Anna Sawai sheds tears as she accepts the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. A new winner was announced at the 2024 Emmy Awards, and she was awarded the title of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

During the ceremony that took place on Sunday, September 15, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, Anna Sawai was presented with the prize for Shogun.

Sawai, who is 32 years old, expressed her emotions by saying, "I was crying before my name was announced." "I am a complete and utter mess today."

Sawai expressed gratitude to the Academy for the nomination, as well as to the FX team for "believing in our story throughout the process." In addition to that, she made a heartfelt tribute to her family, which included her mother. As she spoke, she stated, "You are the reason I am here."

She closed by saying, "This is to all the women who continue to be an example for everyone and who do not expect anything from themselves."

A number of other actors, including Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon from The Morning Show, Carrie Coon from The Gilded Age, Maya Erskine from Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Imelda Staunton from The Crown, were also considered for nominations in this category.

Ahead to the event, none of the nominees had previously prevailed in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series contest. Aniston, 55, and Witherspoon, 48, were previously nominated in the category for The Morning Show in 2020 and 2022, respectively. While they did not take home the honor in prior years, both are already Emmy winners, with Aniston collecting Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Friends in 2002 and Witherspoon receiving Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series in 2017 for her work as a producer on Big Little Lies.

Coon, 43, Erskine, 37, and Staunton, 68, were all previously nominated for Emmys: Coon in 2017 for her appearance on Fargo, Erskine in 2019 and 2021 for her work as a producer and writer of the Hulu comedy series PEN15 and Staunton in 2013 for her role in the television movie The Girl. You may aslo read this: Jennifer Lopez Has Filed For Divorce From Ben Affleck

Meanwhile, Sawai, 32, scored her first Emmy consideration this year.

Although Staunton had yet to win an Emmy prior to the Sunday ceremony, her predecessors on The Crown, Claire Foy and Olivia Colman — who played Queen Elizabeth II in the earlier years of her life during seasons 1 through 4 of the Netflix series — both received recognition in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category in previous years. Foy, 40, triumphed in 2018, while Colman, 50, followed in her footsteps in 2021. (Staunton takes over the role of the late British monarch for seasons 5 and 6.)

At the 2023 Emmys, which took place in January due to delays from the writers and actors unions’ strikes, Sarah Snook won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Shiv Roy on Succession. She competed against Bad Sisters’ Sharon Horgan, Yellowjackets’ Melanie Lynskey, The Handmaid’s Tale’s Elisabeth Moss, The Last of Us’ Bella Ramsey and The Diplomat’s Keri Russell.