Last year at the 75th Emmys —Steven Yeun won Actor in Outstanding Lead in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for the critically beloved “BEEF.” Today, he stood again on the Peacock Theater stage, this time to announce the winner of the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series award to another fellow Asian actor and legendary Japanese icon, Hiroyuki Sanada for his role in “Shōgun.”
Not only did Sanada (who produced the series) make history as the first Japanese actor to win this category at the Emmys, but he is also the second winner of Asian descent for this award, the first being Lee Jungjae in 2022.
“It was an East-meets-West dream project, with respect,” Sanada said of the series. “‘Shogun’ taught me that when people work together, we can make a miracle. We can create a better future together.”
This was not Shōgun’s only win of the evening — it was actually far from it. The FX drama series received 14 wins at last week’s Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, breaking the record for most wins from one season of a series, which was originally held by the HBO series “John Adams” in 2008. Still, the show went above and beyond at tonight’s ceremony,
Anna Sawai was one of those winners; she became the first actress of Asian descent to win the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series award for her role. Sawai was in visible tears as she walked up on stage, smiling ear to ear as she received her award. “I was crying before my name was announced. I’m a mess today.” Before she continued her acceptance speech, thanking co-stars Sanada for opening doors for actors like her and her own mother, helping her portrayal of Lady Mariko.
“You are the reason I’m here, you showed me stoicism and that’s how I was able to portray Mariko.”…
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