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Mr. Robot's Rami Malek Wins the Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama

"Please tell me you're seeing this too"

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Sadie Gennis

With Bryan Cranston and Jon Hamm out of the running, the 2016 Emmys race for lead actor in a drama featured some exciting new blood.

Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) and Matthew Rhys (The Americans) scored their first Emmy nominations this year, putting them in competition alongside Kyle Chandler (Bloodline), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan) and perennial bridesmaid Kevin Spacey (House of Cards).

But it was Malek who won the Emmy on Sunday for his breakout performance of hacker Elliot Alderson. That makes Malek only the second USA actor ever to win an Emmy, following Tony Shalhoub's three wins for Monk.

"Oh my God. Please tell me you're seeing this too," Malek joked, a reference to one of his character's famous lines.

"I play a young man who is, I think like so many of us, profoundly alienated," he continued. "And the unfortunate thing is I'm not sure how many of us would want to hang out with a guy like Elliot. But I want to honor the Elliots because there's a little bit of Elliot in all of us, isn't there?"

Check out our complete Emmy Awards coverage here

Although Mr. Robot's second season has received a mixed critical response, the first season managed to score six nominations at this year's ceremony, far exceeding expectations for the critically-acclaimed, but low-rated drama.

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Rami Malek, Mr. Robot

Peter Kramer/USA Network