Shogun actor Anna Sawai was forced to miss Suicide Squad audition: My manager said ‘no’

Actor Anna Sawai, who is garnering worldwide acclaim for her performance as Toda Mariko in Shogun, has revealed that she was told to dismiss an audition call for Hollywood film, Suicide Squad. The reason behind it was her commitment to her J-pop girl band, FAKY. (Also read: Who is Anna Sawai, Shogun's Lady Toda Mariko actress the internet can't stop raving about?)

During The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, the 31-year-old former J-Pop singer revealed that she was forced to turn down an audition for the part of Katana in the 2016 film Suicide Squad. That’s because the company behind FAKY, the girl group to which she then belonged, asked her not to go for it. The role was eventually played by Karen Fukuhara.

What happened?

It all traces back to 2006 when Sawai auditioned for and was signed by Avex, one of Japan’s major entertainment companies. The company operates a music and dance boot camp with an aim to make global J-Pop stars.

“After the training — multiple years of training — you are either lucky and join a group, or debut as a solo singer, or you’re gone,” she explained.

During her training, she was allowed to play a role in the 2009 film Ninja Assassin, which she says made her realise that she loves acting. At that time, she shared that she was assured by her management that being part of a successful girl group would help her to further break into acting. The incident dates back to 2013 before she joined four other young women to form FAKY. However, things turned south when she found that extracurricular acting was not allowed. (Read: ‘Shogun’ Star Anna Sawai Says She Was Forced to Turn Down ‘Suicide Squad’ Audition While in J-Pop Group)

Missing the big Hollywood call

Here, Anna recalled that she thought getting an audition call for an American film, Suicide Squad, was her ticket to Hollywood, as the makers “were looking for a Japanese girl”. She immediately went to her manager, who then told her: “You can’t audition”.

“I was like, ‘This is my chance!’ And then I go to my manager and he’s like, ‘You can’t audition.’ They basically told me that if I’m gone for over a month, the girls [the other members of FAKY] are not going to have anything to do,” she shared.

At that time, she explained that the group would be helped if she got the role, but the answer did not change. “It felt like they were really tying me down,” she opined, adding, “And because of my contract, I couldn’t leave until the time that I actually left [in 2018]”.

Anna was disappointed at missing the chance, but she has nothing but appreciation for Fukuhara, who ended up landing the role in the comic book adaptation. “She did an amazing job, and I respect her so much, and I love her. But also, I would have loved to audition for it,” she said.

Anna’s acting journey

In 2019, Anna's British crime drama Haji found critical acclaim on BBC Two. Mainstream traction followed when she was cast in Justin Lin's F9: The Fast Saga. Despite stepping into a franchise led by popular Hollywood stars, she held her own and was noticed.

She followed it up with her role in Shogun. Her proactive stance as a dutiful samurai-woman was appreciated in Shogun, which will be back for the second season as well. (Also read: Shōgun: The best show you aren’t watching)