Female-led television dominated Sunday night’s 2017 Emmy Awards, with The Handmaid’s Tale and Big Little Lies sweeping the awards.
The Handmaid’s Tale, set in a dystopian future where women are oppressed, won six awards in total, including best drama.
It also won for best lead actress in a drama series, Elisabeth Moss; writing for a drama series, Bruce Miller; supporting actress, Ann Dowd; and guest actress Alexis Bledel.
Another glass ceiling was broke when Reed Morano won an Emmy for best director in a drama series for The Handmaid’s Tale. Morano is only the third woman to ever win in the category, and the first in 22 years to do so.
Lena Waithe also made history as the first African-American woman to win for comedy writing. Waithe won for co-writing the “Thanksgiving” episode of “Master of None”, which was centered around her coming out as a lesbian.
The writer spoke about the importance of diversity in entertainment and culture in general whilst accepting her award. She gave a special mention to her ‘LGBTQIA family’, and told viewers:
“Go out there and conquer the world. It would not be as beautiful as it is if we weren’t in it.”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus won best actress in a comedy series for Veep for the sixth year in a row – breaking the record for the most Emmys won by an actor for the same role.
For diversity, Sterling K. Brown won for best lead actor in a drama series, marking the first time an African-American actor had won in that category in 20 years.
Atlanta star Donald Glover also scored a historic first by becoming the first black person to win an Emmy for directing a comedy programme.
British actor Riz Ahmed took best lead actor in a limited series or movie for The Night Of, becoming the first man of Asian descent to win an acting Emmy.
Big Little Lies took home eight prizes in total, after winning three at last week’s Creative Emmy’s. It also won for best limited series, best directing, and acting for Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgard. The “Big Little Lies” stars, in their Emmys acceptance speech for best limited series or TV movie, called for even more roles for women.
“Bring women to the front of their own stories and make them the hero of their own stories,” Witherspoon said.
“The fact that we created four roles for women that all got nominated is a real win here,” Witherspoon told reporters backstage.
Kidman echoed her co-actors sentiments, telling the crowd:
“This is a friendship that then created opportunities.
It created opportunities out of a frustration because we weren’t getting offered great roles. So now, more great roles for women, please.”
The actress also used the platform to address the domestic violence issues raised by her character on the show.
“It is a complicated, insidious disease; it exists far more than we allow ourselves to know,” she said.
“It is filled with shame, and by you acknowledging me with this award, it shines a light on it even more.”
