Emmy wins for Oakland actors.
A pair of performers with strong roots in Oakland won big Sunday night during the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards.
Leading the way was Zendaya, who scored a stunning — and historic — victory as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role in
HBO’s “Euphoria.”
With the major upset, she became the youngest-ever winner in the category. The former Disney star, who was born and raised in the East Bay, turned 24 earlier this month.
Also striking Emmy gold was Oakland’s Yahya AbdulMateen II, who was honored as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for his dual role in HBO’s “Watchmen.” But Zendaya and AbdulMateen weren’t the only local standouts feeling the Emmy love. Earlier — during the socalled “Creative Arts” portion of the awards — the HBO documentary “We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest” earned honors as Outstanding Children’s Program. It’s a film executive produced by Oakland native
and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali.
Also in the Creative Arts Emmys, Pixar Studios’ “Forky Asks a Question” captured the prize for Best Short-Form Animated Series. Mark Nielsen, a resident of Piedmont, is a producer on the show, which steams on Disney+.
Like other winners during Sunday’s socially distanced, virtual telecast, Zendaya delivered her acceptance speech remotely — surrounded by friends and family members who let out boisterous cheers and hugged and cried in what appeared to be a hotel suite.
“This is pretty crazy. I don’t really cry,” she said, before thanking “Euphoria” cast members and producers.
Host Jimmy Kimmel, noting Zendaya’s youth, later quipped, “Wow, how about that? She’s younger than Baby Yoda and she already has an Emmy.”
On a night dominated by favorites, Zendaya’s win was arguably the biggest surprise. A first-time Emmy nominee, she beat out a stacked field that featured last year’s winner Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”), as well as a lineup of esteemed veteran actresses, including Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”), Olivia Colman (“The Crown”), Laura Linney (“Ozark”) and Sandra Oh (“Killing Eve”).
Last year, at age 26, Comer set what turned out to be a short-lived category record as the youngest woman to claim the coveted prize.
The Emmy victory for Zendaya is the highest career honor thus far for the former Oakland School for the Arts student who got her first big break in Hollywood as a lanky 14-yearold on the Disney Channel buddy comedy “Shake It Up.” She went on to become a runner-up on Season 16 of “Dancing With the Stars.”
She’s only the second Black actress to earn the award, following Viola Davis’ 2015 win for “How to Get Away With Murder.”
“Euphoria” marked a major risk and dramatic leap for Zendaya, who plays 17-year-old drug addict Rue Bennett in the edgy cable series. Her raw, unsettling performance clearly wowed Emmy voters, including her older lead actress competitors, who could be seen applauding her from their remote sites.
“I’m so grateful for Rue,” Zendaya said. “I know this feels like a really weird time to be celebrating, but I just want to say there is hope in the young people out there. I know that our TV show doesn’t always feel like a great example of that, but there is hope in the young people.”
Zendaya finished off her speech with arms outstretched, Emmy in hand and a huge smile on her face.
Abdul-Mateen was just as stoked — and stunned. Born in New Orleans, he moved to Oakland as a child and attended McClymonds High School. He went on to graduate from UC Berkeley with a degree in architecture and worked as a city planner in San Francisco before ultimately setting his sights on acting.
“Man I’m surprised,” he said, delivering “a big shout out to all of West Oakland,” as well as New Orleans.
“There’s a lot of people where I’m from making a lot of noise right now.”
In “Watchmen,” AbdulMateen plays Calvin “Cal” Abar, stay-at-home husband to Regina King’s Angela, and well as the omnipotent, glowing God known as Doctor Manhattan. A re-imagining of the acclaimed superhero comic series, “Watchmen” is set in an alternate America where police officers in Tulsa, Oklahoma wear masks to hide their identities amid a raging threat from white supremacists.
“’Watchmen’ was a story about trauma. It was a story about the lasting scars of white domestic terrorism,” Abdul-Mateen said in his acceptance speech. “It was a story about police corruption and brutality. But in the midst of all that, it was also a story about a god who came down to Earth to reciprocate to a Black woman all the love she deserved. He did all that in the body of a Black man, and I was so proud that I was able to walk into those shoes.”
Abdul-Mateen went on to dedicate his award to all of the Black women in my life,” along with “the people who believed in me first — my early investors,” before raising a glass of champagne.
The victories by Zendaya and Abdul-Mateen capped what was perhaps the best one-year Emmy showing by performers and producers with roots in the Bay Area. Other nominees included actors Mahershala Ali (“Ramy”), Redwood City native Linda Cardellini (“Dead to Me”), Danville’s D’Arcy Carden (“The Good Place”) and Berkeleybased writers and producers Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman (“Unbelievable”).