--- title: Anna Sawai is on the TIME100 Next 2024 List description: Find out how Anna Sawai is shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership. canonical: https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023585/anna-sawai/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-10-02T11:21:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-29T07:17:08.149Z article:section: World og:title: 2024 TIME100 Next: Anna Sawai og:description: Find out why Anna Sawai is on this year’s TIME100 Next list og:url: https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023585/anna-sawai/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f9e416593892400/698a5b9316d88436f9c3f27e/time100-next-2024-anna-sawai-crop.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: 2024 TIME100 Next: Anna Sawai og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 2024 TIME100 Next: Anna Sawai twitter:description: Find out why Anna Sawai is on this year’s TIME100 Next list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f9e416593892400/698a5b9316d88436f9c3f27e/time100-next-2024-anna-sawai-crop.jpg?branch=production --- Oct 02, 2024 # Anna Sawai by Hiroyuki Sanada  Anna Sawai Anna SawaiTracy Nguyen—The New York Times/Redux Anna Sawai could play any role on this earth, or in space. Period pieces or far-future films—she is so talented that she can do anything. _Shogun_ was our first time working together. It was also her first time starring in a samurai drama. The effort she put into creating her character, Lady Mariko, was incredible. She had to learn so many things so quickly: riding a horse, walking in a kimono, fighting with a _naginata,_ and performing in both English and samurai-­era Japanese, which we never use in modern life. She’d call me on the weekend about the next week’s dialogue, and we’d talk about the meaning and the pronunciation, the rhythm and tone. The script was always changing, but she’d memorize it perfectly, and perform it with such power. She brought a kind of peace to the set, bringing everyone together: the Western crew, the Japanese crew. She was so kind, and thoughtful, and she played her role with such grace. This September, she won an Emmy—the first Asian actor to win in her category. From here, she’ll just get bigger, and bigger. I can’t wait to watch. _Sanada is an Emmy-winning actor and producer_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023585/anna-sawai/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023585/anna-sawai/"},"headline":"Anna Sawai","datePublished":"2024-10-02T11:21:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-29T07:17:08.149Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023585/anna-sawai/","keywords":["list","franchise","Magazine","TIME 100 Next","sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f9e416593892400/698a5b9316d88436f9c3f27e/time100-next-2024-anna-sawai-crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[],"creator":"Time","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f9e416593892400/698a5b9316d88436f9c3f27e/time100-next-2024-anna-sawai-crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023585/anna-sawai/","name":"Anna Sawai"}}]}] ```