Zendaya Makes History at 2020 Emmy Awards
Zendaya made history at the 2020 Emmy Awards on Sunday (September 20) becoming the youngest actress to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at just 24 years old for her role as Rue in HBO's Euphoria.
Additionally, she becomes just the second Black woman to take home the award following Viola Davis, who won for her role in ABC's How to Get Away With Murder in 2015.
“This is pretty crazy!” said Zendaya in her virtual acceptance speech from home. “To the incredible cast and crew of Euphoria…I’m inspired by everything you do. To [show creator and director] Sam Levinson, I appreciate you so much, you’re my family.”
She ended her speech with a shout-out to the youth and an acknowledgement of the surreal, unprecedented state of the world. "I know this feels like a really weird time to be celebrating, but I just want to say that there is hope in the young people out there," she added. "I know that our TV show doesn’t always feel like a great example of that but there is hope in the young people. And I just want to say to all my peers out there doing the work in the streets, I see you, I admire you, I thank you, and yeah, thank you so, so much!"
Zendaya spoke further about the award—which she took home over Ozark’s Laura Linney, Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh, The Crown’s Olivia Colman and The Morning Show’s Jennifer Aniston—in her post-show interview. “It means so much to me,” she said of the historic win. “Every single woman in that category I obviously admire immensely.”
Euphoria has been praised by critics and fans alike since its premiere in 2019. “For me, I’ve always been very grateful for all the people who connect to Rue or feel that, through the show, they are able to attach words or find themselves within a scene or a moment where they otherwise felt alone,” she said of the show's supporters in her post-Emmys interview. "To have that feeling that there are people that feel what [Rue] feels is huge and very important…she’s very important to me.”
The show was forced to postpone the filming of its second season when the COVID-19 pandemic hit back in March, but Zendaya hinted in her recent InStyle cover story that some out-of-season episodes may be coming. “There is a beautiful second season that has been written, but in order to do it the way we want to do it, we need to wait until it’s safer,” she dished. “There is an idea to do a couple of bridge episodes that can be shot safely but aren’t necessarily part of Season 2. So, hopefully, we will be able to do those in the coming months. I can’t wait.”
Check out reactions to Zendaya's historic Emmys win from the cast of Euphoria and other celebrities, below: