MTV has always been ahead of the curve. (After all, the network was the first to anticipate our appetite for watching starry-eyed hopefuls have their dreams made — or crushed — via competitive reality shows.) Today, MTV announced that its newly revamped Movie and TV Awards will, for the first time, feature exclusively gender-neutral categories.
The best actress award is no more. Henceforth, all male, female and gender non-binary contenders (not that there are any this year) will compete for the title of best actor. (Actor is widely considered to be a non-gendered word. Billions star Asia Kate Dillon, who identifies as neither male nor female, will be considered for the best actor category by this year’s Emmys board.)
True, the mt isn’t the first awards show to do away with gender-specific categories. The National Television Awards adopted a non-binary model back in 2008. The Grammys doesn’t differentiate between male and female artists. However, MTV’s youth-oriented awards ceremony is one of Hollywood’s more high-profile shindigs. And in an industry where the wage gap between men and women is canyon-like (and well-publicized), it’s important that media overlords acknowledge that the work actors do is the same.
Thus, Daniel Kaluuya, Emma Watson, Hailee Steinfeld, Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy and Taraji P. Henson will vie for title of best actor in a movie. The best actor in a show contenders include Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Gina Rodriguez, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mandy Moore and Millie Bobby Brown. May the best thespians win.
MTV’s Movie and TV Awards air May 7 at 8 p.m. EST. Scroll down for the full list of nominees. (Further proof of MTV’s awesomeness? The 2017-specific best fight against the system category.)
Movie of the Year
- Beauty and the Beast
- Get Out
- Logan
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
- The Edge of Seventeen
Show of the Year
- Atlanta
- Game of Thrones
- Insecure
- Pretty Little Liars
- Stranger Things
- This Is Us
Best Kiss
- Ashton Sanders & Jharrel Jerome — Moonlight
- Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling — La La Land
- Emma Watson & Dan Stevens — Beauty and the Beast
- Taraji P. Henson & Terrence Howard — Empire
- Zac Efron & Anna Kendrick — Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates
Best Villain
- Allison Williams — Get Out
- Demogorgon — Stranger Things
- Jared Leto — Suicide Squad
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan — The Walking Dead
- Wes Bentley — American Horror Story: Roanoke
Best Host
- Ellen DeGeneres — The Ellen DeGeneres Show
- John Oliver — Last Week Tonight
- RuPaul — RuPaul’s Drag Race
- Samantha Bee — Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
- Trevor Noah — The Daily Show
Best Documentary
- 13th
- I Am Not Your Negro
- OJ: Made in America
- This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous
- TIME: The Kalief Browder Story
Best Reality Competition
- America’s Got Talent
- MasterChef Junior
- RuPaul’s Drag Race
- The Bachelor
- The Voice
Best Actor in a Movie
- Daniel Kaluuya — Get Out
- Emma Watson — Beauty and the Beast
- Hailee Steinfeld — The Edge of Seventeen
- Hugh Jackman — Logan
- James McAvoy — Split
- Taraji P. Henson — Hidden Figures
Best Actor in a Show
- Donald Glover — Atlanta
- Emilia Clarke — Game of Thrones
- Gina Rodriguez — Jane The Virgin
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan — The Walking Dead
- Mandy Moore — This Is Us
- Millie Bobby Brown — Stranger Things
Best Comedic Performance
- Adam DeVine — Workaholics
- Ilana Glazer & Abbi Jacobson — Broad City
- Lil Rel Howery — Get Out
- Seth MacFarlane — Family Guy
- Will Arnett — The LEGO Batman Movie
Best Hero
- Felicity Jones — Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
- Grant Gustin — The Flash
- Mike Colter — Luke Cage
- Millie Bobby Brown — Stranger Things
- Stephen Amell — Arrow
- Taraji P. Henson — Hidden Figures
Tearjerker
- Game of Thrones — Hodor’s death
- Grey’s Anatomy — Meredith tells her children about Derek’s death
- Me Before You — Will tells Louisa he can’t stay with her
- Moonlight — Paula tells Chiron that she loves him
- This Is Us — Jack and Randall at karate
Next Generation
- Chrissy Metz
- Daniel Kaluuya
- Issa Rae
- Riz Ahmed
- Yara Shahidi
Best Duo
- Adam Levine & Blake Shelton — The Voice
- Daniel Kauuya & Lil Rel Howery — Get Out
- Brian Tyree Henry & Lakeith Stanfield — Atlanta
- Hugh Jackman & Dafne Keen — Logan
- Josh Gad & Luke Evans — Beauty and the Beast
- Martha Stewart & Snoop Dogg — Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party
Best American Story
- Blackish
- Fresh Off The Boat
- Jane The Virgin
- Moonlight
- Transparent
Best Fight Against the System
- Get Out
- Hidden Figures
- Loving
- Luke Cage
- Mr. Robot
[ via Vogue UK ]
