Salli Richardson-Whitfield Is Making Emmy History Again—And She’s Not Done Yet

Aug 17, 2026 06:20 PM - 1 hour ago 4

31st Annual Critics Choice Awards - Arrivals

Salli Richardson-Whitfield is nary alien to making history. In 2024, the longtime actress-turned-director became the first Black female nominated for an Emmy for directing successful the play bid category, earning nickname for HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. This year, she has done it again, earning 2 Emmy nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, 1 for HBO’s The Gilded Age and different for Task.

For Richardson-Whitfield, the nickname is some surreal and profoundly personal. After much than 3 decades successful Hollywood, the nominations correspond thing larger than awards-season validation: impervious that the leap she took from acting to directing was the correct one. “I started arsenic an actress, truthful I ever thought I'd beryllium up location getting my Emmy for acting,” Richardson-Whitfield tells me. “I ne'er would person dreamed that I would beryllium up location for directing.”

The nominations get during a peculiarly meaningful section successful her life. Richardson-Whitfield besides precocious became a personnel of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, an acquisition she describes arsenic as overwhelming and significant.

“It’s rather shocking,” she says of the milestones. “I, of course, hoped [the nominations would happen]. I felt for illustration some shows were of the caliber. These are bully shows. These are well-written shows. I’m proud of the activity that I did. But thing successful my wildest dreams would opportunity I’m going to get nominated for some shows.” For Richardson-Whitfield, the latest nominations besides validate the sacrifices required to build a directing profession while raising a family.

“It’s really a validation of the difficult activity and sacrifice that I’ve made,” she says. “It’s a batch of clip distant from my family, and they’ve been really supportive. But it’s a validation of, ‘Hey, I cognize what I’m doing, and I’m doing bully work.’ It’s not by chance that the first 1 happened.”

A New Chapter Behind the Camera

Richardson-Whitfield’s modulation from acting to directing was encouraged by women including filmmaker Ava DuVernay, but the move yet required her to spot herself and return a risk. When she first moved to Los Angeles, she didn’t person a maestro plan. “I didn’t get successful Los Angeles pinch a maestro plan. I arrived pinch belief,” she antecedently said successful an acceptance reside astatine the American Black Film Festival Honors, wherever she received the Evolution Award.

That belief has carried her done a profession that included Hollywood's inevitable rejection and uncertainty.

“There were a batch of jobs arsenic an character that I did not get that I thought I should person gotten,” she says. “I’m amended than her. I’m the—you know—all these things you think. But that was not the scheme for me.”

In retrospect, Richardson-Whitfield believes immoderate of those disappointments were basal to put her connected the way toward directing.

“If I had gotten those jobs, past I astir apt would person been a small excessively successful arsenic an character to now make this pivot,” she says. “I wouldn’t person been truthful consenting to spell a different way, maybe. And I was being protected by immoderate group want to telephone it. I say, God. You tin opportunity the universe. I was being protected connected the travel I was expected to take.”

Her proposal to creatives navigating rejection is rooted successful that aforesaid philosophy: perceive to the quieter sound of belief alternatively than the louder sound of fear.

“I’ve been equating this lately to conscionable listening to the small sound successful your caput alternatively of each those large voices,” she says. “If you perceive to that small voice, that sound will ever beryllium saying, ‘You tin do this. You’re worthy. You’re bully enough. You’re connected the correct path.’”

The louder voices, she says, are the ones telling you that you’re not capable.

“I’ve ever been able, nary matter what was going on, to perceive to that small sound successful my caput that gave maine the encouragement that I was connected the correct path,” she says.

But faith, Richardson-Whitfield emphasizes, doesn’t mean waiting passively for an opportunity.

“On that journey, get better. Don’t beryllium location waiting,” she says. “You person to do everything you’re expected to do for the moment. You person to activity pinch [God]. You person to co-create pinch Him.”

Bringing a Modern Eye to The Gilded Age

Richardson-Whitfield’s directing style is shaped by her small heart to move the camera and bring a modern ocular sensibility to play storytelling.

On The Gilded Age, she deliberately played pinch that contrast.

“I for illustration the camera moving,” she says. “I’d opportunity my style connected Gilded whitethorn beryllium a small much fierce than others.”

For 1 series involving The Gilded Age, characteristic George Russell, played by Morgan Spector, Richardson-Whitfield wanted to found threat and urgency immediately.

“We person almost an action sequence. George is bleeding out. He could die,” she says. “I’m astir to do this for illustration I would do a aesculapian show. We’re going to spell handheld. This is going to beryllium gritty. This is going to beryllium for illustration life and death.”

The attack was intentionally jarring. “It’s going to unfastened the show successful a measurement that group are going to beryllium like, ‘What is happening? This is not Gilded style,’” she says. When the communicative moves into the season’s elaborate galas, Richardson-Whitfield embraces the grandeur and romanticism associated pinch the series.

“This is for illustration aged movies,” she says. “This is telling a Cinderella story. How tin I conscionable show this successful the astir romantic, old-fashioned measurement and break people’s hearts?” That attraction to ocular item mattered particularly erstwhile depicting the show’s Black elite.

Richardson-Whitfield wanted the Black characters’ wealth, sophistication and societal opinionated to transportation the aforesaid ocular dignity afforded to their achromatic counterparts. “The Russells are astir apt billionaires during that clip period,” she says. “But that doesn’t mean that we couldn’t person the aforesaid dignity and emotion of awesome wealthiness for our Black elite.”

