It’s a second win for Uzo Aduba for her role in Orange is the New Black, and last night, the actress was overtly emotional as she accepted the win.
The 34-year-old was sure to thank everyone who got her there, tearfully saying of her fellow cast members, her agents and her lawyers that “I love you mostly because you let me be me.”
Aduba emotionally called out show creator Jenji Kohan in particular, saying, “I love you so much. I appreciate you for putting belief back in my heart. Thank you for making this show, for creating this space, for creating a platform.”
After the awards, she also opened up to Entertainment Tonight about having her mother and sister in the audience for her win. “These are people who have helped me read lines for auditions and stayed up late learning the script with me, and my mom has stood for me when I couldn’t stand myself and carried me in time when I was weak,” she said. “If I could live to be one-tenth of the woman that she has lived to be, I would have lived.”
And of the award itself, Aduba told ET, “It’s not like the path behind me is so far gone that I can’t remember it. I can feel it right here behind me, beside me even, and so every time — today I just started thinking, I was like, this is unbelievable.”
Congratulations Uzo!