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Shōgun star Anna Sawai left with gnarly injury after ‘gruelling’ episode 9 scene that took days to film

The actress and show creators discuss that powerful episode 9 ending.

Metro.co.uk was fortunate enough to have the chance to speak to Anna, Shōgun producer Eriko Miyagawa and showrunners Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks about the pivotal turning point in Mariko’s story, which saw her take on a horde of weapon-wielding men while being kept captive by warlord Ishido (Takehiro Hira), before being caught up in a horrifying explosion. It turns out that while filming the action sequence where Mariko masterfully brandishes a naginata – a Japanese weapon with a blade on the end of a long pole – Anna actually chipped her tooth because of the incredible effort she put into the scene. Anna recalled how ‘technical’ the ending scene was to shoot, as there were three different portions – the dialogue, the moment where Mariko is at the door with the Phantom camera being used to blow her hair up from the back, and the interactions with the other cast members in the storage room.

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