'The Pitt' star Ernest Harden Jr. delivers emotional speech after winning his first Emmy Award

Ernest Harden Jr. has secured his first Emmy Award for his performance in The Pitt.

At the 78th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which took place on September 5 and 6, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, the 73-year-old actor was honoured with his first Emmy award for his role as alcoholic patient Louie Cloverfield in the famous medical drama The Pitt.

When his name was announced as the winner in the Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series category during Night 2, he accepted the award while keeping his eyes closed.

Expressing his feelings backstage after winning the accolade, Harden said, “I am on cloud 25. I’m not saying this is a complete surprise because The Pitt is such a powerful show to come from, but just to get it in your hands is like unreal.”

The star of An American Carol went on to add, “I just to thank my wish my parents were here to see this, they would have been so proud.”

He then showed his gratitude to Noah Wyle and John Wells, the executive producers of The Pitt, quipping, “They hired me and believed in my talent … and the reason I stayed around was because I was good.”

Notably, Harden has been doing supporting roles and guest-starring stints on series mostly for 1 or 2 episodes since he started acting.

Calling to mind early days of his career, the Animal Factory actor said, “I’ve been in the business since 1974, that’s the first time I ever spoke in a film; it was a movie called Three Days of the Condor with Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway.”

“From then I’ve just been doing my thing, trying to work where I could. I got some beautiful breaks,” Ernest Harden Jr. stated.