Why the ‘Shōgun’ Ensemble Reigns Supreme This SAG Awards Season

As we prepare for the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, Backstage is breaking down this year’s film and television ensemble nominees for your consideration. 

Main cast: Tadanobu Asano, Tommy Bastow, Nestor Carbonell, Cosmo Jarvis, Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai
Casting by: Carrie Audino, Colleen Bolton, Kei Kawamura, Laura Schiff, and Maureen Webb
Created by: Rachel Kondo and
Justin Marks 
Distributed by: FX

Based on James Clavell’s 1975 historical novel, Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks’ “Shōgun” chronicles the political struggles and culture clashes of 17th century Japan. Paying special attention to period accuracy, much of the cast speaks Japanese and Portuguese (the Portuguese first arrived to the island nation the century before). 

With many layers of complex alliances and rivalries, almost every line of dialogue is heavy with subtext and delivered with depth. 

Hiroyuki Sanada, also a producer, shines as Lord Yoshii Toranaga, one of five regional leaders engaged in a shaky truce after the death of the previous ruler. Though the arrangement is temporary until the new heir comes of age, everyone vies for power in the meantime. Sanada combines the thoughtfulness, insight, and stoic calm of a born leader with a repressed anxiety about his precarious position. Beneath this is also a forlorn meditation on the outdated political state of the country, with Toranaga lamenting how the rules of a bygone era have created such discord. His relationship with English newcomer John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) reveals more character subtleties, as the two men form a reluctant partnership, using each other as pawns while also learning from each other’s philosophies. 

Jarvis brings grit, ambition, and sly cunning to Blackthorne, who survives starvation and an execution attempt through shrewd manipulation, playing local Portuguese Catholics against the Japanese government officials. Secretly, he thinks of Japan as a savage country, but he gradually comes to respect the traditions of honor and integrity that he witnesses as Toranaga’s military adviser. With his period-appropriate features and piercing blue eyes, Jarvis speaks in measured, clipped phrases. He delivers a masterfully understated performance that convinces viewers of Blackthorne’s complex nature as a shrewd opportunist who’s equally capable of honor and deception.

Anna Sawai enhances the mix as Lady Toda Mariko, a noblewoman who acts as Toranaga’s translator and confidant. With a similar stoic authority, she is haunted by tragedy and grapples with the sorrow of her sacrifices, yet still retains her fierce loyalty. Sawai subtly conveys her character’s duality while fighting her own dark side and coming to appreciate Blackthorne as a potential ally. When she draws her weapon alone against an onslaught of skilled enemy soldiers, we realize there are no lengths she won’t go to in order to protect her position.

Equally compelling among the supporting cast are key political players, led by Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige, a wry military leader loyal to Toranaga who nonetheless plays different angles for his own benefit. Asano embraces Yabushige’s strange habits to portray a man unafraid to get his hands dirty behind the scenes. Nestor Carbonell is memorable as Vasco Rodrigues, a cheerfully cynical navigator whom Blackthorne recognizes as a useful connection. Tommy Bastow represents the local Portuguese Catholic force as the soft-spoken Father Martin Alvito, another player in the balance of political power. 

By paying such close attention to detailed performances, the “Shōgun” cast brings history to life.