Black child actor Keivonn Montreal Woodard will go down in Emmy history. The Last of Us star has been nominated for an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Announced on July 12, Woodard’s emotional performance has gained another wave of praise after his nomination.
At just ten years old, Woodard played the clever, lovable, and deaf apocalypse survivor Sam in HBO’s The Last of Us. The deaf actor quickly became a fan favorite of watchers in episode 5, titled “Endure and Survive.”
According to Entertainment Weekly, Woodard’s nomination makes him the youngest nominee in the Outstanding Guest Actor category and the second youngest Emmy nominee of all time. Second only to Keshia Knight Pulliam for her time in The Cosby Show, which earned her a nomination at just six years old.
The accolade is more impressive since The Last of Us is Woodard’s first acting role.
In a prior interview with the outlet, Woodard admitted to being “a little overwhelmed” but also expressed excitement to see the culmination of his work on the screen.
“I feel excited because I’ve been watching the episodes, and I really want to see the one that I acted in and see the finished product. I’m not afraid to be on camera and meet people for the first time,” Woodard said through an interpreter.
During the interview, he revealed that the process was made easier by his fellow co-star Lamar Johnson, who plays Sam’s dedicated and protective older brother in The Last of Us. He identified one of the most action-packed scenes of the show as his favorite one to act in. The young actor described, “When we ran, and the truck was chasing us, the running scene was really fun ’cause I was running as fast as I could. I hide underneath one of the cars, and all of the trucks are pushing the cars out of the way and the Clickers are all running and I had to weave through the cars and run as fast as I could. We get close to the house by the end of the scene, and that was the most fun part.”
Woodard is joined by his on-screen brother Lamar Johnson in the list of Emmy nominees in his category and fellow Black actress Storm Reid from the show. In Total, The Last of Us was celebrated with a stunning 24 Emmy nominations across categories, including Best Drama Series, Best Actor and Best Actress for Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, respectively.
The Emmys are set to air on September 18 on Fox.
