Ryan Coogler Dedicates CCA Black Cinema & TV Award To His Wife Zinzi With Emotional Acceptance Speech

Ryan Coogler and his wife Zinzi’s love story is the stuff romance novels are made of. Ryan and Zinzi are college sweethearts, who wed in 2016. And every chance Ryan gets, he sings her praises. Last night, the ‘critically acclaimed ‘Sinners’ director was honored with the Director Award at the Critics Choice Celebration of Black Cinema & Television, where he used his speech to spotlight his wife in a heartwarming moment.

Not even Ryan could keep it together as he spoke the words. Fighting back tears, he said, “2003, I saw a young girl kicking everybody’s a** on the track. I didn’t get her number that day. I built up my courage and got it at the next track meet. She changed my life. She made me a better football player and better student a better person and she made me a better filmmaker,” he shared. “Always played the background and never gave her credit. For this movie she was my boss. And it was f*cking hard. And I think she’s the biggest reason why this movie is so good.”

The cast of ‘Sinners’ Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, Miles Canton and Delroy Lindo were also in attendance. Michael even shared a sweet moment with his ‘Creed’ co-star Tessa Thompson on the red carpet.

‘Sinner’s is a top contender this award season, as it should be. It was recently nominated for several Golden Globe nominations, including Drama Motion Picture, Director Of Motion Picture, Actor in a Drama Motion Picture Original Score, Screenplay of a Motion Picture, and Cinematic Box Office Achievement. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Coogler reflected on the moment and overall success of the film.

“I don’t know if I can put the feeling in the words. I’m feeling a sense of gratitude that people seem to have taken to the film as much as we did. You never know how it’s going to turn out. I love this movie. I was always in love with it, even when I realized I had an opportunity to make it. I met it with a bunch of people who I know, and it just grew with more people who were really talented. A lot of them I’ve known for a long time, some of them I wanted to work with for a long time and became a part of the filmmaking family.”

Ryan Coogler deserves all of the things. Congrats!