Emma Watson has said being awarded with the first prize for an actor that does not regard their gender is "very meaningful"
Watson's portrayal of Belle in Beauty And The Beast beat stars including James McAvoy, Hugh Jackman and Daniel Kaluuya to take the best big-screen actor prize at the inaugural MTV TV & Movie Awards.
Accepting the award, she said: "The fist acting award in history that doesn't separate nominees based on their sex says something about how we perceive the human experience.
"MTV's move to create a genderless award for acting will mean something different to everyone, but to me it indicates that acting is about the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes and that doesn't need to be separated into two different categories.
"Empathy and the ability to use your imagination should have no limits. This is very meaningful to me."
Not only was the award an honour for her, she said, but so was receiving it from Asia Kate Dillon.
Dillon reportedly became the first non-binary actor to play a character who identifies the same way when she portrayed Taylor Mason in Billions this year.
Millie Bobby Brown celebrated her character Eleven in Stranger Things as a "badass female" as she was awarded best actor in a television show.
The 13-year-old Briton beat competition from Emilia Clarke in Game Of Thrones and Jeffrey Dean Morgan in The Walking Dead.
She thanked family, friends and colleagues on the Netflix show including creators Matt and Ross Duffer.
She said: "Lastly I want to thank the Duffer brothers because they have created a badass, female, iconic character that I've got the honour to play."
The ceremony, hosted by comedian Adam Devine in Los Angeles, replaces the 25-year reign of the MTV Movie Awards by introducing prizes for shows on television and streaming services.
The move away from gendered categories brings it in line with the Grammy Awards, which scrapped male and female prizes in 2011.
Moonlight's Jharrel Jerome also applauded MTV for scrapping gendered prizes, telling the Press Association from the red carpet that he hoped other awards followed suit.
He said: "I think it's incredible. I think it's about time we did something like that because we are all artists, we are not actress, actor, we are performers.
"I think it's about time we should say who is the best storyteller rather than who is the best man or who is the best woman."
Hugh Jackman, 48, and Dafne Keen, 12, won the best duo category for their double team in superhero film Logan.
Wolverine actor Jackman stepped aside for his sidekick, who plays young mutant Laura Kinney, to make the acceptance speech.
She said: "Tonight I want to thank MTV and Mum."
Moonlight's Jerome and Ashton Sanders won the best kiss award, adding the trophy to the film's three Oscars.
Sanders said: "This award is bigger than Jharrel and I. This represents more than a kiss. This is for those who feel like the others, the misfits - this represents us."
Jerome added: "It's safe to say that it is OK for us young performers, especially us minority performers, to step out of the box ... and do whatever it takes to tell the story and do whatever it takes to make a change."
They beat competition from La La Land's Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, as well as Emma Watson and Dan Stevens in Beauty And The Beast.
Arriving on the red carpet ahead of the awards, Jerome told the Press Association he acknowledged the scene's significance while filming it.
He said: "I'm excited because the kiss was so important and I remember how important it felt when doing it."
Vin Diesel thanked fans for accepting a "multicultural franchise" as his Fast And The Furious films won the generation award.
The producer and star of the franchise, which is on its eighth incarnation with more rumoured to be in the works, said: "Most importantly, I gotta thank our generation.
"I gotta thank a generation that was willing to accept this multicultural franchise where it didn't matter what colour your skin was or what country you were from.
"When you're family, you're family."