The FX drama “Shōgun” entered the Primetime Emmys after already breaking the record for most wins in a season at the Creative Arts Emmys last weekend, and now it has extended its record even further with 18 total wins.
The cast and crew gathered on stage as executive producer Justin Marks thanked his partners at Disney Television, Dana Walden, Eric Schrier, Hulu and FX: “You greenlit a very expensive, subtitled Japanese historical film with a poetry contest as its central climax. I have no idea why you did this, but thank you for your trust in this incredible team.”
With 14 Creative Arts Emmys, “Shōgun” has already broken the record previously held by the 2008 HBO miniseries “John Adams” with 13 awards.
“Shōgun” dominated the main acting categories with wins in Best Drama, Lead Actor (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Lead Actress (Anna Sawai).
Based on James Clavell’s novel of the same name, “Shōgun” is a retelling of the Emmy-winning 1980s NBC miniseries. Set in feudal Japan in the year 1600, the series stars Sawai as Lady Mariko, who is tasked with translating for Lord Toranaga (Sanada), and John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), an English ship captain who enters Japanese society as it prepares for war.
Sanada took home a double win as lead actor and best playwright as he produced the show. In conversation with Diversity, Earlier this year, Sanada explained that as a producer, he was able to be much more than just an actor and ensure that every little detail was accurate. “This story is fictional entertainment based on a true story and inspired by history. To make the story and characters believable, we had to create authentic details.”
Sawai also made history by becoming the first Japanese star to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actress.
While diversity In “Actors on Actors,” Sawai spoke about the impact of Lady Mariko and the role of a woman finding her strength and voice. Sawai said she received a positive response from audiences, especially Japanese women. She said, “Several young girls came up to me and said, ‘This is the first time I’ve seen a real Japanese character that I can really relate to.’ They also got emotional because it was something they had internalized – not being able to speak, having to behave – and they thought that was how they should be. In Japan, we see characters like that; but in Western media, it was the first time I read a script where it felt like she wasn’t marginalized. We saw that vulnerability, but also the strength in her. We see her finding her voice. I think if I had seen characters like Mariko on screen as a child, it would have shaped me differently. I wouldn’t have internalized all those expectations.”
