Anna Sawai Admits “I Would Vote For Kathy Bates Any Day” As She Accepts Golden Globe For ‘Shōgun’

First-time Emmy winner Anna Sawai is now also a first-time Golden Globe winner for her tole as Toda Mariko in the FX series Shōgun. She joined fellow Japanese actress Yôko Shimada who won the Golden Globe in the same category in 1981 for playing the same role in NBC’s miniseries adaptation of James Clavell’s novel. Overall, Sawai is the third actress of Asian decent to take home the Lead Actress in a Drama Series Golden Globe, alongside Shimada and Sandra Oh, a 2019 winner for Killing Eve.

Admitting she has “so much people to thank,” Sawai kept her speech short.

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“Thank you to the voters for voting for me, even though I would vote for Kathy Bates any day,” she said, referencing fellow nominee in her category Bates, recognized for her starring role on CBS’ Matlock. (Bates had been seen ripping up her acceptance speech after Sawai’s name was announced.)

Sawai went on to thank Shōgun‘s “incredible writers.”

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“Without a good script, it’s not possible to give a performance to our fullest full potential,” she said with her voice cracking. You can watch the video above.

FX/Disney’s Shōgun, based on Clavell’s 1975 bestseller, follows political and social wranglings in 17th Century Japan. Sawai’s character, the tragic Christian noblewoman interpreter Mariko-sama, befriends shipwrecked explorer John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) while serving Hiroyuki Sanada’s Lord Yoshii Toranaga as she helps bridge the two cultures.

Sawai’s win made for a Shōgun acting sweep as she followed on stage her co-stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Tadanobu Asano.

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