LOS ANGELES – The HBO series “Chernobyl” took home 10 Emmy Awards out of the 19 for which it was nominated. Among them was the Emmy for “outstanding limited series.”
The five-part historical drama about the 1986 accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine was written by Craig Mazin and directed by Johan Renck for HBO.
Accepting the award for best limited series at the 71st annual Emmy Awards on September 22 in Los Angeles, Mr. Mazin said, “I hope that in some small way our show has helped remind people of the value of the truth and the danger of the lie.” The Hollywood Reporter quoted him as saying: “I’d like to think we can make stories be known permanently and that’s a remarkable power and responsibility for us all.”
The Hollywood Reporters also pointed out: “When accepting the award, Mazin was quick to thank the people of Lithuania who welcomed them as they filmed the series. Mazin then paid honor to the victims of the nuclear plant disaster and hoped the series served as a way to remind people of their legacy.”
The series also won awards for outstanding writing, directing, production design, cinematography, music composition and others. Actors Jared Harris (who played Valery Legasov of the Kurchatov Institute), Stellan Skarsgård (Boris Shcherbina of the Soviet Council of Ministers) and Emily Watson (the composite character Ulana Khomyuk, a nuclear physicist from Minsk, Belarus) earned Emmy nominations.
“Chernobyl” premiered in the U.S. on May 6 and in the United Kingdom on May 7. It received great critical acclaim from viewers and reviewers alike.