Anna Sawai (アンナ・サワイ) is a Japanese actress and singer. Sawai is credited in katakana for her music career, but her Japanese acting roles are credited in kanji (澤井 杏奈, Sawai Anna).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 TV production of Annie. Sawai later made her film debut 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 supporting roles in the Japanese mystery series Colors (2018) and the British crime thriller series Giri/Haji (2019). Her international breakthrough came with roles in the action film F9 (2021) and 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 in the historical drama series Shōgun (2024). For the latter, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, becoming the first Japanese actress to win any Primetime Emmy Award, and the first actress of Asian descent to win in that category.
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 TV production of Annie. Sawai later made her film debut 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 supporting roles in the Japanese mystery series Colors (2018) and the British crime thriller series Giri/Haji (2019). Her international breakthrough came with roles in the action film F9 (2021) and 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 in the historical drama series Shōgun (2024). For the latter, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, becoming the first Japanese actress to win any Primetime Emmy Award, and the first actress of Asian descent to win in that category.