Jodie Comer Wins Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play ‘This Has Been My Greatest Honor’

Jodie Comer can add Tony winner to their résumé.

At the 76th annual Tony Awards on Sunday night, the actress, 30, won best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play for Prima Facie. The other nominees in the category were Jessica Chastain (A Doll’s House), Jessica Hecht (Summer, 1976), and Audra McDonald (Ohio State Murders).

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In Prima Facie, Comer (who previously won an Emmy for playing Villanelle on the series Killing Eve) is solo onstage as she plays Tessa Ensler. Tessa is a lawyer who defends clients accused of sexual assault who later finds herself on the other side, seeking justice as a rape victim.

Speaking about her role as Tessa Ensler, Comer expressed that Ensler has been her “greatest teacher” and thanked playwright Susie Miller for writing the “magnificent piece.” While taking the stage to accept the award, Comer was visibly emotional as she also thanked the play’s producers and crew members and expressed: “This has been my greatest honor, and it continues to be these three weeks left.”

Comer already won an Olivier Award for best actress after debuting in the role’s West End production overseas.

The actress recently told The Hollywood Reporter how the emotional role changed her.

“I think a lot of it is deeply personal, that I don’t necessarily feel the need to speak about, but I feel like a woman. I feel like I’ve stepped into my womanhood,” she said. “I feel like I have so much more trust within myself and who I am.”

“I realized that I was quite fearful last year of a lot of things, especially in my ability to do this. And I think that actually, through this experience, I’ve been able to transform that into a sense of trust, which is a really nice feeling,” added Comer. “That’s not to say I don’t have my moments, but I just feel like I have a clearer sense of who I am.”
Comer abruptly cut short her appearance in Prima Facie short during last Wednesday’s matinee performance minutes after the show started.

Multiple outlets reported that the actress cited difficulty breathing during New York City’s air quality alert. Variety reported that Comer told the audience she couldn’t breathe before a stage manager ushered her off the stage, and a spokesperson for the production told PEOPLE that an understudy took Comer’s place for the remainder of the matinee performance.