Maryland Native Keivonn Woodard Is The First Black Deaf Actor Nominated For An Emmy
By: The DMV Daily
Woodard was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series on Wednesday for his role on HBO’s “The Last of Us,” a post-apocalyptic zombie series based on the hit 2013 PlayStation video game of the same name. He is the category’s youngest nominee ever.
Keivonn Woodard, 10, of Bowie, Maryland, is creating history. He is the first Black deaf actor and the second-youngest Emmy nominee ever.
Woodard was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series on Wednesday for his role on HBO’s “The Last of Us,” a post-apocalyptic zombie series based on the hit 2013 PlayStation video game of the same name. He is the category’s youngest nominee ever.
Woodard plays Sam, an eight-year-old deaf artist diagnosed with leukemia who debuts briefly in Episode 4 before taking on a greater role in Episode 5. Although Sam’s video game counterpart is not deaf, the series’ creators altered to allow a deaf actor to play the character Woodard’s performance was labeled “astonishing” and “fantastic,” and the episodes he appeared in as heartbreaking and a “standout” on the critically-praised show.