Portrait and Profile of Anna Sawai, the First Asian Actress to Win an Emmy Award!

Anna Sawai was born on June 11, 1992, in Wellington, New Zealand, to Japanese parents. Due to her father's job in an electronics company, she grew up moving between various countries such as New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, before finally settling in Japan.

Anna's interest in acting began at the age of 7 after being inspired by Britney Spears' music videos. With the help of her mother, an opera singer, she started learning to sing. She also fell in love with movies after watching Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie.

Her acting debut began at the age of 11 in a Japanese version of the musical Annie. Her first major role in a feature film came in 2009 through the action film NINJA ASSASSIN. Despite acting since childhood, Anna remained focused on her music career.

She became the lead vocalist and founder of the J-pop group FAKY in 2013. After five years with FAKY, Anna felt her music career was stagnant and decided to leave the group in 2018 to focus on acting.  

The decision proved to be right when she landed a significant role in the English drama GIRI/HAJI in 2019. A major opportunity arose in 2021 when she played Elle in the blockbuster film F9: THE FAST SAGA, sharing the screen with renowned actors like Vin Diesel and John Cena.

The film was successful, grossing over $726 million (11 billion rupiah) worldwide. However, Anna realized the risk of getting stuck in action roles, especially due to her Asian background. Therefore, she began to choose roles more selectively.  

In 2022, Anna starred in the dramaPACHINKO on Apple TV+, which tells the story of a Korean immigrant family in Japan. Her success continued in 2023 when she played a role in the series MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTER, about the battle between humans and giant creatures like Godzilla.