Ayo Edebiri Makes Emmy History With Nominations For Acting and Directing 

Ayo Edebiri becomes the first woman ever to be nominated for both lead acting and directing in a comedy series in the same year.

American-Nigerian actress, Ayo Edebiri, has made Emmy history by becoming the first woman ever to be nominated for both lead acting and directing in a comedy series in the same year. She earned the nominations for her work on the hit comedy-drama TV series, The Bear

Edebiri earned a nomination in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category for her role as Sydney Adamu in season three of The Bear. She also picked up her first-ever directing nomination for the evocative episode “Napkins,” which also marked her directorial debut. Impressively, it is the second successive nomination in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category for Edebiri. 

In total, The Bear received 13 nominations for its third season, down from last year’s record-setting tally of 23. It brings the FX series’ total to 49 Emmy noms across three seasons. For the first two seasons, The Bear has won 21 Emmys. The show focuses on a chef and his staff attempting to turn a family-owned sandwich restaurant into a fine-dining establishment. 

Impressively, another American-Nigerian actress, Uzo Aduba, picked up a best comedy actress Emmy nomination for her work as eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp in the Netflix murder mystery, The Residence.

In 2014, Aduba won an Emmy for outstanding guest actress in a comedy for her role as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren on Orange Is the New Black, and a year later won the Emmy for outstanding actress in a drama for the same role.

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