'When They See Us' Jharrel Jerome Wins First Emmy For Lead Actor In A Limited Series

American actor of Dominican descent

Jharrel Jerome won the Emmy for best actor in a movie or television series for his role in "When They See Us." Jerome, prevailed in his first Emmy nomination in a highly contested category.

The actor thanked his family, Netflix and filmmaker

Ava Duvernay, the brain behind "When They See Us," but especially dedicated the award to the "Central Park Five," four African-Americans and a Hispanic who went unjustly convicted of raping a white woman in 1989 in New York. "I

feel like I should just be in the Bronx

right now,

chillin,' waiting for my mom's cooking but I'm here," the actor said.

Jerome is one of the most prominent actors in the cast of this limited Netflix series and plays Korey Wise, one of the five kids who

were involved in this judicial scandal that echoed nationwide in the US. "The first time I met Korey, he took off the chain around his neck and put it on my neck and said, 'You're the king now. You're Korey Wise,'" Jerome said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.