And the Emmy goes to… | Screen buzz

Liza Colón-Zayas

Born 16 July, 1972, in the Bronx, New York to Puerto Rican parents, Colón-Zayas has crafted a formidable career as an actress and playwright in theatre, film, and television since the early 1990s. Off Broadway, she picked up a 2015 Lucille Lortel Award for Between Riverside & Crazy Halfway, plus Obie, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama Desk awards in 2020 for Bitches Go Straight to Heaven. She received her first Primetime Emmy nomination in 2024, making history by becoming the first Latina to win Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for playing Tina Marreno in The Bear. She’s nominated in the same category this year, having also picked up her first Golden Globe nomination.

Colman Domingo

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 28 November, 1969 to a father from Belize and an American mother, Domingo’s career on stage and screen spans over three decades. He first distinguished himself on stage, picking up an Obie Award in 2008 for Passing Strange, and his first Tony nomination in 2011 for The Scottsboro Boys. He’s also worked as a playwright, and as a director for stage and screen (including on Fear the Walking Dead and The Four Seasons — both of which he also acted in). But it’s his most recent roles that have earned him long overdue accolades. His performances in Rustin and Sing Sing earned him his first Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations in 2024 and 2025; while his guest spot on Euphoria won him his first Emmy in 2022 (from his first nomination). This year, he’s been nominated again for playing Danny in The Four Seasons.

Ayo Edebiri

Born in Boston, Massachusetts on 3 October, 1995 to a Barbadian mother and Nigerian father, Edebiri’s star has been rapidly ascending the last few years. The New York University alum and queer icon already has a dizzying CV as a writer, actor, producer, and director — from film to television, to standup specials and music videos. She’s not unknown to double up when working on projects either. She both acted in and wrote for Dickinson. She picked up her third and fourth Emmy nominations this year for The Bear — a series for which she’s already won a Golden Globe (2024) and an Emmy (2023) for acting — thus becoming the first Black woman to receive acting and directing nominations for a comedy series in the same year.

Sheryl Lee Ralph

Born on the penultimate day of 1956 in Waterbury, Connecticut to an American father and Jamaican mother (who created the distinctive kariba suit), this history-making star of stage and screen — who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this year — has amassed a wonderfully rich and varied body of work as an actor and singer. Ever the inspiration, she became the youngest woman to graduate Rutgers University when she was 19 (from which she’d later receive an honorary doctorate) — and was named one of the “top 10 college women” by Glamour magazine. From her big break in the original Broadway cast of Dreamgirls (for which she received her first Tony nomination) through to her first Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for the acclaimed Abbott Elementary (she won the 2022 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series), Lee Ralph has never stopped championing her Jamaican heritage, nor advocating for marginalised communities. This year marks her fourth straight Emmy nomination for playing Barbara Howard in Abbott Elementary, where she’ll once again go up against her Caribbean castmate — US Virgin Islander Janelle James (who’s also on her fourth straight Emmy nomination for playing Ava Coleman).