hosokawa Gracia, also known as Akechi Tama, a member of the aristocratic Akechi family. (If you don't want the show spoiled for you, do not look up the fate that befalls Gracia in real life.)
For Sawai, a Japanese actress who was born in New Zealand and raised in Tokyo, playing Mariko was transformative. "Her character made me rethink what I want to do in life," Sawai tells T&C. In a conversation ahead of the premiere, the actress shares why she said "yes" to Shōgun, the impact playing Mariko had on her, and what she hopes to do next.
What drew you to playing Mariko?
When I heard about Shōgun, I was like, ok, they're trying to make another Japanese story, I don't know how different it's gonna be from the things we've seen in the past. And then I talked to [co-creator] Justin [Marks] and I just felt like he was trying to do it as authentically as possible. 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.' So the conversation with Justin made me wanna work with him, but also reading Mariko's story just really spoke to me so much, and I knew that she was the character that I needed to play.
Your character acts as translator for much of the show, navigating the two worlds—of Blackthorne and of Lord Toranaga. What was that like for you to shift between languages?
I do it all the time because I speak both languages. So if I'm talking to my friends who speak both languages, we're using Japanese in between the sentences. So that wasn't difficult. But juggling two languages in accents that I don't speak—the Japanese was in periodic Japanese and the English was a little bit more British with some hints of Japanese accents here and there. So getting used to speaking it in those two forms, that was the challenging part.
What was your research process like, bringing this period of Japanese history to life?
Obviously I read the novel, and picked up some books on Hosokawa Gracia, who is the model of Mariko. But we weren't doing a documentary on that. So I had conversations with Justin and Rachel [Kondo, the other co-creator]. For me, it was really important to talk to Rachel because she understands. She's a woman, and she's lived with Mariko's story for years before I came on board. And so talking to her and [the writers], they're really so passionate about the female characters. That's the research that went into creating Mariko.
What do you hope audiences sort of take away from her and the show at large?
I hope girls—especially when they see Mariko—they understand that even if you are in this situation where you have to keep your mouth closed, and you can't act 100% what you're thinking, there's still ways to pursue your way. That's not to say, don't say stuff! It's more like, you still have your own power. You have control over your decisions, and your choices and destiny.
How has playing Mariko impacted you since wrapping?
Oh my God, she's changed me!! Oh, I don't know how to live with it! I think after finishing the whole series, I was like, 'oh my gosh, I really need to just do something light, something fun.' And now after watching the whole thing, I'm like, 'I only want to play characters like Mariko.' It was a really tough shoot, but that's all I want do now, because it's so meaningful to me and it makes me think as a person. So she's made me grow as a human being, I believe. And that's only thanks to Justin, Rachel, and Hiro [Hiroyuki Sanada, who plays Lord Toranaga and served as a producer]. So I wanna work with those kind of guys.
Would you do more period dramas?
Maybe, yeah. But also, I don't want to keep doing the same thing. I want to find something else that is this challenging.
Shōgun is currently airing on FX on Hulu, with new episodes releasing weekly on Tuesdays. Watch now
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
