Mishael Morgan Opens up About Her Historic Emmy Win

When Mishael Morgan won the Daytime Emmy Award for playing Amanda Sinclair on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS, she made history as the very first black woman to win in the Lead Actress category.

“It means everything,” Morgan said of her historical win during an appearance on THE TALK. “It means that the hard work has paid off. When I was a kid, my dad always told me that you need to be 10 times better because you’re black. Just to be seen as equal.

“And I hope this step forward shows that we can be equal,” she continued. “We’re getting to a place where more of us can just be our best and that’s enough.”

Hailing from Trinidad and Tobago, Morgan had originally planned on a much different career path than the one that led her to Y&R. “When I was a little girl, I was an immigrant and that means that you need to pick a job and a dream that is stable,” she explained. “I was going to be an attorney. And God intervened and I decided to become an actor.

“I didn’t understand why,” the Emmy-winner added, “and then I really, truly think it’s because storytellers, they have a way of impacting and changing and influencing the world so much faster. Sometimes even faster than politics. We hope we can make some things change back very, very soon.”

Morgan may have been the first black actress to win in the lead category at the Daytime Emmys but she definitely won’t be the last!