Zendaya is the youngest woman to ever win a Lead Actress Emmy

Zendaya took home the trophy for Euphoria.

September 21, 2020
Zendaya is the youngest woman to ever win a Lead Actress Emmy Steven Ferdman/Getty Images

Zendaya became the youngest woman to ever win the Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama earlier this evening when she claimed the trophy for her role as Rue in Euphoria. Up against a crowded field that included Jennifer Aniston’s splashy return-to-TV, Oscar-winner Olivia Colman, Laura Linney, Sandra Oh, and 2019 Lead Actress Emmy winner Jodie Comer, Zendaya’s acclaimed performance as a teen struggling with drug addiction ultimately came out on top. At 24, she is two years younger than previous record-holder Comer was when she won the award in 2019.

ADVERTISEMENT

Euphoria was nominated for six awards, including Best Score, Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, Outstanding Music Supervision, Outstanding Contemporary Costumes, and Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic.) Read our interview with Jen Malone, the woman behind Euphoria’s music supervision, here, and our interview with Labrinth, the composer of the show's distinctive score, here.

ADVERTISEMENT
Zendaya is the youngest woman to ever win a Lead Actress Emmy