"Michael Keaton is the GOAT": Fans laud the 'Dopesick' star after he bags the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor 

The 74th Annual Emmy Awards kicked off to a great start with Michael Keaton bagging the first award of the night for his impeccable performance in Dopesick, the critically acclaimed series airing on Hulu.

The famed star was presented with an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Anthology Series or Movie. This was his first win and needless to say, it brought forth a barrage of congratulatory messages from fans on social media. One fan deemed him "the GOAT," which stands for "the Greatest Of All Time."

For the award, Keaton was up against Andrew Garfield in Under the Banner of Heaven, Colin Firth in The Staircase, Oscar Isaac in Scenes from a Marriage, Himmesh Patel in Station Eleven, and Sebastian Stan in Pam & Tommy.

Michael Keaton essays the role of Dr. Samuel Finnix in Dopesick. Finnix is a doctor in a mining town who witnesses the terrible effects of OxyContin after prescribing it to one of his patients. Right from the time the series premiered, the famed actor has been receiving rave reviews for his performance in the role.

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Congratulations pour in for Michael Keaton after he bags the first Emmy award of the night

Taking to Twitter, fans praised and congratulated Michael Keaton, with many adding that it was a well-deserved win. Check out some of the reactions below:

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Michael Keaton bags his career-first Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Anthology Series or Movie

The Dopesick actor accepted his award and sent the audience into a fit of laughter when he began his speech by saying:

"My face hurts from how much fake smiling I’ve been doing."

He then went on to thank the "great folks at Disney and Hulu," before adding that Dopesick was one of the most special projects he has ever worked on and that it meant something to him.

During his speech, the Emmy Award-winning actor also recollected how his dad won his family's first black and white TV at a raffle. He said that he used to watch all the shows that aired and would later reenact those scenes or create his own scenes. He said:

"My parents and brother and sisters would watch me out the window. And to this day, they were never demeaning. They were never dismissibe. They never lookd down upon it. They never made fun of me."

The actor continued by thanking his family and expressing his gratitude to all. He concluded his speech by saying:

"I've had some doubters. You know we're cool. But I also had those people who were there all those years when times were up, who were the true believers."

This win is extra special for Keaton, since it is also his first ever Primetime Emmy Award.