Shōgun's Hiroyuki Sanada Reflects on His Humble Beginnings as He Wins Best Actor in a Drama Series at 2025 SAG Awards

Mar. 15, 2025

This year’s drama king has been crowned at the 2025Screen Actors Guild Awards.

“I started acting in Japan when I was five years old, and moved to L.A. 20 years ago,” he said. “Luckily, I worked with great filmmakers and actors, and I learned a lot from all of them. I can see some faces in this room.”

“I put everything, every single experience in my life, intoShōgun, thenShōgunbrought me here,” Sanada continued, growing emotional. “So I’d like to thank all my coworkers in my life, and I would also like to thank my team for always supporting me. This is for you. Thank you so much.”

Sanada was a first-time nominee this year. He played Lord Yoshii Toranaga in the series about 1600s feudal Japan, which premiered in February 2024 to critical acclaim.

Hiroyuki Sanada wins a SAG Award.Netflix

Netflix

His performance has already earned the 64-year-old an Emmy anda Golden Globe winthis awards season, one of which made history. At the2024 Emmy Awardsin September,he became the first Japanese actor to win outstanding actor in a drama series— and he was only the second Asian actor to win.

Sanada’sShōguncostar Tadanobu Asano,The Old Man’sJeff Bridges,Slow Horses’Gary OldmanandThe Day of the Jackal’sEddie Redmaynewere also nominated.

Hiroto Kanai as Kashigi Omi and Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga in ‘Shogun’.Katie Yu/FX

Katie Yu/FX

In his speech, the actor, who played Kashigi Yabushige in the critically acclaimed FX series, took a moment to introduce himself to the crowd.

Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige in ‘Shogun’.Katie Yu/FX

“Wow, maybe you don’t know me. I’m an actor from Japan and my name is Tadanobu Asano,” he said. He called the win “a very big present for me” and said he was “very happy.”

Jeff Bridges as Dan Chase in ‘The Old Man’.FX

FX

This year marks Bridges' seventh overall SAG nomination and his second forThe Old Man— he was also nominated for season 1 in 2023.

In the FX series, which was canceled after season 2, Bridges, 75, played a former CIA spy, and he told PEOPLE he almost didn’t return to the rolegiven his battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which he was diagnosed with in 2021.

“I thought, ‘I’m not going to be able to come back,'” he said, and his costarJohn Lithgowsaid “everybody was watching Jeff” while filming to make sure he was okay. “I mean, he needed oxygen some days.”

Oldman’s nomination for his performance inSlow Horsesmarks his fifth SAG nomination, and he previously took home a win at the show in 2018 forThe Darkest Hour.

“I could see myself playing Jackson for the next how many years,” he toldDeadlinein 2022. “[I would] consider myself very honored and very lucky to be able to … wrap it all up playing Jackson Lamb.”

Eddie Redmayne as the Jackal in ‘The Day of the Jackal’.Marcell Piti/Carnival Film & Television Limited

Marcell Piti/Carnival Film & Television Limited

He’s previously won at the show twice, in 2021 forThe Trial of the Chicago 7and in 2015 forThe Theory of Everything.

For his latest role,taking on the iconic hitman from Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel, the recognition has felt particularly special to Redmayne.

“The whole process of acting and producing, this has been my life all-consuming for a year and a half. So the fact that it has been recognized, the fact that audiences seem to be engaging with it, particularly when it came out only recently… It’s lovely that people connected,” he told PEOPLE following his Golden Globe nomination.

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

source: people.com