FX has officially set the full cast of their upcoming limited series Shōgun, based on the best-selling novel by James Clavell of the same name. Clavell's novel, which was written in 1975, follows the rise of a man named Yoshii Toranaga to shogunate through the eyes of an English pilot, John Blackthorne. The adaptation from FX was greenlit in 2018 and is slated to have a 10-episode run.
F9's Anna Sawai has been cast in a leading role as Lady Mariko, the revered daughter of an infamous samurai traitor, whom she is enlisted to avenge by Yoshii Toranaga. Sawai rounds out the leading trio alongside Hiroyuki Sanada as the aforementioned Yoshii Toranaga, a feared and powerful daimyo that will find himself outnumbered at Osaka Castle at the start of the story. Cosmo Jarvis stars as John Blackthorne, a shipwrecked pilot who washes ashore in Toranaga’s territory and finds a mentor in his captor.
The cast will also include Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige, Fumi Nikaido as Ochiba No Kata, Tokuma Nishioka as Toda Hiromatsu, Takehiro Hira as Ishido Kazunari, Ako as Daiyoin “Lady Iyo,” Shinnosuke Abe as Toda Hiroshige “Buntaro,” Yasunari Takeshima as Muraji, Hiroto Kanai as Koshigi Omi, Toshi Toda as Sugiyama, Hiro Kanagawa as Igarashi, Nestor Carbonell as Rodrigues, Yuki Kura as Yoshii Nagakado, Tommy Bastow as Father Martin Alvito, Moeka Hoshi as Usami Fuji, Yoriko Doguchi as Kiri no Kata, and Yuka Kouri as Kitu. Director Jonathan van Tulleken is set to direct the first two episodes of the series.
Sanada will act as a producer on the series, while executive producers on the project are Michaela Clavell, Michael de Luca, Ed McDonnell, and Justin Marks. Marks also co-wrote the first two episodes with co-executive producer Rachel Kondo. Shannon Goss, Andrew Macdonald, and Allon Reich are also co-executive producers, with Tulleken serving as one as well for the episodes he is slated to direct.
Shōgun is currently in production in Vancouver, Canada, and the limited series does not have a premiere date as of now. You can read the official description of the upcoming period drama down below:
Shōgun, set in feudal Japan, charts the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai. John Blackthorne, a risk-taking English pilot major, ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him. Lord Toranaga, a shrewd, powerful daimyo, is at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals. And Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties, must prove her value and allegiance.