Shōgun’s Anna Sawai Says Her J-Pop Group Made Her Turn Down Suicide Squad Audition

Between her supporting part in F9: The Fast Saga and her leading roles in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Shōgun, Anna Sawai seems to be poised for greater stardom in the future. However, Sawai recently revealed that she was forced to turn down a chance to audition in 2016’s Suicide Squad, which could have helped her break out sooner.

At the time, Sawai was a member of a J-Pop girl group, FAKY, and under a strict contract that limited what she could do outside of music. Sawai shared the story during her appearance on The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast. She also recalled being excited about a “big audition” for Suicide Squad because the film’s producers “were looking for a Japanese girl” to play Katana.

“I was like, ‘This is my chance!’ And then I go to my manager and he’s like, ‘You can’t audition,'” said Sawai. “They basically told me that if I’m gone for over a month, the girls [the other members of FAKY] are not going to have anything to do… It felt like they were really tying me down, and because of my contract, I couldn’t leave until the time that I actually left [in 2018].”

The role of Katana in Suicide Squad ultimately went to Karen Fukuhara, who had her own breakthrough role a few years later as Kimiko Miyashiro on Prime Video’s The Boys. Regardless of her lost chance, Sawai praised Fukuhara’s performance in Suicide Squad.

“She did an amazing job, and I respect her so much, and I love her,” related Sawai. “But also, I would have loved to audition for it.”