MTV abolished gender-specific categories for this year's awards, giving the honor of best actor in a movie to Emma Watson for Beauty and the Beast.
"The first acting award in history that doesn’t separate nominees based on their sex says something about how we perceive the human experience,” Watson said.
According to Watson the fact that this was the first year the celebrated movie and TV awards had genderless categories made the honor more meaningful. Beauty and the Beast also won movie of the year.
The star, who first became known for her role as Hermione in the Harry Potter films, is a feminist campaigner and UN Women Global Goodwill
Ambassador.
Her competition for the best actor prize included Hugh Jackman and James McAvoy.
"I think I'm being given this award because of who Belle is and what she represents. The villagers in our fairytale wanted to make Belle believe the world was smaller than the way that she saw it, with fewer opportunities for her. I love playing someone who didn't listen to any of that," Watson added as she accepted the award.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dillon called it "the first acting award ever that celebrates performance free of any gender distinctions."