Well, hey. Alongside Sandra Oh's historic lead actress Emmy nomination, Darren Criss scored himself a nod for best lead actor in a limited series or TV movie for American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace., making him only the second actor of Asian descent to be nominated in the category, and the first ever Filipino American to receive a lead actor Emmy nomination. Heck, is he first Filipino American actor to receive an Emmy nomination, ever? Somebody please confirm.
Criss received wide acclaim for his haunting star turn as real-life killer Andrew Cunanan (who was Filipino American, like Criss). Season two of the FX true crime anthology series chronicled Cunanan's notorious 1997 murder spree, in which he killed four men before shooting famed fashion designer Gianni Versace in Miami.
Overall, the series garnered a total of 18 nominations, including nods for co-stars Edgar Ramirez, Finn Witrock and Ricky Martin(!). Criss is considered a front-runner in the limited series lead actor category, which includes Antonio Banderas (Genius), Benedict Cumberbatch (Patrick Melrose), Jeff Daniels (The Looming Tower), Jesse Plemons (USS Callister) and John Legend (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert).
What an honor, @TelevisionAcad. Thank you so much. Truly. Wow. And a huge congrats to my fellow cast and crew of @ACSFX! @MrRPMurphy does it again! pic.twitter.com/T8Wzn8Od5e
— Darren Criss (@DarrenCriss) July 12, 2018
Although this is Criss' first Emmy nod for acting, this is not his first nomination. He went to the dance in 2015, nominated for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics as the composer for the song "This Time" from Glee.
As many have noted, in the entire history of the Emmy Awards, only two Asian actors have ever taken home a trophy. Archie Pabjabi won outstanding supporting actress for The Good Wife in 2010, and Riz Ahmed won outstanding lead actor in a limited series for The Night Of in 2017.
That's two. Two Asian winners in 70 years. Wouldn't it be great to see two in one night?
