FX’s ‘Shogun’ Limited Series Adds Anna Sawai in Starring Role

Anna Sawai Joins Shogun
Anna Sawai will star in FX’s ‘Shogun’ series (Photo Credit: Akina Chan)

Anna Sawai (F9: The Final Saga) has boarded the cast of FX’s Shōgun and will be taking on the role of Lady Mariko. Sawai’s character is one of the limited series’ three leads, with Hiroyuki Sanada (Mortal Kombat) starring as Yoshii Toranaga and Cosmo Jarvis (Raised by Wolves) confirmed to play John Blackthorne.

The network reports filming is now underway in Vancouver on the 10 episode limited series based on the bestselling novel written by James Clavell and published in 1975. Clavell’s novel was previously adapted into an Emmy Award-winning miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain, Yôko Shimada, and Shōgun Toshirô Mifune back in the ’80s.

The cast of FX’s adaptation will include Tadanobu Asano, Fumi Nikaido, Tokuma Nishioka, Takehiro Hira, Ako, Shinnosuke Abe, Yasunari Takeshima, and Hiroto Kanai. Toshi Toda, Hiro Kanagawa, Nestor Carbonell, Yuki Kura, Tommy Bastow, Moeka Hoshi, Yoriko Doguchi, and Yuka Kouri also star.

Jonathan van Tulleken (Reprisal) is on board to direct the series’ first two episodes. Justin Marks, Michaela Clavell, Michael de Luca and Ed McDonnell are executive producing, with Marks writing episodes one and two along with co-executive producer Rachel Kondo. The series is produced by FX Productions.

The Plot and Key Characters, Courtesy of FX:

Shōgun, set in feudal Japan, charts the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai. John Blackthorne, a risk-taking English pilot major ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him. Lord Toranaga, a shrewd, powerful daimyo, is at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals. And Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties, must prove her value and allegiance.

Anna Sawai is set to star as “Lady Mariko,” revered daughter of an infamous samurai traitor, whom Toranaga enlists to avenge her father’s death.

Hiroyuki Sanada will star as “Yoshii Toranaga,” a living legend. A powerful daimyo from a feared lineage, isolated and outnumbered by his enemies in Osaka Castle when the story begins. But little does anyone realize that Toranaga is a brilliant strategist, a master of the long game, and the holder of Japan’s ultimate fate.

Cosmo Jarvis will star as “John Blackthorne,” a restless English pilot major in search of a destiny far from the world he was born into. His mission is to forge a path into the Pacific islands and disrupt Portuguese and Spanish interests in Japan. But Blackthorne finds more than he bargained for when his ship washes ashore within the territory of Toranaga, a deadly warlord who becomes his captor and spiritual mentor.