Among the star-studded cast was Anna Sawai, who instantly garnered positive praise when the show aired.
In fact, Sawai was already one of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors.
Sawai assuredEllein 2024 that her success was the byproduct of her hard work rather than luck.
These words remained true for Sawai as she continued to find success.
To learn more about her catapult into stardom, here is the stunning transformation of Anna Sawai!
Since birth, Sawai moved across various countries throughout the first ten years of her life.
“I was born in New Zealand,” she explained.
The reason for these frequent moves was her father’s career in the electronics industry.
The more job opportunities he garnered, the more often Sawai and her family would have to relocate.
Luckily, Sawai noted that moving every few years wasn’t a bad experience.
Once she moved back to Japan, however, Sawai noticed a shift in how she was perceived.
As a result, those around her oftentimes acknowledged her as someone outside of their culture.
“Japan will always be home,” she stated.
There’s some foreign element to her.'"
By the time she turned 3, Sawai was already learning to play piano thanks to her mother.
Despite this, however, there was one celebrity that Sawai became enamored with during her formative years.
“I remember seeing Britney’s concert video,” she recalled.
“It was my dream to do that.
I want to become like Britney Spears.
I mean, I still do.”
“I had a poster of Britney Spears on my wall,” she said.
“I was obsessed with her.”
Despite her eagerness to perform, it didn’t work out initially the way she hoped.
During her appearance on"Live!
with Kelly and Mark"in 2024, Anna recalled not getting the part after her first audition.
“So I auditioned, didn’t get it.
With this being her first acting gig, Anna thinks fondly of her time performing.
“Throwback Thursday to 11-year-old baby me,” she wrote.
“From my first recording ever.”
Instead, Sawai pursued a music career.
After joining a music agency, Sawai honed her skills as a performer throughout her teenage years.
“And so I went into the audition and I got very lucky.”
“I loved it,” she said.
“I was like, ‘This is what I want to do.
I feel like I could do this for the rest of my life.”
Sadly, Sawai toldHollywood Reporterin 2024 that her manager kept her from auditioning for the role.
“I was like, ‘This is my chance!’
“It was a film that I grew up watching.
It’s really big in Japan as well.
They had ‘Tokyo Drift,’ which was huge,” she stated.
It’s been very inclusive since the beginning.
Seeing people who look like me is what I really love about the films.”
In it, Sawai portrayed Naomi, a Harvard graduate and co-worker of Solomon Baek.
Given the show’s serious tone, “Pachinko” was a departure from what Sawai was known for.
“So, I kind of had to confront how I felt those days.
The only question Sawai had was how this would be different from other Asian-focused projects in the past.
