Zendaya has landed her first-ever Primetime Emmy Awards nomination for her starring role in the HBO series “Euphoria.” The 23-year-old star was announced as a nominee for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series on Tuesday (July 28) alongside Jennifer Aniston for her role on “The Morning Show,” Laura Linney from “Ozark,” Olivia Colman for “Crown” and Sandra Oh from “Killing Eve.”
On the show, which launched last June, Zendaya plays a high school student named Rue who is battling drug addiction. Speaking with Elle, the former “Shake It Up” actress said that the role pushed her to work outside of her comfort zone.
“I think ‘Euphoria’ taught me a lot about myself. It made me more confident in my own abilities because I doubted myself a lot,” she told the outlet. “I was looking for something to prove I can do it… ‘Euphoria’ served as that, in the healthiest way.”
“I never want to plateau as an actress — I always want to be able to explore and push myself,” she added. “[Being an actress] brings me to places and makes me do things I’d probably never do because I’m such an introverted person.”
Zendaya’s performance in the series has already won her The Drama TV Star of 2019 award from People Choice Awards and Satellite Awards’ Best Actress — Television Series Drama. She was also nominated for Best Dramatic TV Performance by the IGN Awards, Best Actress in a Drama Series by the Critics’ Choice Television Awards and has a nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series from the Black Reel Awards currently pending.
According to Uproxx, if Zendaya wins the Emmy Award she will become the youngest winner in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category ever.
The full list of Emmy nominees was also released on Tuesday (July 28). Several nods were made toward “Ozark,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Insecure” and Watchmen, with both Issa Rae and Regina King earning award nominations for the latter two.
The virtual 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards is set to be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on Sept. 20.