Bowen Yang makes history as first Chinese American man nominated for Emmy for a supporting actor role

July 13, 2021

Bowen Yang makes history as the first Chinese American man and first “Saturday Night Live” member to be nominated for an Emmy as a supporting actor, according to

The nomination: Yang, a comedian on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), received news that he was an Emmy nominee in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category.

“Bowen Yang making history as the first featured player to be nominated for an Emmy,” tweeted SNL in a congratulatory message.
If he wins, Yang would become the third person of Asian descent to win an Emmy following Archie Panjabi’s win in 2010 and Riz Ahmed as the first Asian man to win in 2017, reported Deadline.
In 2017, BD Wong received a nomination for the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series category for his role as Whiterose in “Mr. Robot.”

Reactions: Many Twitter users congratulated Yang on his “well-deserved“ recognition with one fan saying that he is “the funniest of all SNL players.“

“Yes!!!! I’m here for it! Go Bowen! Not sure why but I have tears in my eyes rn…a wonderfully talented Asian American is being recognized on a legendary show like SNL is huge!” tweeted one user.
One user on SNL’s Instagram post commented that the news “made his day.”
“Imagine single-handedly making SNL appeal to a younger generation again AND earning an Emmy nom in the process…. legend behavior,” an Instagram fan wrote.

Featured Image via SNL (left) and Late Night with Seth Meyers (right)

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