Emmys 2017: Riz Ahmed becomes first man of Asian descent to win acting award

The actor won for his portrayal of Nasir 'Naz' Khan in The Night Of, a Pakistani/Iranian-American college student accused of murdering a young woman

Riz Ahmed has become the first man of Asian descent to win an acting award at the Emmys.

He picked up the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for The Night Of in which he plays Nasir "Naz" Khan, a Pakistani/Iranian-American college student accused of murdering a young woman, in a show which partly examines the brutal effects of racism within the criminal justice system.

"I want to say it is always strange reaping the rewards of a story based on real world suffering," Ahmed said in his acceptance speech. "But if this show has shown a light on some of the prejudice in our societies, xenophobia, some of the injustice in our justice system, then maybe that is something." He also thanked South Asian Youth Action and The Innocence Project for helping him prepare.

Only two other actors of Asian descent have won at the Emmys before: Archie Panjabi in 2010 for The Good Wife and Shohreh Aghdashloo in 2009 for House of Saddam.

Backstage, Ahmed commented on his win: "I don’t know if any one person’s win of an award, or one person snagging one role, or one person doing very well changes something that’s a systemic issue... I think that’s something that happens slowly over time."

"In terms of US and the UK, I’m really proud to be a Londoner. I’m really proud to be from the UK. I’m also really aware that actors of color often have more opportunity in the US, but I think ultimately now we see that TV in particular is a global medium," he added. "People are streaming shows or watching them all around the world. Hopefully we’ll see a globalization of our storytelling."

The 2017 Emmys proved to be historic in a multitude of ways: Donald Glover became the first black winner of the award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, while Master of None's Lena Waithe became the first black woman to win the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

Elsewhere, Julia Louis-Dreyfus won the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series the sixth time in a row for Veep, smashing not only Candice Bergen's record of the most Emmys for a singular role, but tying her now with Cloris Leachman's record eight Emmys wins by a singular performer.

The Handmaid's Tale director Reed Morano also became the first woman to win the award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series in 22 years, while This Is Us' Sterling K. Brown became the first black man to win Outstanding Lead Actor In a Drama in 19 years.

You can read the full list of Emmy winners here.

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