Bowen Yang on Being the Only AAPI Emmy Nominee for Acting: ‘Things Were So Much Better When “Shogun” Was On’

Bowen Yang made Emmy history when he landed his fourth acting nomination for “Saturday Night Live.”

He was nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for his work on the late-night sketch comedy show. With that nomination, Yang is now the most-nominated Asian male performer.

Speaking at Gold House‘s One House Toast to the Emmys, where he was celebrated with a special recognition, said, “I found out today, I’m the only AAPI nominee in the acting categories this year, which does not give me any pride to say. I obviously have very complicated feelings about it. Things were so much better when ‘Shōgun’ was on. We miss you.”

Last year, “Shōgun” shattered Emmy records when it took home 18 trophies. That show also broke records for Asian representation. Anna Sawai made history by becoming the first Japanese star to win the Primetime Emmy Award for lead actress. Hiroyuki Sanada followed that by becoming the first Japanese actor to win for lead actor.

While the 2025 Emmy nominations provided historic nominations, it was also the worst in five years for actors of color. Gold House co-founder Bing Chen took to the podium and pointed out, “We are also here to remind each other that a rising tide does indeed lift all ships, and for all of us who came across those, as we know this, that when one person wins, it immediately unlocks opportunities for all of us.”

Yang, Celeste Yim, “The Pitt” stars Shabana Azeez and Supriya Ganesh, “Chief of War” actor Derek Hinkey, as well as Sanada were among those in attendance celebrating the AAPI Emmy-nominated community.

In his remarks, Yang praised Gold House, a non-profit organization working to promote and invest in AAPI creators, companies and storytellers, for their continuous efforts. “Whenever I try to describe what Gold House does to other people, I always stumble through an answer, because it’s very hard to find. I was with Bing a couple of weeks ago, and I was introducing him to someone. I was like, ‘Oh, this is Bing Chen, who runs a company called Gold House, and they are amazing. They’re started by Asians, for Asians.’” Yang looked to the crowd of Asian Emmy-nominated stars, authors, Olympians and tastemakers and concluded his remarks by saying, “In a year when it feels like maybe a certain industry is not giving honorifics to a part of our population, it’s because we are hard to define. And congrats to Gold House for defying categorization. May we all do the same.”