“Shōgun” Star Hiroyuki Sanada Makes History as First Japanese Actor to Win Best Actor in a Drama at Emmys 2024

The actor said the FX show "taught me that when people work together, we can make miracle"

Shōgun star Hiroyuki Sanada made history at the 2024 Emmy Awards.

The star, 63, became the first Japanese actor to win outstanding actor in a drama series during the awards ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 15. He is also only the second Asian actor to take home the prize in the category.

In his acceptance speech, Sanada shared, "Thank you for FX, Disney and Hulu for believing in me. And thank you, my team, for always supporting me. And thank you for all the crew and cast of Shōgun. I'm so proud of you."

"It was an East-meets-West dream project with respect. And Shōgun taught me that when people work together, we can make miracle. We can create a better future together. Thank you so much."

Related: Shōgun Season 2: What We Know About the Show's Return — and the "Darker" Story It Will Tell

Sanada's costar Anna Sawai also won an Emmy during the ceremony in the outstanding actress in a drama series category, and the show won outstanding drama series.

In Shōgun, Sanada plays Yoshii Toranaga, an embattled Japanese lord and savvy military strategist working to conquer his plotting enemies.

The FX adaptation isn’t a retread of the 1980 original, starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune, which introduced some Americans to Japanese culture. It’s a bold new take on James Clavell’s novel about 17th-century feudal Japan.

In a conversation with PEOPLE, the actor opened up about why it was important for him to portray total authenticity and go the extra mile with small details like the way a character bows or pours sake.

“[The original] was a great step for the Japanese people, but with this, we are going our own original way,” Sanada explained. "Those kinds of things are important for our culture. Each detail I checked, and then [we] discussed. They respected the culture. It was a great collaboration.”

Also nominated in the best actor category were Dominic West in The Crown, Donald Glover in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Gary Oldman in Slow Horses, Idris Elba in Hijack and Walton Goggins in Fallout.

West, who has portrayed King Charles since season 5 of The Crown, was nominated for his performance as the famous British royal for the show's sixth and final season.

At the season 6 premiere in December, the actor, 54, told PEOPLE how his role in the Netflix show had changed his perception of the royal family.

“I suppose one’s perception is so dictated by what you read in the media and what you see in their public persona that working on trying to find out what’s going on privately and what’s going on their minds and what’s going on in their private conversations,” West said of the task as an actor.

“Peter [Morgan] imagines them so brilliantly and base grounds them very firmly in whatever facts we have, that I suppose I came to emphasize much more, certainly, with Charles and feel a sympathy for him.”

Glover was nominated for his portrayal of John Smith in Prime Video's Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

In addition to Glover, the series starred Maya Erskine in reimagined versions of the roles made famous by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The duo played two strangers who landed mysterious jobs as spies and had to live as a married couple called Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith.

While speaking to PEOPLE at the show's New York City premiere in February, the actor, 40, revealed he drew upon his own experiences with intimacy in the spy comedy.

“I think there's a lot of little things where I took them from my own life,” he explained “I felt like what made this show sexy is intimacy so I wanted to do that.”

“There's a lot of scenes that are kind of just taken from my life — you know my wife's hair is like, it's not kinky, it's long and I was in the shower and I was like, ‘What the hell is this?’” he continued. “Because she likes to take it and put it on the shower walls. I was like I really did not know what was going on.”

Related: Rival Spies Donald Glover and Maya Erskine Are 'Not in This for Romance' in First Mr. & Mrs. Smith Trailer

Oldman was nominated for his role as Jackson Lamb in Apple TV+'s spy comedy thriller, Slow Horses. According to the show's official logline, the series centered around "a dysfunctional team of MI5 agents — and their obnoxious boss, the notorious Jackson Lamb — as they navigate the espionage world's smoke and mirrors to defend England from sinister forces."

In an interview with Deadline in April 2022, the actor, 66, confessed he would be more than happy to round out his acting career with the hit series.

"I could see myself playing Jackson for the next how many years," Oldman explained, before referring to the books the series is based on. "I mean, for those that love the [Slough House] books and that were [author] Mick Herron devotees, as it were, he is already an iconic character."

Oldman added of his own career, "So, if it were to go out with a bang, I mean, retirement is on the horizon. Yeah. I can see it."

Related: Gary Oldman Returns as Disheveled Agent Jackson Lamb in Explosive Slow Horses Season 4 Trailer

Elba was nominated for his role as Sam Nelson in Apple TV+'s Hijack.

Hijack follows the story of one seven-hour flight on its way to London. The hijacking — with both in-plane operations and assistance from the ground — will be told in real time.  Elba, who plays a corporate negotiator who takes on airplane hijackers, previously spoke to PEOPLE about whether he's ever had a fear of taking to the skies.

“I’ve never been afraid to fly,” he said in July 2023. “But I don’t really love long, long flights. And turbulence is freaky.”

Related: Idris Elba Fights to Save the Lives of 200 Plane Passengers in First 'Hijack' Trailer

Goggins was nominated for his role as a noseless bounty hunter named Ghoul in Prime Video’s post-apocalyptic drama series Fallout.

In a conversation with PEOPLE in April, he revealed that he endured two hours in the makeup chair each day to achieve the character’s “sexy ghoul look."

“It was uncomfortable,” he said of the prosthetics. “It was so hot in New York, where we filmed. Sweat would be coming out of my eyes!”

Goggins said that Fallout, directed by Jonathan Nolan, was unlike anything he'd ever shot. "It was exhilarating. It was exhausting. It was a monumental undertaking," he said.

"Jonah [Nolan] visually captured this world in a way that feels extremely tactile. I mean, we used green screens for sure. We didn't blow up Los Angeles, but not many. All of that stuff with us walking through the desert, all of that was shot in Namibia. And that's why I think this has such a different feel from other shows. I knew it was going to be hard, but I knew it was going to be a real journey and a real-life, big, big life experience. And that's exactly what it turned out to be."

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