Zendaya Became The Youngest Youngin’ To Win The Emmy For Lead Actress In A Drama, And A Record Number Of Black Actors Won

September 21, 2020 / Posted by:

If you told me years ago that a Disney Channel star would go on to have a serious acting career and win the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama, I’d assume it’d be Deedee Magno from MMC’s The Party or current OnlyFans scammer Bella Thorne for the riveting drama Famous In Love, but it was Bella’s Shake It Up co-star Zendaya who won her first Emmy at 24 years old for her performance as Rue in Euphoria (alternate title: Remind Me To Never Raise A Teenager). Surprisingly when Zendaya won, she didn’t say in her acceptance speech, “This is ALMOST better than the time I was runner-up on Dancing with the Stars!”

Zendaya was up against Jennifer Aniston (for The Morning Show), Olivia Colman (for The Crown), Jodie Comer (for Killing Eve), Laura Linney (for Ozark), and Sandra Oh (for Killing Eve). I was rooting for Zendaya to win, but I didn’t think she would get it, because I could not picture some of the memaw and pepaw Emmy voters getting through three minutes of an episode of Euphoria. But now that Zendaya has won, I can’t wait to see oldies showing their Euphoria love by struttin’ around with raver angel wings, unicorn fart eyeshadow, and bedazzled eyelids.

Even though Zendaya did herself up like a winner (in “Valley of the Dolls-themed Met Gala” glamour), she seemed surprised by her win. And she accepted the Emmy while surrounded by her family and team:

Zendaya isn’t only the youngest winner of the Lead Actress in a Drama Emmy, she’s also only the second Black woman to win in that category in the history of the Emmys. Crazy. The first Black woman to win that award was Viola Davis (for How To Get Away With Murder) and that was in 2015.

Also, seven Black actors won a major acting Emmy last night, which broke the record set two years ago with six wins by Black performers. In addition to Zendaya, Regina King, Maya Rudolph, Eddie Murphy, Ron Cephas Jones, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Uzo Aduba all won in major acting categories.

Regina King also got herself an Emmy record when she won her fourth Emmy last night. Regina won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her performance in Watchmen. Regina is now tied with Alfre Woodard for the most acting Emmys earned by a Black actor. Regina, who wore a “Say Her Name” t-shirt with the face of Breonna Taylor on it, also used part of her time in the Emmy winners spotlight to tell people to vote, via EW:

Before she wrapped, King urged everyone to vote, because she “would be remiss not to mention that being apart of a show as prescient as Watchmen,” said King. “Have a voting plan. Got to [ballotpedia.org], vote up the ballot, please. Go to [ballotpedia.org] and find out who are voting in your municipal elections, it is very important. Be a good human. Rest in power RBG.”

Here is Regina IS King’s full speech:

 

Congratulations to Zendaya, Regina King, and all of the winners! And a congratulations to the paparazzi because since it was Zendaya’s big night last night, I’m sure her rumored boyfriend turned rumored ex-boyfriend Jacob Elordi is going to turn up his kissy pap shows with Cindy Crawford Jr.

Pic: YouTube

Our commenting rules: Don't be racist or bigoted, or post comments like "Who cares?", or have multiple accounts, or repost a comment that was deleted by a mod, or post NSFW pics/videos/GIFs, or go off topic when not in an Open Post, or post paparazzi/event/red carpet pics from photo agencies due to copyright infringement issues. Also, promoting adblockers, your website, or your forum is not allowed. Breaking a rule may result in your Disqus account getting permanently or temporarily banned. New commenters must go through a period of pre-moderation. And some posts may be pre-moderated so it could take a minute for your comment to appear if it's approved. If you have a question or an issue with comments, email: michaelk@dlisted.com

src="https://c.statcounter.com/922697/0/f674ac4a/1/"
alt="drupal analytics" >