Shōgun’s Anna Sawai won the Emmy Award for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, making history as the first Japanese actress (and the first Asian performer) to do so. This marks her first-ever nomination and win, which she earned for her widely lauded performance as Toda Mariko, an astute translator during Japan’s Edo period, in FX’s adaptation of James Clavell’s historical epic.

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Sawai tearfully accepted her award in front of a standing ovation. “I was crying before my name was announced. I’m a mess today,” she said while holding her trophy.

Her co-star, Hiroyuki Sanada, who leads and produces the series, also took home the award for Lead Actor in a Drama. Sawai thanked him for continuing “to open doors for people like me.” She expressed her gratitude to her other co-star Cosmo Jarvis, and her mother, who inspired her performance as Mariko. She also dedicated her award “to all who the women expect nothing and continue to be an example for everyone.”

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Read her full speech below:

“I was crying before my name was announced. I’m a mess today. Thank you to the Academy for naming me alongside my fellow nominees whose work I grew up watching and love. Thank you to John Landgraf and the whole FX team for believing in our story. Thank you, Justin [Marks] and Rachel [Kondo], for believing in me and giving me this role of a lifetime.

Thank you to every single one of the crew and cast led by a Hiro [Sanada]. Hiro’s over there! He really has opened doors and continues to open doors for people like me, thank you so much. Cosmo [Jarvis], you are the most honest and truthful and no-BS actor I know, and you made me give my 120 percent.

Lastly, thank you to my team and thank you to my family. Mom, I love you. You are the reason I'm here. You showed me stoicism and that's how I was able to portray Mariko. This is to all who the women expect nothing and continue to be an example for everyone. Thank you so much.”

Sawai previously spoke to ELLE about the importance of breaking stereotypes with her role in Shōgun. “As a Japanese woman, it was really important to me that we weren’t just perpetuating this image that Westerners have of us,” she said.

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She added of the role: “I felt like she was a character that I had never really seen before. To be able to play someone who is so layered and who’s so broken and sensitive, but also having that unbelievably strong core and finding her voice and really taking action—that meant a lot to me.”

Shōgun is the most nominated title at this year’s Emmys ceremony with 25 nods. Prior to the ceremony, it had already taken home 14 awards at the Creative Arts Emmys.

This article was first seen on ELLE US.