Emmy Awards 2018 Winners: Everything We Learned Behind the Scenes (PHOTOS)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES — Bill Hader (Barry)
On being stunned that he won:
“I planned nothing. I was waiting for Ted Danson (The Good Place) or Donald Glover (Atlanta) [to win]. I legit don’t know what I said up there. I might have said something crazy.”
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE — Merritt Wever (Godless)
“I was very scared that people would make fun of me because I was doing something new and it wasn’t necessarily in my comfort zone. The truth is…everyone knows I’m a neurotic mess. But I don’t know that there was any way to hide that. It’s easier to act than to be yourself in front of people, I think.”
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OF MOVIE — Jeff Daniels (Godless)
“Meryl [Streep] taught me this — I leave a lot to chance now. Maybe it’s getting older where you don’t do the 300 pages of backstory for your character that you write out in single space. You just get the basic idea of what this guy is thinking [and] when he starts the scene, you jump off the cliff, flapping your arms. You use the other actor. That’s what you’re not taught in Hollywood — to listen and react. Spencer Tracy was one of the best listeners we ever had.”
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL — John Mulaney (Kid Gorgeous at Radio City)
On what’s next:
“My wife is getting her masters’ right now so I’m just a stay at home dog dad. I’m doing absolutely nothing.”
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES — Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
“I had my last day on set in July this year, a little over two months ago. It was very sad. This is not only a great TV show to be a part of, but an enormous family to be a part of. I’m sure you’ve heard that before from actors, but in this case, I was far from home. I live in New York. We shot the show over in Europe. Many times I had to stay there and wasn’t able to go home on weekends so I developed deep roots in the community of Ireland and in some of the other countries we shot in. I was not only saying goodbye to the show, but to the life over there.”
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES — Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
“I’ve always wanted to play complex and grounded women. Every single person involved in this show has put literal blood, sweat and tears into it.”
OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES — John Oliver (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver)
On how close he got to Russell Crowe’s jockstrap (which the show purchased online):
“How close do you want to get as a human being? And then narrow that by three feet. I had a close personal experience with Russell Crow’s jockstrap — the kind of experience you don’t go into life desiring, and you end life regretting.”
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL — Ryan Murphy (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story)
“We cast people who love these real life people as much as we do. I think you can feel the love and the passion that all of those actors have for those characters even in the darkest of moments.”
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES and OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES — Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
“Working with these people is s weird treat. I don’t know what I did to get so lucky because I’m so awful! I’m just proud of the show. This is the icing, a little buttercream!”
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES — David Benioff (Executive Producer, Game of Thrones)
On the series finale season:
“The final season is taking a long time because it’s the biggest thing we’ve ever done. Even though it’s six episodes…it was nearly a full year in Belfast either prepping it or actually shooting it. It’s quite extraordinary what this crew and these actors have created. I think when people see it they’ll understand why it took so long. That last season is far beyond what we’ve ever attempted before.”
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES — George R.R. Martin (Co-Executive Producer, Game of Thrones)
On if Game of Thrones has changed TV:
“I think television’s totally been changing. What’s exciting to me is I’ve spent my life in the works of science fiction and fantasy and, until Game of Thrones, although science fiction and fantasy shows have occasionally been nominated for the Emmy, they’d never won it. Game of Thornes has changed science fiction and fantasy television. We’ve achieved a level of respectability thanks to the genius of these actors, producers, and writers. They’ve made us equal to any genre.”
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES — Amy Sherman-Palladino (executive producer), Daniel Palladino (executive producer), Sheila Lawrence (co-executive producer), Dhana Rivera Gilbert (producer, not pictured), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
“If you set out to drive a political message through your show it just won’t work. You have to love your show, love your characters and love the story.” – Amy Sherman-Palladino
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES — Mathew Rhys (The Americans)
On the parallels between politics today and in the ‘80s when The Americans was set:
“I remember in Season 1 being asked whether Russian interest in the United States was still relevant. By Season 3, we were up and running in the news.”
On giving an acceptance speech:
“It’s equal parts absolute joy and abject fear but I think the abject fear has a far greater percentage. I’ve never experienced something like this in life. Your audience is your peers and people you’ve grown up with, the most people in the world. Your heart prepares but [you realize] I’m not prepared for this speech. Nobody ever sees this but [what winners are looking at is] this giant Jumbotron that flashes STOP! STOP! STOP!’ after eigh seconds, but you’ve got 84 other people to thank! It’s terrifying.”
OUTSTANDING REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM — RuPaul Charles (Executive Producer)
On how he knows the Yiddish terms he uses:
“I watch a lot of Judge Judy.”
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE – Regina King (Seven Seconds)
“I was going through my purse to get my phone to Google something – not telling you what I was going to google! My lipstick popped up and landed on my lap. My publicist brought me a Shout. I can’t stop focusing on that. My agent, Dar Rollins, said if you win, ‘bring your purse up with you to cover up [the lipstick mark].’ I said, ‘I’m not going to win.’ He said, ‘I told you!’”
The 2018 Emmys have come and gone, and as the dust settles around TV's biggest night, we're still thinking about the big winners this year.
Specifically, what do these victories mean for the small-screen heavyweights as a new season approaches? Luckily, TV Insider was backstage in the press room on Emmy night, and we were able to hear directly from winners like Bill Hader (Barry), Jeff Daniels (Godless), Regina King (Seven Seconds), RuPaul Charles (RuPaul's Drag Race), and Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel).
Click through the gallery above for our Emmy post-mortem, filled with plenty of juicy behind-the-scenes tidbits!
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