Zendaya has officially made Emmys history—again. With her second win for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for Euphoria at the 2022 Emmys, the 26-year-old becomes the youngest two-time winner for acting in Emmys history, and the first Black woman to win the Emmy for lead actress in a drama series twice.
Wearing a Valentino gown and Bulgari jewels, she began her speech by thanking HBO “for making such a safe space for making this very difficult show” and creator Sam Levinson “for sharing Rue with me,” adding, “thank you for believing in me and even in moments when I didn’t believe in myself.”
Zendaya continued, “My greatest wish for Euphoria was that it could help heal people and I just want to say thank you to everyone who has shared their story with me. I want you to know that anyone who has loved a Rue or feels like they are Rue, I want you to know that I’m so grateful for your stories and I carry them with me and I carry them with her.”
In 2020, Zendaya earned her first Emmy for playing the soulful, often struggling Rue in HBO’s Euphoria and was nominated this year for a record-breaking four awards as executive producer on the series and for writing original lyrics for two songs featured in Euphoria, “I’m Tired” and “Elliot’s Song.” Zendaya’s major showcase for the second season was the heart-stopping fifth episode, “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird,” in which the painful reality of Rue’s relapse comes into anxiety-inducing focus.
“Euphoria has been such a great learning ground for me,” Zendaya told Vanity Fair on 2022 Emmy nominations morning, crediting Levinson and cinematographer Marcell Rév for inspiring her to one day direct. “I feel like I can [direct] more and more every day as I stand next to them, and they let me slowly take on more and more responsibilities and let me put in my two cents. Sometimes a lot more than two cents; sometimes more like $50. But they let me be creative and I’m grateful for the opportunity to do more of it.”
She defended her title against fellow nominees including predicted winner Melanie Lynskey for Yellowjackets, Laura Linney for Ozark, Sandra Oh for Killing Eve, Reese Witherspoon for The Morning Show, and former category winner Jodie Comer for Killing Eve.
Throughout the evening, Zendaya couldn’t help but steal focus. Host Kenan Thompson quipped of the star in his show opening: “Zendaya just turned 26. Twenty-six is a weird age in Hollywood. Young enough to play a high school student, but too old to date Leonardo DiCaprio.” When Hacks costars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder took the stage to present an award, Einbinder shyly whispered something in Smart’s ear. “From the stage, she gets a better view of Zendaya,” Smart said to explain her costar’s shyness.
Euphoria expanded on its Emmys footprint for its highly watched second season, earning 16 nominations, including outstanding drama series, which ultimately went to Succession for the second time. (The show’s first season scored wins for three of its six nominations, including a victory for Zendaya.) Star Sydney Sweeney, celebrating her 25th birthday on Emmy night, lost supporting actress in a drama series to now three-time winner Julia Garner for Ozark.
At the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Euphoria earned five trophies—Colman Domingo for guest actor in a drama series, cinematography for a single-camera series, choreography for scripted programming, contemporary makeup (non-prosthetic), and single-camera picture editing for a drama series.
Production has yet to begin on Euphoria’s hotly anticipated third season, but Domingo has teased “some really big swings” for the show’s next installment, now armed with renewed awards recognition.
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