Anna Sawai could take home the Emmy for her performance inShogun.
But shes keeping her cool.
Keeping pace with Hollywoods perpetual awards horserace.
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Mori isnt around today.
Instead, two smiling young white men inyukatawhisk bowls of brilliant-green matcha as loud electronica pulses over the speakers.
Its very round, Sawai says, sipping her drink.
She welcomes the caffeine.
Just hours ago, she was muscling through a battery of Zoom press interviews.
The food is so good!
Have you been to Kissa Tanto?
take a stab at get a reservation there.
OnShogun,Sawai delivered the most compelling performance in one of the buzziest shows of the year.
Toranaga realizes how useful Blackthorne could be as a political wedge between the other lords battling for influence.
He conscripts Mariko, a converted Catholic who speaks a common language with the Englishman,as translator.
Shogunwas a huge hit.
The series is also a rare thing on American television in how it foregrounds a fundamentally non-western perspective.
True to history, its Japanese characters commit seppuku with little flinching or exoticization by the cameras eye.
Sawai carries that same stillness in person, but its paired with a sunny disposition.
I dont worry too much, she says.
I have this weird confidence in me that things will work out.
Theres some foreign element to her.
She says its partly because of her mannerisms: Im a little bit more vocal at times.
I use my hands when Im talking.
I was like,I want to be Britney, she recalls.
Anna was devastated when she didnt get a callback.
Thats when her mother imparted a foundational piece of wisdom.
She proceeded to spend each day of the following year grinding out script practice.
She was cast as Annie the next time she auditioned.
Its an extremely competitive system with few trainees actually getting to debut under the Avex label.
Anna knew she wanted to act more than sing.
The role made Anna more certain she wanted to make the leap into acting.
Sawais experience with FAKY was mixed at best.
Part of the original lineup, she sang in Britney-inflected English and Japanese with dutiful gusto.
I was a pretty vocal person when I first joined, she says.
It didnt take long for Sawais fortunes to shift.
Some people have an innate watchability to them, and she has that in spades, Miller says.
He looked on IMDb to see if she had been in anything since and found her contact information.
Sending that email was one of the best spur-of-the-moment decisions Ive ever made in my life, he says.
Working with Miller and his team was the first time anybody took Sawais acting ambitions seriously.
Before long, the gigs started to come in rapid succession.
She worked onF9in 2019, which she describes as a good set to be green on.
Its super-chill, she says.
Vins on the scooter going around greeting everyone.
Tyrese is throwing jokes out there.
After filming wrapped, she started work onMonarchright away.
Shes grateful forShoguns nuanced characters.
Theres so much more representation today, but theres still a lot of misrepresentation, she says.
Shes rethinking the kinds of roles she can envision for herself.
I didnt really question it too much.
It feels so strange!
Wait I shouldnt be talking about such things yet, right?
If Sawai wins on September 15, she will be the second Asian woman to nab a lead-acting award.
It would mark such an important step, she says.
But I have no control over whats going to happen, you know?
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