All of Hiroyuki Sanada’s Dreams Came True. Now What?

Hiroyuki Sanada speaks in poetry. As we share a bottle of rosé with the setting sun, he takes a moment to outline his dreams in vivid, inspirational language. “Twenty years ago, my hope was to break the wall between East and West and make a bridge,” Sanada says. “In these last few years, the wall has cracked. There’s a space to walk, and Shōgun has made it wider.”

Sanada, sixty-three, said something very similar to me just one year ago, when he starred in John Wick: Chapter 4 alongside Keanu Reeves. He remembers our chat, actually—even though it was over Zoom—and he means it. Now we’re at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in New York City, where Sanada orders the house rosé without a second thought. When he’s not acting, Sanada allows himself a few indulgences. “I can relax now,” he says, leaning back in his chair.

When we last spoke, no one could have predicted that a Japanese samurai drama on FX called Shōgun would be such a critical and ratings hit. Sanada stars as Yoshii Toranaga, a powerful lord in seventeenth-century Japan who realizes that the only way to achieve his dream of peace is to seize control for himself. His character is based on a real-life figure in Japanese history: the legendary shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. After rising to power over 400 years ago, Ieyasu ended a period of civil war in the country, ushering in an era of stability that lasted over two centuries. “He was my hero since I was a boy,” Sanada says. “I read a novel about him, and he said, ‘Human life is like a long, long journey with heavy luggage. So don’t rush. Never rush.’” Sanada never forgot those words.

Before Shōgun, action-movie fans knew Sanada from roles where he flexed his martial-arts chops. There was 2003’s The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise, Rush Hour 3 with Jackie Chan, The Wolverine with Hugh Jackman, Bullet Train with Brad Pitt, and many more. Consider his dozens of films in Asian markets dating back to the ’60s—including the classic horror flick Ringu and Royal Warriors with Michelle Yeoh—and Shōgun looks more like a crowning achievement than a breakthrough.

In the 2000s, when he made his transition to Hollywood, Sanada didn’t want to be pigeonholed as an action star. “My position is actor first,” he says. “Sometimes stunt guys become actors, but I learned as an actor.” So he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in England, where he was recognized as an honorary member of the Order of the British Empire in 2002 for his performance as “the Fool” in King Lear. “I found the beautiful rhythm and melody [in Shakespeare],” he recalls. “One line has so many layers and different meanings in it. That was the important thing for me.”

When FX asked Sanada to both star and serve as a producer on Shōgun, he took on the responsibility because he felt it was “necessary to make an authentic drama.” The show has earned praise for everything from its costumes and set design to the bold move of having roughly 70 percent of its dialogue be in Japanese with subtitles.

Shōgun’s dedication to authenticity is rare in Hollywood. When I spoke with Shōgun star Anna Sawai back in April, she said that she was once on a set where words written in Japanese characters were displayed upside down. “Sometimes I would point things out, and it would be hard to make the adjustment because they already finalized it,” Sawai revealed. Not on Shōgun—and not with Sanada producing. “I feel like everything that comes out of his mouth is wise words,” she told me.

Sanada recently agreed to extend the show, intended as a one-off miniseries, for two more seasons. “As an actor, I never thought about season 2,” says Sanada. “But as a producer, it’s not about me. I have to keep this platform for the Japanese cast and crew. And for the talent to tell Japanese stories. I cannot say no. I thought, Let’s give more chances for the next generation.”

Though FX hasn’t revealed many details from season 2, the spotlight will still shine on Sanada. In mid-July, he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. But Shōgun’s honors didn’t just end with Sanada’s nod. The Japanese drama garnered the most nominations at the 2024 Emmy Awards—25 in total—beating out FX’s culinary hit The Bear and HBO’s murder-mystery series True Detective: Night Country.

With Shōgun’s success, Sanada is now one step closer to his dream of bridging East and West. Still, he remains as humble as ever. “When I came to Los Angeles I had no manager, no producer,” he recalls. “My name in Japan was nothing in the U.S., but [Ieyasu’s] words still lived in my heart. After John Wick and Shōgun, I thought, Thank you. You taught me patience, and introducing your story to the world is my return to you.”

As the sun sets and our glasses empty, he leaves me with one more turn of phrase. “If we’ve made a wooden bridge, maybe in the future, it will be asphalt.” Sanada adds with a hearty laugh: “That’s my mission.” And maybe one more glass of rosé.

Photographed by Mark Seliger
Styled by Chloe Hartstein
Hair by Kevin Ryan using GO247 & UNITE
Grooming by Jessica Ortiz for La Mer
Makeup by Rebecca Restrepo using Lisa Eldridge Beauty
Production by Madi Overstreet and Ruth Levy
Set Design by Michael Sturgeon
Nails by Eri Handa using Dior
Tailoring by Yana Galbshtein
Design Director Rockwell Harwood
Contributing Visual Director James Morris
Executive Producer, Video Dorenna Newton
Executive Director, Entertainment Randi Peck