Lovecraft Country actor Michael K. Williams took home the trophy for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 26th annual Critics' Choice Awards on March 7.
"What I mostly hope is that youth, particularly youth from my community who watch this, get a sense of the legacy which we come from," Williams said while accepting the Critics' Choice award via Zoom, as reported by Deadline. Williams' portrayal of Montrose Freeman beat fellow nominees Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul), Justin Hartley (This Is Us), John Lithgow (Perry Mason), Tobias Menzies (The Crown) and Tom Pelphrey (Ozark).
The Wire actor added, "The greatness and all the obstacles that we've overcome to be alive today. People fought and died and gave their last just so we could be and live and walk, and have the experience to be and live, and there’s a greatness that comes along with that."
During his speech, Williams described the current state of society as a "place of disarray," noting, "This didn't happen overnight, this didn’t happen with one administration. This was brewing for a very long time… Lovecraft Country, in my opinion, gives us a blueprint to how things got so divided to who we are today." The actor also shared hope that the American people "can go back and fix some things to make a better future."
Lovecraft Country follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors), his childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) and his uncle George (Courtney B. Vance), as they road trip across '50s America in search of Atticus’ missing father (Williams). The mission turns deadly, however, due to a variety of monstrous creatures and the monstrous racism of its white characters.
Although HBO hasn't renewed Lovecraft Country for Season 2, the network's Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys is hopeful for the show to continue. "[Show creator Misha Green] is working with a small team of writers and they’re coming up with a take," he stated. "She had a book to go on in the first season, she and the writers wanted to go off and take some time to go out and figure out without a book with these characters, what’s the journey we want to go on."
The HBO series was also nominated at this year's Critics' Choice Awards for Best Drama Series, Best Actor in a Drama Series for Majors, Best Actress in a Drama Series for Smollett and Best Supporting Actress for Wunmi Mosaku.
Executive produced by Jordan Peele, Yann Demange and J.J. Abrams, Lovecraft Country stars Jurnee Smollett, Jonathan Majors, Aunjanue Ellis, Abbey Lee, Jada Harris, Wunmi Mosaku and Michael Kenneth Williams, with Courtney B. Vance, Jamie Chung, Jamie Neumann, Jordan Patrick Smith and Tony Goldwyn. Season 1 is streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Deadline