LOS ANGELES, Jan 6 (Bernama-Kyodo) – The critically acclaimed production "Shogun" won the Best TV Drama Series award at the Golden Globes on Sunday, adding another accolade to its record total of 18 Emmy Awards last autumn, Kyodo News Agency reported.
Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada, 64, also won the award for Best Actor in a Television Drama, while Anna Sawai, 32, received the corresponding award for Best Actress, and Tadanobu Asano, 51, won Best Supporting Actor.
"I'd love to say thank you for everyone who has been in my life, all of you who have brought me here," Sanada said during the ceremony, earning further recognition for his performance as Yoshii Toranaga, a warlord based on the historical Japanese figure Tokugawa Ieyasu.
"I'd like to say to young actors and creators around the world: please be yourself, believe in yourself and never give up," said Sanada, known for his roles in the prizewinning Japanese film "The Twilight Samurai" and the Hollywood movie "The Last Samurai."
Sanada, also the show's producer, explained that it was a "gamble" to produce a drama series that consisted of 70 per cent Japanese dialogue and subtitles. But ultimately it managed to "break the wall of the language," he said, saying its success meant "filmmakers and actors all over the world are getting (a) big chance."
Sanada said he started his career as a child in Japan when he was 5 years old and came to Hollywood about 40 years later, spending many years working with great filmmakers and actors.
"I put all my experience in my life...into 'Shogun,' and 'Shogun' brought me here and it's amazing. It was a great journey for me," he said.
Asano, who played a samurai in the show, said when asked to give a message to young actors in Japan during a press conference, "If I can do this, you all can definitely do this. So, if you have any hopes or dreams, just go for it."
Sawai won the award for her portrayal of Toda Mariko, an interpreter in Toranaga's samurai clan for an out-of-place English navigator.
"Thank you to the voters for choosing me... And thank you to the incredible writers. Without their excellent script, it would have been impossible for us to deliver our performances to their fullest potential," she said at the ceremony.
Sanada and Sawai each won at last year's Emmy awards for their respective performances as lead actor and lead actress in the series.
Set in 1600 Japan at the end of the Warring States period, Shogun is a remake of a 1980 miniseries based on the 1975 novel of the same title.
The original TV series won three awards at the 1981 Golden Globes: Best Drama, Best Actress, and Best Actor.
The latest incarnation of "Shogun" won 18 Emmy awards in September, the most ever received for a single season of a TV series.
-- BERNAMA-KYODO
