Billy Porter, ‘The Mandalorian’ nominated for Emmy awards
The Steel City was also all over the nominations for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.
The nominations were handed out Tuesday morning via a livestream announcement ceremony hosted by Ron Cephas Jones (“This Is Us”) and his daughter, Jasmine Cephas Jones (“Hamilton”).
Pittsburgh native Billy Porter was nominated for lead actor in a drama series for his powerful performance in the final season of FX series “Pose.” He won that award in 2019 for his work as Pray Tell in “Pose,” which made him the first openly gay man to win the Emmy for best actor in a drama.
Porter revealed in May that he has been HIV-positive for 14 years, adding an extra layer of resonance to his “Pose” performance as a gay man suffering from HIV/AIDS.
“I feel so blessed to have lived long enough to see the day when a show like this, a character like this could exist,” Porter told the PostGazette in April. “When I got into the business, it was an impossibility for something like this.”
“Pose” also picked up nominations for outstanding drama series and lead actress in a drama series for MJ Rodriguez. Rodriguez made history by becoming the first transgender woman to be nominated in a lead acting category.
The Disney+ “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” received 24 nominations, tied for the most with Netflix’s “The Crown.” “The Mandalorian,” now in its second season, is executive produced by Mt. Lebanon native Dave Filoni and co-stars fellow Mt. Lebanon High School alumnus Ming-Na Wen.
The two recently re-teamed for the animated Disney+ series “Star Wars: The Bad Batch,” and Wen is set to star in the upcoming live-action Disney+ show “The Book of
Boba Fett.”
Disney+ earned more nominations thanks to its film version of the original Broadway production of “Hamilton.” Carnegie Mellon University graduates Leslie Odom Jr. and Renee Elise Goldsberry were nominated for lead actor in a limited series/TV movie and supporting actress in a limited series/TV movie, respectively.
“This Is Us,” a show that is partially set in Pittsburgh, scored nominations for outstanding drama series, lead actor in a drama series (Sterling K. Brown), supporting actor in a drama series (Chris Sullivan) and guest actress in a drama series (Phylicia Rashad). NBC recently announced that “This Is Us” will end its decades-spanning story next year with a sixth and final season.
In the comedy realm, HBO Max original series “The Flight Attendant” got three nominations for outstanding comedy series, lead actress in a comedy (Kaley Cuoco) and supporting actress in a comedy ( Rosie Perez). That show co-stars McCandless native and Carnegie Mellon graduate Griffin Matthews.
Finally, Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban was nominated for two Emmys — outstanding structured reality program and outstanding host for a reality or competition program — for his various roles on ABC’s “Shark Tank.”
The 2021 Emmy Awards will be held Sept. 19 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. For a full list of nominations, go to www.emmys.com.