Two years after a historic Emmy night in which the majority of acting winners were African-American, this year the Television Academy awarded trophies to six non-white performers out of 19 acting categories.
While that’s the same number as last year, three of this year’s non-white performance winners accepted trophies on the main broadcast. South Korean actor Lee Jung-jae took top honors for acting in a drama series for Netflix’s “Squid Game,” the first time a non-English-speaking winner in the category, and also the first time an Asian Y The South Korean actor has ever won in this slot. Additionally, Zendaya won a second Emmy for her work on HBO’s “Euphoria,” while Sheryl Lee Ralph took home the award for ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” delivering a thunderous acceptance speech voiced by Dianne Reeves.
Three other non-white actors picked up awards at last week’s Creative Arts Emmys, including the late Chadwick Boseman (for his voice work on Marvel’s “What If…?”), Colman Domingo (guest star on “Euphoria” ) and the guest of “Squid Game”. actress Lee You-mi.
Last year, all six non-white winners were honored in the Guest, Short Film and Voice Acting categories at the Creative Arts Emmys, including two awards for Maya Rudolph for guest hosting on “SNL” and for her voice acting on “Big Mouth”. Neither took home any awards on the main broadcast.
That’s a far cry from two years ago, when the Emmys achieved record diversity on Emmy night by handing out the majority of its awards to black actors. In addition to Zendaya and Maya Rudolph (who also won twice for “SNL” and “Big Mouth”), winners included Regina King (“Watchmen”), King’s co-star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Uzo Aduba (” Mrs. America”), “Saturday Night Live” guest host Eddie Murphy, and two of the stars of Quibi’s short-form series “#FreeRayshawn,” Laurence Fishburne and Jasmine Cephas Jones.
In 2019, seven of the 19 acting categories went to non-white actors, including three on the main broadcast: Regina King for “Seven Seconds,” Thandiwe Newton for “Westworld” and Darren Criss, who is half-Filipino, for “American Crime.” Story”. ”
