Ali Wong.Photo:FOX
FOX
Ali Wongcan add an Emmy to her growing list of awards!
The standup star and actress on Monday won her very firstEmmy Awardat the 2023 ceremony, for her lead performance in the limited series,Beef— making history at the same time as the Emmy’s first Asian woman to win in the category.
Her victory comes on the heels of trophies Wong took home earlier this month atthe 2024 Golden Globesand2024 Critics Choice Awards. Her costar,Steven Yeun, also won Monday for his role inBeef, as did Lee Sung Jin, who took home two Emmys for directing and writing. Beefwas named outstanding limited or anthology series.
“I wouldn’t be standing here without my parents,my amazing parents, my mother and my father who I so wish was alive to share this moment with me,” Wong said in her speech, “My hilarious father who loved me unconditionally and taught me the value of failure.”
“To my beautiful daughters, you are my everything and thank you for inspiring me,” she added of her two girls —Mari, 8, and Nikki, 6— whom she shares with ex-husband Justin Hakuta. “This is for you.”
Ali Wong in ‘Beef’.Andrew Cooper/Netflix
Before she got up to accept the award, Wongkissed her boyfriend, actorBill Hader.
InBeef, Wong walked a fine line between drama and comedy as Amy Lau, an entrepreneur who seemingly has it all: a thriving business about to be acquired for millions of dollars and a loving family. But after a road rage incident withSteven Yeun’s Danny Cho, Amy found her and Danny’s lives unexpectedly and unrelentingly intertwined.
While speaking to PEOPLE in April 2023, Yeun shared that the actress helped to alleviate some of the heavier moments while filming the darkly humorous show.
“She’s an amazing costar because she holds a lot of weight,” he said. “She is someone who knows how to uphold a lot of the good vibes and a lot of the unseen, and I deeply appreciate that about her.”
Wong took home the Emmy Monday night in a stacked category that includedRiley KeoughfromDaisy Jones and the Six,Swarm’sDominique Fishback,Jessica ChastainofGeorge & Tammy,Tiny Beautiful Things’Kathryn HahnandLizzy CaplanofFleishman Is in Trouble.
Riley Keough in ‘Daisy Jones & the Six’.Lacey Terrell/Prime Video
Lacey Terrell/Prime Video
Dominique Fishback in ‘Swarm’.Courtesy of Prime
Courtesy of Prime
Fishback, 32, starred in Amazon Prime Video’sSwarmas Dre, a Houston-based fan whose obsession with aBeyoncé-esque pop star led her down a dark and dangerous spiral.
In April 2023, Fishback opened up about working with screenwriterMalia Obama, best known as the daughter of former PresidentBarack Obama, calling the Malia “so intelligent” and “so cool.”
“When we did the mall scene in the first episode, she was there for a while,” she toldE! News. “We got to talk. We plan on meeting up and chatting and continuing to build our relationship. I just want to know what she wants to do next. Maybe we can do something together.”
Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain in ‘George & Tammy’.Dana Hawley/Showtime
Chastain was nominated for her performance as country legendTammy WynetteinGeorge & Tammy.
The show was adapted from the memoir of Wynette andGeorge Jones' only daughterGeorgette Jones Lennon,The Three of Us: Growing Up with Tammy and George.Chastain has beenconnected to the projectsince 2011, perThe Hollywood Reporter,and also served as a producer on the series.
“I’m very protective of them and I can’t imagine anyone else playing her, and I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing George, which was why I called Mike,” the actress, 46, toldTHRof the couple.
She added of recruiting fellow nomineeMichael Shannonto play opposite Jones: “I know how protective Mike is of the characters he plays, so it just felt like the right recipe for a working environment.”
Kathryn Hahn in ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’.Jessica Brooks/Hulu
In a conversation with PEOPLE, Strayed shared what it was like to work with Hahn: “She has this extraordinary way of being funny and deep and vulnerable and smart and exceptional and also like all of us in her every move. I feel so honored she said yes to this role. She’s sheer brilliance.”
Lizzy Caplan.Roy Rochlin/WireImage
In May 2023, Caplan told PEOPLE how her priorities in life had shifted over the years and noted that several of herFleishmancostars had reached similar points in their lives, which ultimately benefited the show.
“We’re all married, we all have kids,” she explained. “And so getting to do a show that’s examining all of that with people who are just pros, really, it was a dream.”
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SeePEOPLE’s full coverageof the 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards as they’re broadcasting live on Fox from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
source: people.com
