On Sunday, Lovecraft Country’s Courtney B. Vance won an Emmy award as a guest actor on the acclaimed– but canceled series. The entertainer portrayed patriarch George Freeman on the HBO Afro-futuristic horror drama.

Vance thanked a litany of people including the show’s creator Misha Green, fans, his wife, actress Angela Bassett and his children. Vance, then, thanked his co-star and friend Michael K. Williams with a touching tribute, who died last Monday from a drug overdose. 

“Finally to Michael K. Williams. Misha said it best. Michael did everything with his full heart open, with his infinite spirit and with way too much style. May he rest in power and let us all honor his immense legacy by being a little more love forward, a little more endless in thought and a little more swaggy in act.”

 

Vance continued his praise of the deceased actor, his work and how Williams’ death has affected him.

“I love him,” he said.

“This is his,” he said, gesturing to his Emmy award.

“We were brothers. I died in the series and we said goodbye to each other, so – it’s just too painful to really think about. So, I just honor him everywhere in every way I can.”

Ironically, Vance and “The Wire” actor played brothers on Lovecraft Country.

The Detroit-born actor also expressed his frustration about the critically-acclaimed show being canceled. The show was one of HBO’s most-watched series. 

“I’m sad for audiences that we don’t get to see, like Game of Thrones, 7 years, 8 years of following these characters and learning more about the time period, and learning about our people and their struggles, and where Misha’s (Greene, Lovecraft Country writer/showrunner) mind was going to go,” he said. “So that’s very painful for me as a fan and me as an actor.”  

“And I’m tired of it, personally,” Vance added. “I’m tired of that scenario. They can find a way to make a

Game of Thrones, but not a Lovecraft Country.”

Church.

Lovecraft Country made television history on Sunday night. It was the first series ever to have a Black nominee in every category.