The Last of Us star Keivonn Montreal Woodard has made Emmy history as the youngest actor to ever be nominated for the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series category.
Nominations for the upcoming awards, which are due to be held in September, were announced on Wednesday evening, with the hit HBO series based on the video game of the same name picking up a whopping 24 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series.
Stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey were each nominated in the lead actor and actress in a drama series categories, while many others who featured in single episodes were also recognised.
Those include Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman for their roles as Frank and Bill in the moving third episode, while Melanie Lynskey (Kathleen), Storm Reid (Riley) and Anna Torv (Tess) make up half of the nominees in the best actress in a drama series category.
Also recognised is Lamar Johnson, who played Keivonn’s brother Henry in episode five.
Keivonn, who is deaf, made his acting debut as young apocalypse survivor Sam on the series, which followed survivors Joel (Pedro) and Ellie (Bella) in the aftermath of a pandemic that has decimated the world.
Following the news of his nomination, the actor told Deadline he was ‘shocked’ to be singled out, but said he was aware of the ‘importance and huge impact’ of being a young Deaf Black boy in the running for the award.
Asked about what advice he would pass on to others also hoping to follow in his footsteps, he encouraged them to ‘just do their best’ and ‘go for auditions’.
Meanwhile his mum April Jackson-Woodard admitted she ‘cried immediately’ and said the nod was ‘humbling and honouring’.
Other actors nominated in the same category included Succession’s Arian Moayed and James Cromwell, as well as Keivonn’s The Last of Us co-stars Nick, Murray and Lamar.
Keivonn is now also the second-youngest Emmy nominee of all time.
The Cosby Show actress Keshia Knight Pulliam still holds the record after earning a nod back in 1986 when she was just six-years-old.
The Last of Us is available to stream on NOW.
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The 75th annual Emmy awards will take place on September 18, 2023.
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