Anthony Andersonis hopeful that 2021 will be the year he takes home his first Emmy Award.
Theblack-ishactor, 51, scored his seventh actingEmmy Award nomination for lead actor in a comedy seriesin July while he was “in New York City working on a project with my mother,” he tells PEOPLE for this week’s issue.
“Woke up that morning, heading to work and got the call that we received the nomination,” he recalls about learning of the honor. “So, I went to work a little excited with my mom and my assistant, and just had a great day. And as you could imagine, heading to work or arriving at work with production and the crew happy for me and our show and just celebrating with me as well.”
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Anthony Anderson.Phylicia J. L. Munn
Still, while Anderson — who stars as Andre “Dre” Johnson onblack-ish— was excited about the nomination, “it was just another morning for [my mom],” he says.
“She said, ‘Oh, congratulations. I’ll be glad when you win one. Who do you need me to talk to?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know, Mama, you need to talk to somebody. This is year seven.’ We’ll see, I’m feeling like the Black Susan Lucci,” he says, noting theAll My Childrenactress.
Similar to Anderson, Lucci, 74, was nominated for a Daytime Emmy 18 times before finallytaking home the best actress award in 1999.
But although he has yet to win an Emmy, Anderson says he’s blessed just to be nominated.
Black-ish.Jessica Brooks via Getty
Black-ish, which also starsTracee Ellis Ross,Marsai Martin,Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Miles Brown,Jenifer LewisandLaurence Fishburne, first premiered in September 2014 and has three spinoff series:Mixed-ish, Grown-ishandOld-ish.
Over the years, the popular series has tackleddifficult topics surrounding race and racismin America, including police brutality and the country’s history of slavery.
Earlier this year, ABC announced that the show had been renewed for an eighth and final season.
“It’s bittersweet to be a part of something from its inception,” he says. “Helping to develop it and usher it into the world and to work with my cast and crew and production team for almost 10 years now, and to know that that’s coming to an end.”
“But we’ve done some great television, we’ve done a lot of great things for the culture,” he continues. “Everyone always said, ‘Well, what’s your legacy going to be?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ I won’t know until I step away from it, but I know thatblack-ishis definitely a big part of what that legacy may be, just in terms of what it means for storytelling, from our perspective and the culture itself.”
Black-ish.Christopher Willard via Getty
“I’m pretty sure we will all be overwhelmed and consumed with emotion that last day,” he says. “Right now, we know what we’re leading up to and we know that it’s coming to an end. But I’m pretty sure it will just be a flood of emotions knowing that this will be the last time that we are together as the Johnsons, on stage four and stage five at Disney studios or at ABC studios. So yeah, I’m pretty sure there won’t be a dry eye in the house.”
source: people.com
