The Last Of Us' 10-Year-Old Star Gets Historic Emmy Nomination

The first season of HBO's adaptation of "The Last of Us" was a triumph, delivering the necessary fan service required to keep the diehards from rioting but providing thoughtful changes that only enhanced the story. The series kept the heartbreaking saga of Sam (Keivonn Woodard) and his big brother Henry (Lamar Johnson) with the same devastating ending, but features a major change to the character of Sam. In the HBO series, Sam is Deaf, which completely alters the way he interacts with Henry in the Cordyceps apocalypse, as well as anyone else the two happen to cross paths with — like Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey).

"The Last of Us" season 1 earned a whopping 26 Emmy nominations, including four of the six spots for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Both Johnson and Woodard nabbed noms (alongside Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett for their roles as Bill and Frank), but it's Woodard that made Emmys history. At 10 years old, Keivonn Woodard is the youngest actor to be nominated in the category. He is also the first Black Deaf actor to earn a nomination as well. Speaking with Deadline, Woodard said he was "shocked" at the announcement, and understood the "importance and huge impact" this has made for his respective communities. He was actually attending basketball camp when the nomination was announced.

His mother, April Jackson-Woodard told Deadline that the gravity of his history-making nomination didn't hit her until other people started reaching out, including fellow Emmy nominee Bella Ramsey, and showrunner Craig Mazin who reportedly told her, "Keivonn's got to have a tux."

April Jackson-Woodard explained, "People kept sending messages, and I cried immediately because I never thought or dreamed it would happen to my son." Our world is actively hostile toward those that exist outside of the status quo, but Keivonn wasn't about to let that hold him back. She continued:

"After Keivonn got the role, I asked myself, 'How do I even prepare my life?' It wasn't easy, especially as a Black Deaf mother and also being a widow. I was trying to take care of everything on my own, but he would say, 'Mom, I got this.' And he did. He's the first young Black Deaf actor to be nominated in Emmys history, on top of this being his first TV show [and major audition process]. We are completely humbled and honored."

The cast of "The Last of Us" learned American Sign Language in order to better communicate with Woodard on set. Woodard said Ramsey already knew some British Sign Language so they picked up on ASL rather quickly, but that Lamar Johnson went above and beyond. "We were almost like brothers," he continued, "A lot of [the cast] learned sign language, even though we didn't ask anybody to do anything. It was an amazing experience. A good representation of what the world should be, everybody, interacting and communicating regardless of anything."

If Keivonn Woodard wins, he will become the youngest Emmy winner in history.