Anna Sawai
Actor · Born June 11, 1992 (34) · Wellington, New Zealand
Primetime Emmy winner · Golden Globe winner · 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards · 2 other major award bodies
Anna Sawai (アンナ・サワイ, born June 11, 1992) is a Japanese actress and singer. 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 Television production of Annie. Sawai later debuted 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 her role 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 the historical drama Shōgun (2024). She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the latter. She became the first Japanese actress to win a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2024, Time magazine included her on its 100 Next list. Description above from the Wikipedia article Anna Sawai, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- June 11, 1992 (34)
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Actor
- 6 on MovieCove · 14 credits in all
What are Anna Sawai's films like?
Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Power.
Themes
Roles they play
- Heraldas Cate Randa in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023)
- Allyas Toda Mariko in Shōgun (2024)
Moods and endings
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Anna Sawai's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 6 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Apple TV (2).
Subscription and free streaming for Anna Sawai's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
14 credits, 6 with a MovieCove page; 9 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
The Beatles: George (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2028)
The Beatles: John (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2028)
The Beatles: Paul (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2028)
The Beatles: Ringo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2028)
How to Rob a Bank (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
Shōgun(2024)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all shows
Pachinko(2022)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all shows
F9: The Fast Saga(2021)
Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all films
Giri/Haji(2019)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all shows
Ninja Assassin(2009)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films(Saint) Peter (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Enemies (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Slime (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 93rd percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 14 titles, 6 of them dated from 2009 to 2024; peak year 2021.
Film career
Peak 2021 · steadily prominent in film for years. Top draw in 1 MovieCove title. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2009Screen debut· Ninja Assassin
- 2022Independent Spirit Award win· Pachinko
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
a Primetime Emmy, a Golden Globe, 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards and 1 other major award from 8 major nominations, 2023–2025.
- Golden Globe, won · Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series - Drama
- Screen Actors Guild Award, won · Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
- Screen Actors Guild Award, won · Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
+2 other major bodies · 3 nominations
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Actress in a Drama Series
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series
- Primetime Emmy, won · Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
- Independent Spirit Award, won · Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
Is Anna Sawai's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 4 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Anna Sawai work with?
People who share at least 2 of Anna Sawai's MovieCove titles; Takehiro Hira shares the most, 2.
- Takehiro HiraShared titles: Shōgun (2024), Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023)See all 2 shared titles with Takehiro Hira
