History In The Making: Michael Keaton, The First Actor To Win Five Major TV Awards
The 2022 Emmy Awards will certainly be etched in Michael Keaton’s memory, given that he made history that night. This celebrity actor became the first person ever to win five major awards from different awarding bodies.
This massive win is all owing to the 71-year-old actor’s performance in Dopesick, a Hulu minidrama series created by Danny Strong. In the series, Michael plays the character of Dr. Samuel Finnix, who battled opioid addiction and inspired hope in the people around him.
The plot of the TV series sees the small-town family doctor of a small mining company witness and experience firsthand the effects of OxyContin, a drug he administers to his patients to help with chronic pain.
This series is close to home, and most can relate to it as their reality. The stories are heart-wrenching and create a new sense of awareness, as plenty of people succumb to addiction every day all over the world.
The role led the actor to win Best Actor in a Limited Anthology Series. Going up the stage to accept his award, the Birdman actor expressed his gratitude to his parents, even if they were not avid fans of the arts. Michael accepted the role after a similar tragedy struck his family. He lost his nephew to an accidental drug overdose in 2016.
Apart from his first Emmy win, Michael had already been recognized for his seamless performance in Dopesick, winning a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Television Critics Association Award earlier.
Further in his acceptance speech, he shared fond memories of when he was young, reminiscing, “When I was a little, little kid, very small, my dad wins something at a raffle, and he brings it home, and it’s a little black and white TV, literally about that big.”
He then described how living in the country, some of their neighbors would come down and watch with them. From five to ten years old, Michael’s eyes were hooked to the television as he watched comedies, gangster dramas, and cowboy shows. He was so taken with the performances that he would imitate them and even construct his own scenes based on what he saw.
He admitted that his family, including his brothers and sisters, would watch him from the window. They observed him and never demeaned what he did. Additionally, his family was never dismissive and occasionally even indulged him by asking the young performer to reenact the scenarios for the whole family.
Michael expressed his gratitude to everyone involved in his success, especially his family, who never made him feel foolish. The Batman actor acknowledged that acting can be overwhelming and said that everyone experiences hard times and that there will always be skeptics, but you just have to keep going.
