Anna Sawai

Anna Sawai
Portrait of Anna Sawai.
Sawai in 2024
Born (1992-06-11) June 11, 1992 (age 32)
Wellington, New Zealand
Alma materSophia University
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active2004–present

Anna Sawai[a] (アンナ・サワイ, born June 11, 1992) is a Japanese actress and singer.[3][4] Born in New Zealand, she moved to Japan with her family at age 10. She landed her first acting role at age 11 as the title character in the 2004 Nippon TV production of Annie. Sawai later made her film debut in James McTeigue's 2009 martial arts film Ninja Assassin.

Sawai rose to fame in Japan as one of the lead vocalists of the girl group Faky from 2013 to 2018. She made a return to acting with a supporting role in the British crime thriller series Giri/Haji (2019). Her international breakthrough came with roles in the action film F9 (2021) and in the Apple TV+ drama series Pachinko (2022–present). She gained further recognition for starring in the MonsterVerse series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023–present) and in the historical drama series Shōgun (2024). For the latter, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, becoming the first Japanese actress to win any Primetime Emmy Award, and the first actress of Asian descent to win in that category. In 2024, Time magazine included her on its Time 100 Next list.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference name1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference name2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Brown, Tracy (February 25, 2024). "Anna Sawai's 'Shogun' role felt personal: Mariko is 'every woman in Japan who has suffered'". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ Burack, Emily (March 5, 2024). "Playing Mariko on Shōgun Changed Anna Sawai's Life". Town & Country.
  5. ^ "Meet the 2024 Time 100 Next". Time. Archived from the original on October 2, 2024. Retrieved October 30, 2024.


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