Thuso Mbedu’s international awards stack up

After surprisingly being snubbed for an Emmy nomination a few months ago, the lead actress of The Underground Railroad Thuso Mbedu is getting her well-deserved recognition after all.

Hailed as a breakthrough performance by the South African actor, Thuso won Outstanding Performance in a New Series at the 2021 Gotham Awards on Monday evening.

The award was a tie, however, as it also went to actor Ethan Hawke for The Good Lord Bird.

“Waking up to a bunch of missed calls from my manager and thinking I might have missed my pickup (for the first time in my life) only to be told about this great news. What a pleasant surprise. Tied with Mr Ethan Hawke. Thank you so much @thegotham. It’s extremely humbling and encouraging,” she wrote on Instagram.

Thuso thanked the director Barry Jenkins and the entire Underground Railroad team. Thuso starred as Cora, a slave on a Georgia plantation in the mid-1800s who escapes with another slave named Caesar and finds her way to the Underground Railroad, reimagined here as an actual rail system complete with conductors, engineers, and trains.

This role has also led to Thuso being presented with an honorary recognition award as “TV Breakout Star” at the Hollywood Critics Association Awards.

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The Gotham Independent Film Awards are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City.

As award season is fast approaching in Hollywood and awards shows such as these are a good indication of what may occur at the Golden Globes or even the Oscars.

The Best Feature film went to Netflix’s The Lost Daughter, which also received Best Screenplay, Variety reported. The Underground Railroad lost out to Squid Games for Breakthrough Series – Long Form.

Thuso’s outstanding achievements in the US were also recognised by GQ South Africa who named her their Woman of The Year.