Zendaya is now the youngest actress to receive two Emmys and the first Black woman to win Lead Actress in a Drama Series twice. The 26-year-old took home her second statuette for “Euphoria” at last night’s Emmy Awards. As Variety notes, she is also “the youngest star to receive an Emmy nomination for producing,” as “Euphoria” was in the running for Outstanding Drama Series. In 2020, at age 24, Zendaya landed her first Emmy for her portrayal of troubled teen addict Rue, becoming the youngest person to win the Lead Actress in a Drama prize.
Accepting her award last night, Zendaya recognized the people struggling with substance abuse who have reached out to her since she took on the role of Rue. “My greatest wish for ‘Euphoria’ was that it could help heal people, and I just want to say thank you to everyone who shared their story with me,” the “Spider-Man” star said. “I want you to know that anyone who has loved a Rue or feels like you are a Rue, I’m so grateful for your stories and I carry them with me and carry them with her. Thank you so much.”
One of the other big Emmy winners was “Abbott Elementary,” creator-star Quinta Brunson’s mockumentary following an intrepid group of educators at an underfunded Philadelphia school. Brunson won Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for penning the pilot, while Sheryl Lee Ralph, who plays veteran teacher Barbara Howard, took home the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series prize. Brunson made history earlier this year when she earned nominations for Comedy Series and Lead Actress in a Comedy Series as well as Writing for a Comedy Series, becoming the first Black woman to receive three comedy nods in the same year. At 32, she was also the youngest Black woman to be nominated for Lead Actress in a Comedy.
MJ Delaney snagged the Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series Emmy for helming the “Ted Lasso” Season 2 episode “No Weddings and a Funeral.” “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” took the award for Outstanding Competition Program. The body positive Prime Video reality show sees plus-sized dancers auditioning to join Lizzo on her world tour. While accepting the honor, the “Juice” singer shared, “When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media — someone fat like me, Black like me, beautiful like me. If I could go back and tell little Lizzo something, I’d be like, ‘You’re going to see that person, but bitch, it’s going to have to be you.”
Meanwhile, Jean Smart, Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Coolidge, and Julia Garner came out victorious in their respective acting categories. For the second consecutive year, Smart landed the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy for “Hacks,” and Garner won her third Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series statuette for “Ozark.” Seyfried earned the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie prize for her turn as Silicon Valley scammer Elizabeth Holmes in “The Dropout.” Coolidge was honored with the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Emmy for portraying Tanya, an emotionally fragile woman on a luxury vacation, in “The White Lotus.”
