Zendaya Is “Speechless” Over Her First Emmy Nomination

Zendaya is now an Emmy-nominated actress! The 23-year-old actress has just landed her first Emmy nomination for her role as Rue in HBO’s critically acclaimed drama, Euphoria. Emmy nomination presenters Leslie Jones and Laverne Cox, who announced the 2020 Emmy nominations in a live-stream shared our excitement for the actress.

Zendaya will be contending for the role of “outstanding lead actress in a drama series,” for her powerful performance as a recovering teen drug addict Rue Bennett on the hit HBO series. Euphoria follows high schoolers as they navigate taboo issues that come with adolescence, like love, sex, dating apps, and addiction.

The actress will be facing some of the industry’s biggest names for the award. Namely, Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show), Laura Linney (Ozark), Olivia Colman (The Crown), Sandra Oh (Killing Eve), and Jodie Comer (Killing Eve). The 2020 Category includes last year’s winner, Jodie Comer who won the Emmy in 2019 for her portrayal of the psychopathic assassin, Villanelle in the British drama series.

“I am a small piece of a big beautiful puzzle”

Zendaya couldn’t be more gracious upon knowing about her nomination as she took to Instagram in a heartfelt message.

“I’m honestly speechless, my heart is just overflowing with love and gratitude,” the actress wrote on her socials. “I’m so incredibly honored to work beside the talented people that I get to call family. I am a small piece of a big beautiful puzzle and I’m so proud of all of you.”

She continued by thanking the essential people behind the scenes who’ve made the series’ first season possible. “Thank you to everyone out there who’s watched and given our show life, thank you @samlev00 @hbo @a24 for everything and @televisionacad for this beautiful acknowledgment, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she continued. “We out here Emmy nominated y’all!!”

“I am grateful that people have been able to connect to it the way they have”

The Emmy nod follows her wins at the People’s Choice Awards for Favorite Drama TV Star and the Satellite Awards for Best Actress in a Drama Series. As well as a nod at the Critics Choice Awards, all of which she received for Euphoria.

Zendaya spoke about the series in an interview at the People’s Choice Awards. “It felt like something special as I was doing it. And I am grateful that people have been able to connect to it the way they have.” She also went on to explain that, although she defied many people’s expectations with the role, she never set out to do so.

“It’s not about proving anything to the world, but it’s really about getting better as an artist and being more in touch with where I can go and how I can do it. I try to keep it internal, because that’s a much happier place to work from, when you are working just to prove yourself that you can do it.”

Euphoria Season 2 updates

Things are definitely looking up for the Euphoria Team. In addition to Zendaya’s nod, the show scored five other nominations, including a nomination for outstanding contemporary makeup.

Luckily for fans who want to see Rue onscreen again, Euphoria was renewed by HBO for another season. However, the coronavirus pandemic has forced production of Season 2 to be halted right before it was set to begin.

“We were supposed to go back to work, I believe, on March 16, and literally, three or four days before that, they were shut down,” Zendaya told Variety in June 2020. “We did camera tests and hair and makeup tests, and we got to see everybody and the sets were built. The scripts were written and I was just so excited, just to go back home is really what it feels like.”

Zendaya’s Latest project

However, the pandemic hasn’t stopped the actress from creating. Zendaya’s latest project with Euphoria creator, Sam Levinson and actor, John David Washington happens to be the first feature film to complete production during the coronavirus pandemic.

Malcolm & Marie was shot from June 17 to July 2, with the entire crew going to great lengths to take precautions. However, there haven’t been any announcements about a release date and by the looks of it, fans might have to wait a while to see zendaya on screen again.

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