Nominated for two awards at the Emmys, British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed has made history by becoming the first South Asian man to win an Emmy Award for acting. He picked up the trophy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his role as Nasir ‘Naz’ Khan in The Night Of at the 69th edition of the prestigious awards held last weekend. Ahmed was competing against and left behind Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert De Niro, Ewan McGregor, Geoffrey Rush, and John Turturro.

“It is always strange reaping the rewards of a story based on real world suffering,” the actor said in his acceptance speech. “But if this show has shown a light on some of the prejudice in our societies, xenophobia, some of the injustice in our justice system, then maybe that is something.”

Aside from Riz Ahmed, others who made history at the recent awards ceremony include Lena Waithe, who is the first black woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Master Of None) while Donald Glover became the first black person to ever win the award for Outstanding Directing In A Comedy Series (Atlanta) at the Emmys.

Coming back to Riz Ahmed, the artist was also nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Paul-Louis in Girls.

The News International

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