On June 4, the entertainment industry will gather in Los Angeles for the IndieWire Honors Spring 2026 ceremony, a celebration of the creators, artisans, and performers behind the year’s best television series. Returning as host is comedian and writer Dewayne Perkins, who first took the stage for the event’s grand return in 2023. Back then, he was fresh off the release of his horror-comedy film The Blackening, a project he willed into existence over seven years, starting from a sketch he wrote on a couch. Now, two years later, much has changed for Perkins—and he is only accelerating.
Perkins, a Chicago native, has always understood that the path to creative control in Hollywood requires building your own door. After years of writing for shows like The Break with Michelle Wolf and Corporate, he channeled his unique voice into a feature film that became a box-office surprise and a cultural touchstone. The Blackening not only turned a profit but also sparked conversations about race, horror tropes, and representation. Its success opened doors for Perkins that he had long been trying to unlock.
Today, he is reaping the rewards of that persistence. His role as Tyler, the head of publicity on the Apple TV+ comedy The Studio, earned him a spot in a cast that made Emmy history. The freshman series became the first comedy to win 13 Emmys in a single season, a record that stunned even industry veterans. For Perkins, the experience was transformative. He learned firsthand what happens to a show after writing stops, a perspective he never had as a writer in a room. “As a writer, your function kind of stops in the room unless you are a producer,” he explained. “Being able to be a part of the show in a front-facing way made me realize how much work goes into creating a show post-writing.”
That insight is now shaping his approach to every project. Perkins no longer sees himself as solely a writer or an actor; he is a multidisciplinary artist whose disciplines feed each other. His one-man show, How Being Black and Gay Made Me Better Than You, is a prime example. The show, which he recently performed to a sold-out crowd at the Netflix Is A Joke Festival, blends stand-up, storytelling, and physical comedy. The title alone signals the unapologetic confidence Perkins brings to his work. When asked about his ambitions for the show, he does not hold back: “I see myself like Beyoncé. A bunch of dancers, fog, smoke, confetti, truly just having the same feeling I feel when I go to a concert. I want that to be my Coachella.”
This vision is not mere fantasy. Perkins is actively developing the show as a potential platform piece, hoping to bring the live experience to audiences who cannot attend a theater. The process has forced him to think about his body as an instrument, a shift from his years in writers’ rooms. “Touring my one-man show really allowed me to lean back into my body more, where I had to be very conscious of my instrument, my energy,” he said. “Training for breath control, diction, and volume—and then my relationship to a live audience gave me more insight and experience to bring into my comedy.”
That physical awareness has also informed his film and television work. On The Studio, playing Tyler required Perkins to separate his own industry experience from his character’s. “Usually I start from a place of comparison, to see what parts of the character feel like they are organically a part of me,” he said. The overlap was immediate: both he and Tyler are Black men navigating predominantly white workspaces. What he had to build from scratch was the texture of a studio PR executive’s life—the jargon, the crisis management, the polished diplomacy. The result is a performance that feels authentic and layered, earning praise from critics and audiences alike.
Perkins cannot reveal specifics about The Studio’s second season, but he is visibly excited about the cast’s evolution. The news that Madonna will appear in Season 2 seems to fit the show’s pattern of landing the biggest possible cameos. “At this point the shock is just, how far can they go?” he said with a laugh. The series has already featured Martin Scorsese, Charlize Theron, and Ted Sarandos playing exaggerated versions of themselves. Madonna feels like a natural extension of that ambition.
Between hosting duties and acting, Perkins is also deep into writing the sequel to The Blackening. “I’m literally going back to writing the script after this interview,” he said. “It’s still being developed, but I really love what we’re cooking up.” The original film has found a second life on Netflix, attracting new viewers and earning a place in annual watchlists for Halloween, Juneteenth, and other holidays. For Perkins, that kind of organic cultural resonance is the ultimate validation. “Having people consider it a classic, having people put it in their yearly watch—that was kind of the dream,” he said.
The lessons from the first film are shaping the sequel. Perkins emphasizes that chemistry—both on-screen and behind the scenes—is what drives good art. “Chemistry creates good art, whether that’s acting or with above-the-line or below-the-line people,” he explained. “The relationships were imperative to making The Blackening good. I’ve been taking that with me and using it as a litmus for future projects.” That philosophy extends to how he chooses collaborators and how he structures his creative process.
As he prepares for the IndieWire Honors ceremony, Perkins is thinking about the event as a performance in itself. He describes himself as “the vibe curator,” responsible for making the night memorable for everyone in the room. He remembers the first time he hosted, arriving with a musical dance number and a bob hairstyle. This year, he is keeping his plans under wraps but promises something that leverages his evolving skills. “I’m currently just trying to figure out what would be the most fun, how I want to present myself, what energy I want to bring for that night,” he said. “Just having the space to play is very fun. I’m looking forward to filling that space.”
Perkins’ journey from a writer on a couch to a multi-hyphenate star is a testament to persistence and self-belief. He built his own door, walked through it, and now he’s holding it open for others. Whether through his one-man show, his acting, or his writing, his work consistently reflects a refusal to be boxed in. As he returns to host IndieWire Honors, the entertainment world is watching to see what he does next—and given his track record, it will likely be something nobody expects.
Source: Yahoo Entertainment News