That representation, she says, is rooted successful humanities reality. “Black group did person money backmost then, and they were doing the aforesaid balls pinch the aforesaid orchestras,” she says. “I really want to correspond for my community.” For Richardson-Whitfield, The Gilded Age besides offers an opportunity to amended audiences astir an often-overlooked history.

“That’s the 1 point Gilded does well. We are school you astir what existent history is,” she says. “And that was real.”

Creating Space for Actors to Take Risks

Her years successful beforehand of the camera person besides straight influenced really Richardson-Whitfield useful pinch actors.

After moving pinch hundreds of board passim her acting career, she says she identified the qualities that helped her execute astatine her best—and the approaches that didn't. “I was capable to benignant of handpick the attributes that I liked, and I didn’t like, and what I wish that I had gotten,” she says.

One of the astir important lessons she now passes connected to her actors is simple: make mistakes. "You cannot beryllium awesome and superb if it’s each very measured and you’re only doing what you’ve rehearsed successful the mirror,” she says. “You person to beryllium consenting to look foolish and return large chances, and for it to beryllium wrong.”

Richardson-Whitfield wants actors to spot that experimentation is portion of the process.

“I’m not going to usage it if it’s wrong,” she says. “I’m not going to beryllium huffy astatine you. I’m going to travel successful and go, ‘Let’s effort a different choice. Let’s do this.’ But you person to play.” Her acquisition arsenic an character has besides taught her that each performer requires a different benignant of communication.

“Every character is different,” she says. “Some group are conscionable like, ‘I tin conscionable say, hey, you request to talk fast. You request to propulsion this together. You request to deed that beat.’ And that useful for them.”

For different actor, the aforesaid statement could beryllium counterproductive. “I person to travel to them talking astir the affectional urgency of the segment and what we're feeling,” she explains. “It’s really astir reference your actors.”

Paying the Opportunity Forward

As Richardson-Whitfield’s floor plan arsenic a head has grown, truthful has her expertise to create opportunities for others.

She often useful pinch young women who are aspiring filmmakers, including assistants she brings onto productions to springiness them firsthand acquisition successful environments wherever women and group of colour person historically been underrepresented.

“I effort to thief arsenic galore group arsenic possible,” she says. “I ever person young women who are my assistants, who are filmmakers, and effort to elevate them successful these positions successful a abstraction that we’re not usually in.”

She besides makes a constituent of hiring different women board and board of color.

“I’m very proud of that and giving group the opportunity that I was given,” she says.

Richardson-Whitfield credits HBO executives Francesca Orsi and Casey Bloys pinch recognizing her imaginable early successful her directing career. “HBO brought maine successful astatine a clip wherever I had done immoderate large shows, but not needfully to the scope of what I’m doing now,” she says. “Francesca Orsi and Casey Bloys successful peculiar really saw thing successful maine that wasn’t rather location connected paper. I will everlastingly beryllium indebted for this opportunity.”

What an Emmy Win Would Mean

Richardson-Whitfield has spent 7 months successful New York moving connected The Gilded Age, followed by different 3 months connected Task. Being distant from her family has been 1 of the hardest parts of the work.

So what would it mean if her sanction were called connected Emmy night? Even contemplating the anticipation makes her emotional. “It’s difficult to dream that that could happen,” she says. “You look, and you spell to my family, ‘Hey, I’m sorry I’ve been gone truthful much. It’s worthy the sacrifice.’”

She thinks backmost to the young character who drove to Los Angeles successful a $700 car without knowing whether the bet would work. “There was perfectly nary logic that this should activity out,” she says. “Thank God I didn’t cognize that.”

Now, she hopes her travel tin reassure the adjacent procreation of filmmakers. “When I speak to different young women and group who person a dream successful Hollywood, you conscionable person to cognize that it’s rather a journey,” she says. That travel has included rejection, uncertainty and plentifulness of moments erstwhile the result was unclear. But Richardson-Whitfield believes those detours tin yet lead you toward the profession you were meant to have.

“I was being protected connected the travel I was expected to take,” she says. “And present I am.”

Building What Comes Next

Richardson-Whitfield isn’t slowing down. She is presently processing shows astatine HBO from the crushed up, projects that correspond the adjacent improvement of her career.

“I deliberation that’s really my adjacent large step,” she says. “Really being location astatine the beginning, and it being mine, and continuing to build my career, build my legacy.”

After astir 5 years moving wrong HBO’s ecosystem, she says she has developed a beardown knowing of the network’s storytelling sensibility and is fresh to use that knowledge to projects of her own. “I cognize what they like. I cognize what benignant of storytelling, and I cognize really to nutrient those kinds of shows,” she says. A characteristic movie remains an ambition, too, but Richardson-Whitfield is selective astir what would propulsion her distant from television.

“There are galore that travel astatine me,” she says. “But uncovering the correct one, what would make maine time off TV for TV correct now? What would that task be?”

The answer, she says, is simple: “It has to beryllium thing typical capable to return maine distant from my HBO world correct now.” For Richardson-Whitfield, the extremity is nary longer simply to make history. It is to build a assemblage of activity and create opportunities for others that past agelong aft the history-making infinitesimal is over.