Tramell Tillman makes Emmys history with his ‘Severance’ win

LOS ANGELES — Tramell Tillman is the first Black man to win an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for his role in “Severance.”

Tillman spoke backstage Sunday about the “beautiful work” that scores of Black actors have done before him, including the late Andre Braugher and Michael K. Williams.

“I’ve been taken by their work for years and I’ve borrowed from them, so I’m just honored to be in the class,” Tillman said.

Tillman, 40, thanked his mother in his acceptance speech, who he told reporters backstage “was there for me when no one else was and when no one else could be. There’s nothing like a mother’s love.”

His win brought a total of eight Emmy awards for ” Severance,” which led nominations this year with a total of 27 nods. Britt Lower also took home best lead actress in a drama for the show. The Apple TV+ thriller series, centers on an office where workers’ memories are surgically divided between their work and personal lives.

Tillman plays Seth Milchick, the floor manager who is considered one of the show’s main antagonists, given his loyalty to the company, Lumon.

Milchick’s Blackness was integral to the character’s storyline, Tillman said, adding that he hoped to portray the character as “a man that was aware of his race and aware that he was in a place where he was one of few.”

The second season explored “how race folds into the world of Lumon,” he said.

“I never wanted to lose sight of that and I’m grateful that I was a part of a team that also didn’t want to lose sight of that,” Tillman said.

Tillman studied medicine as an undergrad, before he found his passion for acting, a career that he was told “leads to a dead end.”

“I was actually inspired at Xavier University by so many of my classmates who are now doctors and dentists, how they were pursuing the thing that they’re passionate about, and I said, ‘Well, if they can do that, why can’t I do what I’m passionate about?’” Tillman said.