The Last of Us star Keivonn Montreal Woodard sets Emmy record as youngest nominee in category
The Last of Us star Keivonn Montreal Woodard is making Emmy history.
Earlier this year, Woodard became a fan favorite on The Last of Us, starring as deaf apocalypse survivor Sam. Now, the 10-year-old actor is earning accolades for his heartbreaking performance, scoring an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Woodard's nomination makes him the youngest-ever nominee in the category and the second-youngest Emmy nominee of all time. (The Cosby Show actress Keshia Knight Pulliam still holds the record as the youngest Emmy nominee ever, earning a nod when she was only 6 years old.)
The Last of Us is Woodard's first-ever acting role, and the young actor, who is deaf, previously told EW that he quickly bonded with Lamar Johnson, who plays Sam's protective older brother Henry. When the show aired, he hadn't yet played the Last of Us video game, but he loved filming some of the series' more action-packed scenes — like the epic chase through the outskirts of Kansas City, racing to outrun hordes of Infected.
"When we ran and the truck was chasing us, the running scene was really fun 'cause I was running as fast as I could," Woodard previously told EW. "I hide underneath one of the cars and all of the trucks are pushing the cars out of the way and the Clickers are all running and I had to weave through the cars and run as fast as I could. We get close to the house by the end of the scene, and that was the most fun part."
Woodard will be competing against several of his Last of Us costars, who are all nominated in the same category: His on-screen brother Johnson is also up for an Emmy, as are Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman, who played doomed lovers Frank and Bill. Arian Moayed and James Cromwell are also nominated in the same category for Succession.
In all, The Last of Us earned a whopping 24 Emmy nominations, including nods for Best Drama Series, Best Actor for Pedro Pascal, and Best Actress for Bella Ramsey.
The Emmys will air live Sept 18 at 8 p.m. ET/5 plm. PT on Fox. See the full list of this year's nominations here.
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