The new historical drama Shogun celebrated its imminent release with a red carpet premiere earlier this week. Based on the 1975 novel of the same name, the mini-series follows sailor-turned-samurai John Blackthorne and Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who uses Blackthorne in his ruthless quest to become shogun. The show stars Bullet Train‘s Hiroyuki Sanada, Persuasion‘s Cosmo Jarvis, and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Anna Sawai.
7 Reasons Reviews For FX’s New Historical Drama Are So Great
Early reviews of FX’s limited series, Shōgun, have been widely positive, as the series currently holds a 100% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Slated for release later this month, many critics have already deemed Shogun a must-watch, praising its acting, immersion, and adherence to the source material. At the Shogun red carpet in Los Angeles, Screen Rant interviewed several cast members about the struggles and triumphs of creating an accurate period piece, the relevance of the story in today’s world, and the actor’s other projects like Mortal Kombat and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
Biggest Things We Learned At The Shogun Red Carpet Premiere
Hiroyuki Sanada Breaks Down Lord Yoshii Toranaga & Gives Mortal Kombat 2 Update
Screen Rant: When people hear the word Shogun, they might have expectations from the series. Why will their expectations absolutely be exceeded by what we are about to see on the show?
Hiroyuki Sanada: I respect the novel .It’s a great story, and a great chance to introduce our culture to the world. That’s why we wanted to make [it] authentic as much as possible; to believe the story and the character. For me, playing Toranaga is very important, especially for now. Toranaga’s model, the real Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, stopped the war period and created the peaceful era for about 260 years. So, I thought we need that kind of hero, especially for now. Ameaningful role for now, for me.
Making Shogun itself has a great message to the world because a Western cast and crew and Japanese cast and crew [are] working together, respecting each other, learning each other, and then [creating] this story together. I think this is a great model to make better future together. That’s another message from this show, both the story and the making of Shogun.
What can you tell us about Mortal Kombat 2?
Hiroyuki Sanada: Yeah, I just finished shooting in Australia before Christmas. Most of the characters from the first one are coming back, plus [there are] great new characters in it. That has me excited, so people can enjoy it.
(Source: Screen Rant Plus)
Cosmo Jarvis Shares That Hiroyuki Sanada Was A Role Model On Shogun Set
Screen Rant: The show is fantastic, I felt like I was watching a movie. But how did you prepare for this? The scope of the show is unlike anything I’ve seen on the small screen, if not the big screen – the physical preparation you must have done for this must’ve been enormous.
Cosmo Jarvis: A good deal of it wasn’t physical; there were things that involve physicality that were sort of just secondary symptoms of the process, I suppose. The biggest part of the workload was the mental workload of trying to make sure that – because despite it being a very, very vast story with a lot of very huge, archetypal themes.
And there was a lot to do with ensuring that the individual that I was employed to portray had tangible things to think of and tangible catalysts for his thinking and the things he said, and that was an ongoing challenge, and it was a good challenge.
I think everybody in this cast really brings the A-game, how did you all elevate each other? And how, with all the preparation, especially the emotional preparation that you had to do, how were you elevated by it all because of the casting?
Cosmo Jarvis: There was a feeling of – a lot of the Japanese cast have tremendous pride in portraying this period. And to have a small part in that, I felt encouraged to do my very best. And also we had a really good sort of leader, a great example from Hiroyuki Sanada. He cared a great deal about every single aspect of the show being made, and so he was someone for particularly the younger actors to really look up to.
Even though this is a period piece so to speak, how do you think the story is relevant? How do you think it holds up to our world today?
Cosmo Jarvis: Well, I don’t know. [Laughs] I just think it’s a good story. And I’m sure people will take things away from it, but I think the characters involved are the things that will make the most impact, because every single character is so memorable.
I think everybody in this cast really brings the A-game, how did you all elevate each other? And how, with all the preparation, especially the emotional preparation that you had to do, how were you elevated by it all because of the casting?
Cosmo Jarvis: There was a feeling of – a lot of the Japanese cast have tremendous pride in portraying this period. And to have a small part in that, I felt encouraged to do my very best. And also we had a really good sort of leader, a great example from Hiroyuki Sanada. He cared a great deal about every single aspect of the show being made, and so he was someone for particularly the younger actors to really look up to.
(Source: Screen Rant Plus)
Shogun Costume Designer Reveals The Daughter Of Akira Kurosawa Helped With Details
Screen Rant: I could not take my eyes off of this show. I watch a lot of TV, I watch a lot of movies, and I was completely blown away by the scope of Shogun. Where do you start with a show like this?
Carlos Rosario: By doing a lot of research, you know, that’s really the first foundation that I needed to create to understand what my boundaries were. So I had to learn about all the paintings of that period. I went online to all the museum websites, in order to see as many armor pieces as possible, as many clothing from that period, so I can understand them. It’s studying the patterns of that period, because everything means something.
So that was really the first thing, is just understanding the period. And thankfully, we were supported and guided by historians, experts, I was able to speak with the daughter of Mr. Kurosawa who was actually a costume designer in Japan, and so she guided me throughout this process, and that was really very helpful.
What would you say, with all the work you did on the series, was the biggest challenge for you?
Carlos Rosario: Well, I think the biggest challenge was definitely the fact that it’s TV. And so we made more than 2300 costumes. And you know, TV goes very fast – it’s not 10 episodes, it’s 10 movies, so we had to design pretty fast.
Every costume that you see on screen is actually my first option. I wasn’t able to have a backup, I wasn’t able to dress the actors in a second outfit if there was something that I didn’t like. Everything that you see is my first option. And that was the challenge was the rhythm, the speed to design that many costumes.
(Source: Screen Rant Plus)
Anna Sawai On Her Deeply Personal Connection To Shogun & The Shift To Monarch
Screen Rant: What were the biggest challenges that you faced in getting ready for the show?
Anna Sawai: I think the biggest challenge wasn’t really about preparation, or the physicality of it. It was more the emotions that went into it. It was very heavy, and understanding that Hosokawa Gracia-san actually existed, and that Mariko was inspired by her, really just took me to a different place. Towards the end of the shoot, it was really hard to separate her from myself, and the meaning of the show was where I felt a lot of pressure as someone who’s Japanese. It meant so much; that’s why it was hard.
How do you hope people watching the show will relate it to our times today?
Anna Sawai: How will people relate? I think that we’ll get a better understanding of Japanese culture and where we’re from. I think a lot of Western media, even though they have more representation, still has misrepresentation. I think it’ll give a lot of knowledge to the people, and hopefully, Japanese women won’t feel like they’re stereotyped or seen a certain way because of their race.
It’s just a human drama – a real human drama, and I think people will be able to relate to relationships and politics and whatnot.
How was it going from filming Shogun to jumping into Monarch?
Anna Sawai: It was hard. I was so busy, and I really didn’t have time to prepare and let go of my character. I don’t know. I think you just show up on set the next day on a different show, and you just have to do it.
But it’s been a dream after Shogun, because it was so heavy. I was looking for something modern and kind of light and fun. Although the character in Monarch is going through a little bit, it was more modern. I had such a fun time with the cast, so I think they let me let go of stuff.
Have you spoken with anyone from Monarch about hopefully moving forward in season 2?
Anna Sawai: I talk to Kiersey and Ren all the time and we still don’t know. I’m asking the same question to the producers and the showrunner, Chris Black. I would like to know if you find out.
(Source: Screen Rant Plus)
Tommy Bastow On His Shogun Culture Shock & Practice For Priesthood
