Tramell Tillman made all kinds of history at the Emmy Awards last night, becoming both the first Black person and the first openly gay person to win best supporting actor in a drama for his performance in the second season of Apple TV’s Severance—a disquieting sci-fi psychological thriller that is now the most-watched series in the streaming service’s history.
Through his win, Tillman also secured bragging rights for the DC area: He was born in the District, and grew up in Prince George’s County. Here are five things to know about the actor, just to enrich your hometown pride:
1. He had a very DC-area upbringing.
Tillman, who was born in DC in 1985, was raised in Largo and was the youngest of six siblings. He is a 2003 graduate of Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, and both his parents had characteristic Beltway careers: His dad was an Amtrak employee and his mom, to whom he dedicated his Emmys victory, worked for the federal government.
2. His first acting gig was in a local Christmas play.
Tillman grew up in a Baptist family, and when he was ten years old, his mom volunteered to star in a Christmas play at their church. Her character had a son, and Tillman seemed a natural fit for that role. He agreed to take the part, though not without some cajoling. “I didn’t want to do it,” he told The Cut in March. “I’m pretty sure I cried backstage before going on because I was so shy. I didn’t like attention. I’m still kind of that way.”
Despite his stage fright, the experience kickstarted his passion for acting. He apparently forgives his mom for pushing him to accept the gig, saying in his Emmys acceptance speech, “My first acting coach was tough, y’all, but all great mothers are.” The lesson in all of this? Don’t skip your church’s next play—in fact, you might consider inviting a talent scout.
3. Acting is his second career—and his previous work experience prepped him for his Severance role.
On Severance, Tillman plays Seth Milchick—an antagonist of sorts, who works in a supervisory position at the fictional Lumon Industries, where some employees undergo a “severance” procedure to separate their in-office and out-of-office consciousnesses. Milchick is polite on the surface but cunning in his efforts to quell concerns among his underlings and remain loyal to the company.
That archetype might sound familiar to corporate Washingtonians; in fact, Milchick’s portrayal is inspired by Tillman’s own job history. He’s only been acting for about a decade; he scored his first professional on-screen credit in 2015, a bit part in Hulu’s comedy series Difficult People. After he graduated summa cum laude from Mississippi’s Jackson State University in 2008, he started working in the nonprofit sector with the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools project, which provides after-school and summertime programming to K-12 students in underprivileged communities. “I have experience in the corporate world,” Tillman told PureWow last year. “So, Milchick is an amalgamation of colleagues, of former bosses, of caricatures of people that I’ve worked with.”
4. His Emmy win isn’t his first trailblazing achievement.
While Tillman’s primetime victory is surely his most highly publicized accolade, his acting career has been dotted with historic triumphs from the beginning. When he pivoted to a performing-arts career in the mid-2010s, he enrolled in an MFA program with the University of Tennessee’s theater department. “I graduated top of my class in 2014, aged 29, and became the first African American man to graduate from that program,” he told Mr. Feelgood in March 2022.
5. He’s shaping up to be a homegrown style icon.
Not only did Tillman make television history last night, but he did it in an impeccable custom Dolce & Gabbana suit. Not bad! The look earned him mentions on a plethora of best-dressed lists, and Washingtonian sees more fashion prowess in his future. Recently, he served as the face of the summer 2025 campaign for Kith, a Brooklyn company that is perhaps best known for its 2024 formalwear capsule collection with Giorgio Armani, which featured unexpected models like Martin Scorsese and Mike Tyson. We knew he’d be a sharp dresser to watch after his first Met Gala appearance earlier this year, where he sported a satin calla lilly-adorned tailcoat with pinstriped trousers designed by Thom Browne—a gallant rejection of the infuriating tendencies of many male celebrities to wear boring old black suits to fashion’s biggest night.
