A 10-year-old boy has made Emmy history — becoming the youngest actor to be nominated for a prestigious award in his category.
Keivonn Montreal Woodard was shortlisted in the category Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series category for his role in The Last Of Us.
Not only that, but he is also the first deaf Black boy to be honoured.
Nominations for the annual award ceremony — set to be held in Los Angeles in September — were released on Wednesday, July 12 via a live online streaming event hosted by the Emmys.
And The Last Of Us — a HBO series based on a video game — did well in the nominations, getting the nod 24 times across different categories, including Outstanding Drama Series.
Keivonn, who is deaf, got the nod for a nomination for his portrayal of Sam, a young apocalypse survivor in the aftermath of a serious pandemic that wiped out half the world’s population.
The youngster spoke about his “shock” at getting a nod from the industry in the shortlist, saying he was at a basketball camp at the time the nominations were read out, and that his mum told him when she picked him up for the day.
Speaking to American publisher Deadline, he said he was mindful of the “importance and huge impact” he had on others.
He said: “I think that everybody should just do their best when they’re trying to act and just go for the auditions. Don’t worry about it, and just go ahead and try to act your best. Yes, it was hard with the facial expressions and learning how to [interpret the script for American Sign Language], but I think it’s really important to also learn to listen to your production team and to collaborate with them. I got in, and so can you.”
Speaking of the moment she found out, proud mum April Jackson-Woodard added: “People kept sending messages, and I cried immediately because I never thought or dreamed it would happen to my son. You know, I never even considered it.
“After Keivonn got the role, I asked myself, ‘How do I even prepare my life?’ It wasn’t easy, especially as a Black deaf mother and also being a widow.
“I was trying to take care of everything on my own, but he would say, ‘Mom, I got this.’
“And he did. He’s the first young Black deaf actor to be nominated in the Emmy’s history, on top of this being his first TV show [and major audition process]. We are completely humbled and honoured.”
Other stars from the show also got nominations. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey were both nominated in the lead actor and actress in a drama series.
Lamar Johnson, who played Keivonn’s brother Henry in episode five, also received a nomination.
