‘The Bear’ Star Liza Colón-Zayas on Making Emmys History: ‘Huge Honor’ (Exclusive)

“The Bear” star Liza Colón-Zayas became the first Latina to win Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2024 Emmys!

She told “Extra’s” Melvin Robert backstage, “I'm processing it, it’s a huge honor, yeah, to be the person who at my age from the South Bronx is showing that you can do it. We matter, our stories our faces, all that we bring to the table.”

Reflecting on the honor, Liza said, “My family, they have been supportive of me in this crazy dream always and I just feel like the ancestors have ushered me here.”

Colón-Zayas also reacted to her co-star Jeremy Allen White expressing his pride over her win.

“There is just so much love and respect and fun,” she said of “The Bear” family. “It is healthy, I’m blessed, and he is phenomenal. I learn from him, I learn from all of them.”

She said of being in a category with actresses like Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett, “I doubted it all along.”

As for not writing a speech, Colón-Zayas said, “I just really thought it is no biggie if I don’t, c’mon look at these legends.”

Liza went on to speak about the power of dreams, saying, “I always believed in theory that if you pursue your dreams and work hard enough that that you'll get it but this is the full circle validation.”

She added, “It's hard to stay centered especially when you're when society tells you the opposite of everything that you are.”