“It was pretty difficult, because I am quite tiny”: Anna Sawai Had a Hard Time in Shogun Performing 1 Stunt That Took a Toll on Her
- Japanese actress and singer Anna Sawai has earned a great deal of appreciation for her role in Shōgun.
- She had to learn to use a Japanese weapon which proved to be quite difficult due to her height.
- The Pachinko actress head to learn many other skills to portray Lady Mariko in the award-winning series.
Anna Sawai is making waves in Hollywood with her role as Lady Mariko in the popular FX historical drama series Shōgun. She began her career as an actress at a young age and gained recognition in Japan as the lead vocalist of the girl band Faky. However, it did not take long for her to realize that her true calling was acting.
That is how she began acting again and made a return with supporting roles in the series Colors and Giri/Haji. One thing led to another and she landed the role of Lady Mariko which saw her achieve new heights of fame in international media. As rewarding as the job was, it did not come without its own challenges. One of the things that was particularly difficult for Sawai to do was learn to use a Japanese weapon.
Anna Sawai Struggled to Learn to Wield This Japanese Weapon in Shōgun
Based on James Clavell’s 1975 eponymous novel, Shōgun follows the story of John Blackthorne, an English navigator who ends up shipwrecked in Japan. He finds himself entangled in the political and cultural conflicts of the time, particularly between powerful warlords. In the process of adapting himself to the Japanese lifestyle, he becomes close with the ambitious daimyo, Lord Toranaga, and the noblewoman, Lady Mariko.
The show not only earned critical appreciation but also enjoyed a huge viewership. To top it all, it has become the second non-English-language series to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. It was nominated for 25 Emmy Awards and has won 14.
As one can imagine, a lot of hard work has been put into the show. This also includes the performances of the actors. Anna Sawai has recently opened up to Standard.co.uk about the skills she had to learn to bring Lady Mariko to life. Wielding the Japanese weapon Naginata was one of these things.
The only issue with this was that it had a long wooden handle with a curved blade at the top and Sawai is only an inch over 5 feet. She claimed: “It was pretty difficult, because I am quite tiny.” Being short certainly did not help with learning this skill.
During the early seventeenth century in which the show is set in, women of the Samurai class were expected to know this skill so Sawai had to learn it despite her short height.
What Else Did Anna Sawai Learn for the Accurate Portrayal of Lady Mariko?
Sawai’s character is based on a real-life woman named Hosokawa Gracia. While Mariko was not completely Hosokawa, there were still many things that the Pachinko actress had to learn to play a noblewoman of that era. She told Standard.co.uk:
I had to learn how to walk. Back in the day, women didn’t wear underwear, so the kimono is wrapped around your legs and the women had to keep their knees together when they walked… I had to learn how to walk, how to sit, how to stand – it’s so hard to stand gracefully, I wish people could try it.
In addition to learning the simple task of walking, the actress also learned calligraphy in Hosokawa Gracia’s style of writing. Further, she got the chance to learn to ride a horse. In fact, she kept asking her assistant directors for more horse-riding lessons which implies that seemed to have taken a lining to this particular skill.
Shōgun is available for streaming on Hulu.
