Jenna OrtegaandPedro PascalmadeEmmyhistory for Latino actors following their respective nominations in leading acting categories announced this morning for the 75th AnnualEmmy Awards.
Jenna Ortega is nominated for lead actress in a comedy for her portrayal of Wednesday Addams in the Netflix hit seriesWednesdaySeason 1.
Ortega is the third Latina to ever be nominated in a leading actress category following Rita Moreno in 1983 for ABCs9 to 5and America Ferrera forUgly Bettyin 2007.
Jenna Ortega & Pedro PascalGetty Images
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Additionally,Wednesdaywas nominated for 12 awards including Outstanding Comedy Series where it will face off withAbbott Elementary,Barry,Jury Duty,Only Murders In The Building,Ted Lasso,The BearandThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Pedro Pascal is the first Latino nominated for best lead actor since 1999 when Jimmy Smits earned a nod for his portrayal of Bobby Simone on ABCsNYPD Blue.
Pascal stars as smuggler Joel Miller in HBOsThe Last of Us, based on the video game from Naughty Dog of the same name.
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Additionally, Pascal was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his hosting duties onSaturday Night Live and Outstanding Narratorfor CNNsPatagonia: Life on the Edge of the World.
The Last of Usis also making history as the first live-action video game adaptation to be nominated in major categories including Best Drama Series they earned a total of 24 nominations.
Although Ortega and Pascal are making strides for Latino actors, the community remains severely underrepresented in Hollywood even as a recentSAMBA reportrevealed content featuring diverse casts is in demand.
One of the reports key takeaways after examining viewing patterns for households of different ethnicities is that audiences are much more likely to engage with content where they see themselves represented.
More specifically, the study found a positive correlation of 43% among households of diverse ethnicities watching programs with higher percentages of non-white stars.
Samba reports that Black households saw the strongest correlation, with 67% watching programs with a higher percentage of Black leads.
For Asian and Hispanic households, this correlation was lower, which Samba conjectures may be impacted by a more sporadic representation of these groups on screen.
Noticeably omitted from nominations on Wednesday morning were Selena Gomez for her portrayal of true crime junkie Mabel on HulusOnly Murders in the Buildingand Diego Luna for his starring role in theStar WarsseriesAndorin which he portrays the titular character.
Last year, the TV Academy also came up short in recognizing Latino and Hispanic performers, with Oscar Isaac (Lead Actor Limited/Anthology Series,Scenes of a Marriage) and Colman Domingo (Guest Actor Drama,Euphoria) being the only two nominees.
