“Watchmen’s" Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Reminds Us Losing a Parent to Cancer Affects Us Forever By Thanking “Daddy” in Emmy Speech

"Oh, man. Thank you so much to the Academy. I'm so excited right now. I want to say thank you first off to my mama and my daddy. Man, I'm surprised. Thank you so much…"

The New Orleans native lost his father, Yahya Abdul-Mateen I, in 2007, when Mateen I was 62 years old. At the time, the actor was then a student at Berkley studying architecture. "We didn't expect it to escalate so rapidly," he has said.

Related: Minorities Are Missing Out On Life-Saving Cancer Care & Clinical Trials: 4 Changes Needed to Help Fix This Problem

Mateen II has not disclosed publicly the type of cancer his father was diagnosed with. He recalled that period of loss in a Time magazine interview.

Dog the Bounty Hunter Talks to SurvivorNet About Coping With Loss of a Loved One to Cancer

"In my mind it was like 'He'll pull through.' When he didn't, I didn't understand. I was 21, and my best friend had died. The worst thing that could happen happened, so it taught me to do the thing that makes me happy and to really chase my dreams."

Related: Actor Chadwick Boseman, 43, Passes From Colon Cancer After Private 4-Year Battle, Devastating Fans: 'Immeasurable Grief'

The loss shook his tightknit family, reports The Wall Street Journal. And it was incredibly hard on young Yahya. A few years after the loss of his dad, Mateen II was accepted into the esteemed Yale School of Drama and decided to give it a shot. Of acting, he said, "I'm going to give myself three years to make significant progress." And progress he did make.

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WOW!! WOW!! WOAH!! This is real!! I JUST GOT NOMINATED FOR AN EMMY, y'all!! 🤯 Feels so good to be acknowledged for my work by The Academy and my peers. Thank you so much! And thank you to @damonlindelof, @nicolekassell, my HBO main thang @iamreginaking 😂 the entire writing staff and creative team and the FANS of our show who watched every week and engaged in the important dialogue. I appreciate you! Congrats as well to my fellow nominees! Humbled, Grateful, and EXCITED! I can't stop smiling! #Emmys #BestSupportingActor #LimitedSeries

A post shared by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (@yahya) on Jul 28, 2020 at 9:31am PDT

Related: Close the Gap: Racial Disparities in Cancer Care Are Devastating Let's Change Things

In the face of unthinkable loss, Mateen II used the grief to propel him to new heights. His father is surely watching proudly as the actor did not succumb to grief, but instead, worked hard at his craft to make his late father proud.

Disparities in Cancer Treatment For Minorities

SurvivorNet and NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center are collaborating to help close the racial gap in cancer prevention, cancer care, and survival rates.

There are disparities in cancer care and treatment for minority groups in the U.S., with stark statistics like: Black men in America are 50% more likely to die of prostate cancer than other races.

Dr. Ted Teknos writes for SurvivorNet that “Compared to the general population, Black patients and other minorities are underrepresented in clinical trials. It's imperative this changes; opening up these clinical trials to a wider range of minorities could increase their chances of survival.”

It's Imperative Black Cancer Patients Get Better Access to Clinical Trials

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.