Lee Yoo-mi became the first Korean actor to win the award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series at the 2022 Creative Arts Emmys on Sunday.
Lee took home the accolade for her performance in “Squid Game” as Ji-yeong, a young woman who was recently released from prison after killing her abusive stepfather.
The 28-year-old gave her acceptance speech in Korean initially, saying, “Thank you so much for this huge honor. I want to give my thanks to the TV academy, especially a big thanks to my Netflix team as well.”
She then added in English, “I’m so very happy, thank you!”
Other nominees for the category included Hope Davis (“Succession”), Marcia Gay Harden (“The Morning Show”), Martha Kelly (“Euphoria”), Sanaa Lathan (“Succession”) and Harriet Walter (“Succession”).
The ceremony for the Creative Arts Emmys precedes the Primetime Emmys, scheduled this year on Sept. 12, and honors the artistic and technical achievements in mainly non-performing categories of TV production with the exception of guest appearances.
Netflix’s South Korean survival game series “Squid Game,” which became a global sensation last year, won three other awards on Sunday: Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More), Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode and Outstanding Stunt Performance.
The show was also nominated in the categories of cinematography, music and editing in Sunday’s ceremony.
“Squid Game” made history earlier this year as the first non-English language series to be nominated for the award for Best Drama Series. Four other actors from the series have been nominated for Best Actor awards at the Primetime ceremony, including Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Oh Young-soo and Jung Ho-yeon.
Feature Image via Getty (left), Netflix (right)
