Emma Watson was among the winners at the MTV Movie & TV Awards, the first major film and TV awards ceremony to adopt gender-neutral categories.
Watson’s performance in Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast won her the gong for best actor in a movie, a category that featured both male and female nominees. The British actor beat male performers including Hugh Jackman and James McAvoy to the award, which was presented by gender-neutral non-binary actor Asia Kate Dillon.
In her acceptance speech, Watson described the award as “very meaningful”.
MTV’s move to create a genderless award for acting will mean something different to everyone. But to me, it indicates that acting is about the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. And that doesn’t need to be separated into two different categories. This is very meaningful to me.
The decision to create gender-neutral categories at the awards came as part of a wider overhaul of the ceremony that also saw TV series competing for the first time, as well as series and films competing in the same categories.
