Zendaya (‘Euphoria’) will win a bookend Emmy for her ferocious and heartbreaking performance in Season 2
Mark my words. At this year’s Emmys, there’s already one category where we might as well call it a day. Best Drama Actress is sewn up. It’s done. It’s not even a race. Zendaya will win a bookend Emmy for her ferocious and heartbreaking performance in the provocative sophomore season of HBO’s pop culture phenomenon “Euphoria.”
Yeah, I know the Emmy nominations aren’t even out yet. They’re being announced this Tuesday (July 12) during the annual nail-biter press conference when all of Hollywood braces itself to find out who and what will make the cut among the very best of TV. And the actress is way out in front according to our combined odds, which puts her in pole position to win again.
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Don’t believe me? Let’s rewind to Fall 2020. I was the only editor at Gold Derby predicting Zendaya to win the Emmy. Most pundits were sure that Laura Linney (“Ozark”) was the clear frontrunner. If not the previous four-time Emmy winner (for “Wild Iris,” “Frasier,” “John Adams” and “The Big C”), then possibly Emmy-winning superstar Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”) or Oscar winner Olivia Colman (“The Crown”) had it in the bag. But I just knew it was going Zendaya’s way. Call it a hunch, perhaps. Or maybe because I have eyes and ears, and witnessed the arrival of a huge star, who completely dominated a show that had hit the zeitgeist at just the right time. Someone who represents the changing of the guard, if you will. A younger, more exciting prospect who spoke to a whole generation of viewers. And who would become only the second ever Black woman to win this category (after Viola Davis did it for “How To Get Away With Murder” five years earlier).
So I was not surprised at all when Jimmy Kimmel tore open the envelope for Best Drama Actress during the socially distanced pandemic Emmys on September 21, 2020, declaring after an interminable pause that “the Emmy goes to … Zendaya!” (Watch the video above.) It was an incredible, unforgettable moment as “Euphoria” composer Labrinth‘s Emmy-winning hip hop soundtrack bellowed out on the empty stage around Kimmel, with the camera switching to the shocked 24-year-old actress on a live satellite feed, sitting in front of her over-the-moon family and friends, screaming and crying happy tears as the news sunk in: Zendaya has won her first Emmy, making history as the youngest actress to win the Best Drama Actress prize, shattering the record set only one year prior when Jodie Comer (a returning nominee up against the “Euphoria” star) won for “Killing Eve” in 2019.
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In “Euphoria,” the actress portrays Rue Bennett, a troubled high school student struggling with drug addiction. After making her mark during the show’s first season, she upped the ante for Season 2, delivering another powerful performance that crescendos in the fifth episode of the season (“Stand Still Like the Hummingbird”). In that installment, Rue’s mother Leslie (Nika King) discovers that her recovering addict daughter has relapsed, leading her to flush her stash and confronting Rue alongside Jules (Hunter Schafer) and Elliot (Dominic Fike). This sets Rue off into a violent rage and breakdown, as she eventually escapes, and then begins to suffer the horrifying effects of her withdrawal.
The HBO drama’s sophomore season received mostly positive reviews, scoring a respectable 82% “fresh” rating at Rotten Tomatoes. But critics once again singled out the show’s leading lady for special mention, highlighting her raw and unsettling portrayal of a deeply broken teenager hitting rock bottom. Brian Tallerico (The Playlist) calls her “fearless,” while Alan Sepinwall (Rolling Stone) says her performance in the fifth episode “is yet another reminder of the masterful command Zendaya has of the screen.”
Zendaya is going to win again, and it shouldn’t be a surprise this time. You heard it here first!
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