Zendaya is a winner, baby.
The 24-year-old actress scored her first Emmy Award tonight for her role as Rue in the hit HBO show Euphoria. She came out on top for the prestigious category of Outstanding Lead Actress In a Drama Series, over heavy competition. Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show), Olivia Colman (The Crown), Laura Linney (Ozark), and Killing Eve co-stars Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer rounded out the stacked category.
For its debut season, Euphoria earned 6 nominations and ended up taking three of those awards at the 2020 ceremony. Other wins included Outstanding Music and Lyrics, which went to the composer Labrinth, and Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic).
While Zendaya herself does not identify as queer, her win for playing the openly queer Rue represents a win for LGBTQ+ representation. In his review of the show, them.’s Michael Cuby wrote that Euphoria was “breaking the rules of the queer teen love story” and that its characters were “sexually open, adventurous, and fluid.” He also called the depiction of Rue and Jules’ relationship “beautiful” and “one that refreshingly sidesteps the need to slap a label on two people exploring a mutual attraction.”
While filming for season 2 has been stalled due to coronavirus, Zendaya recently teased that the show would give fans a special episode in between seasons.
Revisit them.’s interviews with Euphoria actors Hunter Schaefer and Barbie Ferreira.
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