Nationwide — Keivonn Woodard, a 10-year-old boy from Bowie, Maryland, has made historical past as the primary Black deaf actor to be nominated for an Emmy Award. He obtained a nomination within the class of Excellent Visitor Actor in a drama sequence for his function in HBO’s “The Final of Us.”
The post-apocalyptic zombie sequence, primarily based on a well-liked 2013 online game, options Woodard as Sam, a deaf little one with leukemia. Whereas his online game counterpart isn’t deaf, the producers determined to forged a deaf actor for the function, making Woodard’s efficiency stand out on the critically-acclaimed present.
Woodard expressed his consciousness of the nomination’s “significance and big influence” on actors like him, in keeping with Deadline. His mom April Jackson-Woodard additionally shared her pleasure and shock, saying she “by no means thought or dreamed it will occur” to his son, particularly on his first TV present.
In his historic achievement, Woodard additionally turned the youngest-ever nominee within the Excellent Visitor Actor class and the second-youngest particular person to be nominated total for an Emmy Award.
Alongside his performing aspirations, Woodard can also be obsessed with hockey and goals of changing into the primary deaf Black participant within the Nationwide Hockey League.
You’ll want to comply with him on Instagram @KeivonnWoodard
