Zendaya, at 25, breaks the Emmy record,
Becoming the youngest nominee for producing along with the youngest two-time nominee for lead acting in Euphoria. She bagged a total of four nominations including two other nominations for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for I’m Tired and Elliot’s Song.
At the 72nd Emmy Awards held back in 2020, Zendaya had already broken history, becoming the youngest woman (24 at that time) when she won an award for Outstanding Lead Actress for her role as Rue in a Drama Series for HBO’s Euphoria. She was also the second Black woman ever to achieve that feat after Viola Davis, the first Black woman to win in the same category for How To Get Away From Murder.
Zendaya’s role as Rue Bennett in Euphoria has garnered immense attention for her fierce, heartbreaking, and outstanding performance throughout the two seasons. Her character was loosely based on the Director of Euphoria, Sam Levinson, during his struggles with depression, anxiety, and drug addiction in his late teens and early twenties. But Zendaya also injected creativity with her own imagination to improvise her character. That might have won her, her first Emmy.
Euphoria is marginally different from other high school series, yet has very essential high school elements. Well, at East Highland High School, we at least have the autonomy to wear the most beautiful outfit from our wardrobe to a Chemistry class and no one would bat an eye there. However, the show is not for the weak-hearted. It has mostly garnered negative reviews on grounds that the show is out of touch with the real world. Nudity, edgy teens and bullies, and drug abuse are probably the elements that triggered the audience the most. Even then, they could not deny the phenomenal performance delivered by the entire cast. It is the actors’ terrific performance that carried the whole show and has attracted more fans than haters.
Overwhelmed Zendaya took to Instagram to share a photo of her from the sets of Euphoria with a caption expressing her gratefulness towards the cast and crew members for making this journey of hers, the highlight of her life. With the show bagging a grand total of 16 Emmy nominations, fans congratulated them with barely concealed excitement and are thrilled to see what holds next for them.
