“Game Of Thrones”, “OJ”, And “Veep” Win Emmy’s, Plus Some Surprises
The 68th annual Emmy Awards were awarded last night at the Microsoft Theater in Hollywood, Ca. Host Jimmy Kimmel was a hit as he guided us through the evening, poking fun at many things such as the Oscars and diversity.
“This year’s nominees are the most diverse ever,” host Jimmy Kimmel said in his opening monologue of a field that included 18 nominees of color for acting awards and several women in directing categories.
“And here in Hollywood, the only thing that we value more than diversity is congratulating ourselves on how much we value diversity. I’ll tell you, the Emmys are so diverse this year, the Oscars are now telling people we’re one of their closest friends.”
The night’s big winners reflected television’s move toward a more realistic and representative mix of shows, and away from the industry’s very male, very white traditions. Top winners included “Mr. Robot’s” Rami Malek for lead actor in a drama, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story’s” Courtney B. Vance for lead actor in a limited series or movie (one of five awards the series took home last night) and “The Night Manager’s” Susanne Bier for directing a limited series, movie or dramatic special.
The HBO Drama “Game Of Thrones” took home the Best Drama series Emmy for the second consecutive year, and in a surprise win, Tatiana Mislay got the nod for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series for “Orphan Black”.
Maggie Smith, who won her third supporting actress in a drama award for “Downton Abbey,” once again stymied the “Game of Thrones” competitors in that category. If she ever gets the award, that is — Emmys master of ceremonies Jimmy Kimmel joked that since she did not attend the ceremony, she would not get the statuette. She has yet to attend the awards show.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus delivered a tearful thank you speech for winning Best Leading Actress in a Comedy Series for “Veep”. She revealed that her father, Louie Dreyfus passed away this past Friday. She broke a tie with her sixth win of the awards, ending a tie with Candice Bergen and Carol Burnett.
Rami Malek, won Best Leading Actor in a Drama Series. Malek stars as Elliott Alderson in the gritty series “Mr Robot”, beat out heavyweights including Kevin Spacey and Kyle Chandler in the category but was composed enough to open his acceptance speech with a line that referenced both his character’s delusions and his own disbelief: “Please tell me you’re seeing this too,” he said, to knowing laughter from the audience.
After thanking series creator Sam Esmail, Malek eloquently spoke about Elliot, “a young man who I think, like so many of us, is profoundly alienated,” he said. “Unfortunately, I’m not so sure how many of us would want to hang out with a guy like Elliot, but I want to honor all the Elliots, because there’s a little bit of Elliot in all of us.”