Zendaya Makes History (Twice) at the 2020 Emmy Awards

Thanks to her performance as recovering teen addict Rue in Euphoria.  Zendaya earned her first Emmy nomination in 2020. Following the award show, the HBO drama won three Emmy statuettes total, and fans and fellow actors alike are celebrating the victories.

Euphoria premiered on the network in 2019 to mostly positive reactions among viewers and critics, but the Emmy wins were still a welcome surprise for those who are fully invested in the series.

Zendaya was nominated alongside The Morning Show’s Jennifer Aniston, The Crown’s Olivia Colman, Ozark’s Laura Linney, and Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category. 

When the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards aired on Sept. 20, 2020, Zendaya took home the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, making it her first Emmy win ever.

Zendaya also made history as the youngest woman to win best actress in a drama series AND as only the second Black actress, following Viola Davis' win in 2015. 

“I’m honestly speechless,” the 24-year-old wrote in July after the nominations announcement. “My heart is just overflowing with love and gratitude. 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.”

In her acceptance speech for her Emmy, which she gave remotely, Zendaya spoke of hope in the younger generation and what the award means to her in that regard.

"I know this feels like a really weird time to be celebrating, but I just want to say that there is hope in the young people out there," she said. "I know that our TV show doesn’t always feel like a great example of that but there is hope in the young people. And I just want to say to all my peers out there doing the work in the streets, I see you, I admire you, I thank you."

Timothy Lee McKenzie, better known by his stage name of Labrinth, won the 2020 Primetime Creative Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics in recognition of his song “All For Us” from the Euphoria episode “And Salt the Earth Behind You,” the Season 1 finale. He was also nominated in 2020 for an Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series, but lost to The Mandalorian’s Ludwig Göransson.

Labrinth celebrated his Creative Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music win on Instagram, posting GIFs of Euphoria characters dancing, crying, and looking askance. Although he didn't take home the other Emmy for which he was nominated, his award still meant another win for the breakout HBO series.

“Current range of emotions hearing you won an EMMY award in the middle of the night!” He wrote. “Thank you to everyone. Wow. How am I going to get back to sleep now?!”

In a June 2020 interview with GoldDerby, Labrinth said that composing the score for Euphoria was "a labor of love and passion." Clearly, all of that labor paid off.

Fans and celebrities left celebratory comments on the post. “SO PROUD MAN!” Zendaya wrote. “HELLLL YEEAHHHHH.”

“You deserve it,” wrote Nika King, the actress who plays Leslie Bennett on the show, who added three “100” emojis. And Lukas Gage, the actor behind Euphoria character Tyler Clarkson, commented with three heart emojis.

The show was also nominated in the Outstanding Contemporary Costumes and the Outstanding Music Supervision categories. Plus, it won the Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic) category, thanks to the work of makeup artists Doniella Davy, Kirsten Sage Coleman, and Tara Lang Shah in the episode “And Salt the Earth Behind You."

“Thank you so much, Academy, for this incredible honor,” Doniella said in her acceptance speech. “Sam Levinson, thank you trusting us to deliver your unique vision for the Euphoria makeup… Kirsten, Tara, and every member of the Euphoria makeup team, I am so proud of what we did.”

As a new kid on the block in terms of primetime television, Euphoria just proved it belongs here as much as any other hit show.