Shogun star Hiroyuki Sanada’s journey from child actor in Japan to Emmy-nominated actor and producer has been a long and winding one. Now, he’s embracing the moment.
“It’s a great journey for me,” Sanada, who worked as an actor in Japan for 40 years before moving to Hollywood, where he worked for two decades, told Yahoo Entertainment. “This is big.”
The 63-year-old actor scored his first leading role as master strategist Lord Yoshii Toranaga in the FX series Shogun. The show, which has racked up 25 Emmy nominations, also earned Sanada his first producer credit. And finally, he received his first Emmy nomination, for Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
“It’s like my whole journey in Shogunand then Shogun “It got me a nomination,” he added.
While the critically acclaimed show garnered the most Emmy nominations of any series this season — and even responded to overwhelming support by adding a second and third season — Shogun was not without risks when it was developed for almost eight years.
Unlike the 1980 TV miniseries that preceded it, which was also based on the James Clavell novel of the same name, Shogun would focus entirely on Japanese culture, and on Toranaga instead of English ship pilot John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis). The series would also anchor most of its dialogue—70%, to be exact—in Japanese, with subtitles.
“We didn’t know until we released the first two episodes,” Sanada said, referring to the overwhelmingly positive response from audiences. It was “kind of a gamble.”
That gamble has now paid off, because Shogun became FX’s most-watched show in the first nine weeks after its debut. The bullet train actor is now looking ahead to Season 2 and beyond. He credits the show’s success to authenticity, something he was able to enhance as a producer, working with executive producers and writers Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, the latter of whom is Japanese-American.
Sanada not only asked for Japanese actors to play the Japanese roles, but he also wanted to use Japanese crew members who had experience in samurai drama.
“Everyone listened to me,” Sanada said. “I [didn’t] have to hesitate to say or correct something. [It was] much, much easier than before.”
As Sanada and the rest of the cast, crew, and creators work toward Season 2, whose premiere date has yet to be announced, they are faced with yet another dilemma.
Since Season 1 used Clavell’s entire novel to shape the series, they essentially had to start over, but without a roadmap from the deceased author.
“But we have history, real history,” Sanada explained. “We have to choose [what to include to create] the best episodes — what happened, what human drama there was.”
For Sanada, whose childhood hero was Tokugawa Ieyasu — also known as the real-life shogun on whom Lord Toranaga is based — it is his mission to explore Japanese culture beyond the confines of the novel.
“I hope writers will enjoy the freedom to create [in an] “In the original way,” he added, noting that they will “continue the same world” but take it to the next level.
For that next level, Japanese culture and language will continue to play a dominant role and, according to Sanada, could even serve as a source of inspiration for other series.
“Even [with a] other culture [and] with subtitles, people [will] see if the show is good,” he said. “I believe that Shogun [is] will be a big step into the future for the next generation.”
One question that remains unresolved from Season 1, however. Will Sanada and the show’s other creative minds find a way to bring back fan favorite Lady Mariko, a character who earned actress Anna Sawai an Emmy nomination but who dies at the end of the season?
“[The] only [place] “It’s a flashback, right?” he said. “It was a sad ending for her, but that’s why it’s beautiful.”
“I have no idea yet,” he added. “For now.”
