USA Network”s critical darling Mr. Robot scored an Emmy win tonight for its lead actor, Rami Malek.
The show has garnered praise for its accurate depictions of both the hacker”s world and mental illness.
In his acceptance speech, Malek saluted “the Elliots” out there, people who deal with depression, anxiety, addiction, and other struggles like his character does:
“I play a young man who is, I think like so many of us, profoundly alienated. The unfortunate thing is I”m not sure how much of us would want to hang out with a guy like Elliot. But I want to honor the Elliots. Cause there”s a little bit of Elliot in all of us, isn”t there?”
The attention on Elliot”s mental illness comes at a time when more celebs are speaking out about their own real-life depression, including Kristen Bell and Jared Padalecki.
Malek also spoke on the Emmys red carpet during ABC”s pre-show coverage about his research for the role: He talked with a psychologist to make sure he got it right.
His Emmy win has the excellent timing of coming just before Mr. Robot“s season 2 finale this Wednesday.