Anna Sawai

Anna Sawai born June 11 1992 is a JapaneseNew Zealand actress dancer and singer She began her film career in 2009 in a supporting role in the martial arts film Ninja Assassin and debuted as a professional singer in 2013 as one of the lead vocalists in the Jpop girl group FAKY 20132018 singing in both Japanese and English She costars in Justin Lins Fast Furious sequel F9 In 2004 shortly after moving to Japan Sawai was chosen out of 10000 applicants to play the title role in the stage musical Annie Sawai made her professional film debut in the 2009 Warner Bros film Ninja Assassin directed by James McTeigue playing the rebellious teenage female ninja Kiriko who is executed for attempting to escape the Ozunu ninja clan In 2013 Sawais work as a professional singer began with the danceRB group FAKY She performed as one of the groups lead vocalists until her final show with the group on December 20 2018 Her departure from the group was announced via FAKYs social media citing her dream of pursuing her acting career In 2019 Sawai costarred in the BBC crime drama GiriHaji In 2021 she costarred in the action film F9 directed by Justin Lin Sawai chose the role of Elle in F9 because she grew up watching the Fast Furious films and appreciated the diversity of the films cast In November 2019 it was announced that Sawai was signed by major US talent agency WME In October 2020 Sawai was announced to play savvy career woman Naomi in Apples adaptation of Pachinko based on the novel by Min Jin Lee in a role created for the series Sawai grew up in New Zealand Hong Kong and the Philippines before moving to Japan at the age of 10 due to her fathers electronics job During her childhood she was influenced by her father to listen to The Beatles and The Carpenters Her mother who studied opera gave her singing lessons