Storm Reid Brought to Tears with Guest Actor Emmy Win for 'The Last of Us': 'I'm Such a Mess' (original) (raw)

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Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images

The Storm has arrived!

Storm Reid took home her first Emmy at the 75th annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Saturday, winning outstanding guest actress in a drama series for her performance in HBO's The Last of Us.

The actress, 20, faced fierce competition in the category, squaring off against other nominees including Succession’s Hiam Abbass, Cherry Jones and Harriet Walter, as well as fellow The Last of Us actors Melanie Lynskey and Anna Torv.

On The Last of Us, Reid portrayed Riley, a close friend and crush of Bella Ramsey's Ellie. While the pair ultimately aren't meant to be, their experience together is a formative one for Ellie.

Reid was in tears as she accepted her award and thanked her friends, family and team. "I'm such a mess!" she said. "This is proof you can do anything. I’m just a young girl from Atlanta, Georgia,"

Storm Reid in 'The Last of Us'.

Liane Hentscher / HBO / Courtesy Everett Collection

"I didn't really know what I was getting into when I signed on to be Riley," she told the press afterward. "I think my role in The Last of Us reinforced my love and passion to tell meaningful stories and representation for ... young women, young queer black women."

This is the first Emmy win for Reid, who has also received recognition for her breakthrough performance as Meg in 2018's A Wrinkle in Time.

Here's a look at all six nominees.

Peter Kramer/HBO

It takes an incredibly formidable woman to stand up to _Succession_’s Logan Roy (Brian Cox), and the HBO drama found three in Abbass, Jones and Walter.

Abbass and Walter portrayed Logan's steely third and second wives, respectively. Abbass's Marcia wielded a soft but unmistakable power over Logan's last chapter of life, while Walter's withering view of motherhood cut only slightly less deep than her willingness to use her children as pawns in a never-ending post-nuptial negotiation with her ex.

Peter Kramer/HBO

While not married to Logan, Jones' rival media mogul Nan Pierce ended up getting in bed with his children when they foolishly tendered an offer she couldn't refuse in yet another attempt to destabilize their dad's empire.

Sarah Shatz/HBO

Abbass's 2023 nod was her first, while Walter has been pulling double duty two years in a row thanks to guest actress nominations in the comedy category for Ted Lasso. Walter also earned a 2020 nod in the guest drama actress category — though that statuette went to her Succession castmate Jones, herself a three-time Emmy winner and five-time nominee as a result of her impressive turns in The Handmaid's Tale and 24.

Liane Hentscher/HBO

Torv earned her first Emmy nomination for her work on three episodes of the first season of The Last of Us (including "Long, Long Time" alongside 2023 guest nominees Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman). She played the former smuggling partner of Joel (Pedro Pascal) in _TLOU_’s post-apocalyptic landscape, ultimately developing protective fondness for Joel's newfound travel partner Ellie (Bella Ramsey).

Liane Hentscher/HBO

Lynskey channeled every ounce of cold-hearted detachment for her two-episode arc as Kansas queenpin Kathleen. Her pursuit of renegade brothers Henry and Sam (guest actor nominees Lamar Johnson and Keivonn Montreal Woodard) put her at cross purposes with Joel and Ellie to murderous consequences. Death, destruction and darkness is familiar terrain for Lynskey, whose chilling performance in Showtime's Yellowjackets earned her a second consecutive nomination in the outstanding lead actress in a drama series category.

Reid scored her first Emmy nod as Riley Abel, the military schoolmate of Ellie. Their close friendship — and almost more — only played out for one episode, episode 7 "Lost Behind," but it was long on impact. Fans of HBO's Euphoria will recognize Reid as the younger sister of Zendaya's Rue — and she's been in good company at Emmys in the last few years, with Zendaya winning last year's drama actress Emmy among a field that included Lynskey.

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See PEOPLE's full coverage of the 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which are airing live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles Monday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.