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Willam Makes History With Emmys Acting Nomination

Willam Belli

Wow, truly a talent.

MikelleStreet

Looks there's another achievement for the drag herstory books; RuPaul's Drag Race alum Willam has broken new ground by becoming the first drag performer to be nominated in an acting category at the Emmy Awards.

Any true fan of Drag Race knows that prior to appearing on the biggest drag pageant in the world, Willam was no stranger to the small screen. Out of drag, the performer had appeared on multiple shows and had no problem rattling those off while in the Werk Room. Most notably, she played a recurring role on Nip/Tuck. But since the show, the actor has continued working in Hollywood, recently launching her own talk fashion-centric talk show with Quibi -- obviously, the most notable project post-Race was a cameo in the Academy Awards-winning A Star Is Born. That in mind, it's kind of not surprising that the performer is up for an Emmy.

The nomination comes for Willam's work in the final season of the dark comedy Eastsiders. On the show, which is available for streaming on Netflix, she plays Douglas or Gomorrah Rayon. Up for Best Supporting Actor in a Digital Drama Series, this year could see the actor clench her first Daytime Emmy Award.

This of course isn't the first drag queen to be nominated for an Emmy -- or to win, were Willam to go all the way. RuPaul has notably won many as a host while Delta Work has also won one for her work in the hair department at Drag Race. Raven was nominated for her work in the makeup department as well.

Willam is up against Leith M. Burke, a co-star in Eastsiders, as well as Tristan Rogers from Studio City, Lenny Wolpe from After Forever, and Grogory Zarian from Venice.

The show is also nominated for best digital drama series and best writing team for a digital drama among other awards.

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Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.