'Squid Game' star Lee Jung-jae makes history with Drama Actor Emmy win
Sep 13, 2022
Los Angeles [US], September 13 : Lee Jung-jae on Tuesday made history by becoming the first Asian actor ever to receive an Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama for his performance in 'Squid Game'.
He was only the fourth Asian actor ever to win in any of the Emmy performance categories, and the first to win the drama award for a non-English speaking role, Variety reported.
During his acceptance speech, Lee said, "Thank you to the Television Academy, thank you to Netflix and thank you to the director for making realistic problems we all face come to life so creatively on the screen with a great script. Thank you, 'Squid Game' team. Thank you to everyone watching in Korea."
'Squid Game' has received 14 total Emmy nominations this year, and took home four Emmy awards at this year's Creative Arts Emmy's earlier this month.
While Squid Game was only supposed to run for one season, its massive popularity has changed that. Lee will be back for Season 2. Lee's character Seong Gi-hun, otherwise known as Number 456, will be seeking revenge in the upcoming season, Hwang told Deadline.