Discover what makes Anna Sawai remains a key topic with our thorough coverage.

• Sawai was picked out of 10,000 candidates to perform the title part in the Broadway musical Annie in 2004, shortly after arriving in Japan.
• She obtained a management deal with the Japanese entertainment corporation Avex Inc. after competing in the Avex Audition in 2006.
• Sawai made her professional film debut in 2009, as the rebellious young female ninja Kiriko in the Warner Bros. picture Ninja Assassin, directed by James McTeigue.
• She was chosen to sing the American national anthem at a pre-season Major League Baseball game at the Tokyo Dome in March 2012. Sawai soon began working as a professional vocalist with the Japanese girl group ARA (Avex Rising Angels), who released their first official music video “Make My Dreams Come True” in November 2012.
• She left ARA in 2013 to join Avex’s new dance/R&B group FAKY. She was one of the group’s lead vocalists until her farewell performance on December 20, 2018. Her departure from the group was revealed on FAKY’s social media, claiming her desire to pursue a career as an actress.
• Sawai co-starred in the BBC crime drama Giri/Haji in 2019. After that, she was cast in Justin Lin’s action flick F9. Sawai picked the role of Elle in Fast & Furious 9 because she grew up watching the Fast & Furious films and loved the film’s diverse ensemble.
• Sawai was signed by WME, a talent agency based in the United States, in November 2019.
• She was cast as shrewd career lady Naomi in Apple’s adaptation of Pachinko, based on the novel by Min Jin Lee, in a character developed for the series in October 2020.
• Sawai was cast as Lady Mariko in the FX limited series Shogun, based on the James Clavell novel of the same name, in September 2021.