Shōgun's Anna Sawai Breaks Down in Tears After 2025 SAG Win as She Marks the 'Last Time I'm Able to Celebrate' with Cast

Mar. 15, 2025

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Anna Sawaiwas overcome with emotion as she accepted her latest win forShōgunat the 2025Screen Actors Guild Awards.

She then thanked her team for “believing in me always” as she reflected on the success of the FX series about 1600s feudal Japan, which unfortunately, saw her character die in the penultimate episode of season 1.

“Last year when this show came out, the only thing I wanted was for people to watch it. So this has been beyond my imagination,” she said. “Thank you so much.”

Sawai, who played Toda Mariko, the mysterious translator to Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), beat outMatlock’sKathy Bates,Bridgerton’sNicola CoughlanandThe Diplomat’sAllison JanneyandKeri Russellin the category.

She was the only first-time nominee of the category this year, and is fresh off anotherbig win at the 2025 Golden Globesand a history-making win at the2024 Emmy Awards, whereshe became the first woman of Asian descent to win outstanding lead actress in a drama series.

Kathy Bates as Madeline Matlock in ‘Matlock’.Brooke Palmer/CBS

Brooke Palmer/CBS

Bates' nomination forMatlockmakes her a 10-time SAG Award nominee. She was first nominated in 1997 forThe Late Shiftand most recently earned a nod in 2012 forMidnight in Paris. She’s also a three-time winner.

Earning a nod forMatlockis particularly special for the actress asshe told PEOPLE she “couldn’t believe” her luck at booking the reboot. “I remember calling my agents and saying, ‘I think maybe I want to go into, if not retirement, semi-retirement. If I can’t afford to keep my house, I’ll sell it and maybe go to New York.' Then this happened.”

“I think people got confused and thought I was going to retire,” she said. “What I meant was, how can it get any better? I would love for this to keep going.”

Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton, Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington in ‘Bridgerton’.Liam Daniel/Netflix

Liam Daniel/Netflix

Coughlan’s nod for her leading role inBridgertonseason 3marks her first major solo awards nomination. She was overjoyed at the news in January, calling it a “very lovely early birthday present” onInstagramas the nominations came out one day before she turned 38.

“I’m absolutely in shock and so honoured thank you @sagawards and so proud of the whole @bridgertonnetflix family 🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵,” she wrote.

Allison Janney as Grace in ‘The Diplomat’.Courtesy of Netflix

Courtesy of Netflix

Janney’s nomination marks her 18th overall at the SAG Awards. She earned a whopping 11 nods for her role inThe West Wingover the years — both individually and cast nominations — and is a seven-time SAG Award winner.

She collected her first win in 2000 as part of the cast ofAmerican Beautyand then earned four wins forWest Wing— two for the cast, two for her starring role. She also won in 2012 and 2018, forThe HelpandI, Tonya.

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in ‘The Diplomat’.Courtesy of Netflix

Like Janney, Russell is also a veteran of the SAG Awards. The 48-year-old was once again nominated for her starring roleas U.S. Ambassador to the UK Kate Wyler inThe Diplomatseason 2. She also earned a nod in the category for the show’s first season at the 2024 show, and was nominated in 2019 as part of the ensemble cast ofThe Americans.

While she and Janney went toe-to-toe this year, working together was something of a dream come true for Russell — thoughshe was admittedly “nervous” about it"because [Janney is] awesome and so good."

“I was a little nervous, but she’s everything you want her to be,” she told PEOPLE of Janney. “She’s gracious and funny and smart and cool.”

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SeePEOPLE’s full coverage of the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, airing on Netflix.

source: people.com