Reactions from select nominees for the 2023 Emmy Awards.
SHERYL LEE RALPH“I am a puddle of emotions! It is just absolutely crazy. It, I mean, I am living one spectacular year. ... In all honesty, it could never ever be about me trying to beat that moment (of last year's ceremony, when Ralph won her Emmy and stole the show, singing much of her speech). Maybe they'll ask me to host it! That moment was something. as all of my friends say that’s something you worked for Sheryl. That’s something you waited for and you received the gift, now, just sit back and be lovely and I’m gonna just sit back and be lovely! And so thankful to everybody who thought that it should be me ... for me to be in a space where that is happening for me after all of these years, I’m just so happy. I am SO happy.” — Ralph, who's nominated for best supporting actress in a comedy for ABC's “Abbott Elementary."
JESSICA CHASTAIN“It's incredible ... the thing that was the most shocking in the journey is that when Mike Shannon came on, he was pretty adamant that we sing live, and he’s someone who’s in a band. He’s used to things like that. .... he really wanted it to be as authentic as possible, which I appreciate. But it also meant that I was absolutely out of my comfort zone. And 95% of what we have in the show was done on set in the shot that you’re seeing it, it was done live in front of audiences. So that, that is unlike anything I’ve done before, that’s scarier ... that’s me way, way, way doing something I just never thought I could even mentally be capable of.” — Chastain, nominated for best actress in a limited or anthology series or movie — her first Emmy nod — for “George & Tammy.”
TARAJI P. HENSON“About 30 years ago, I moved out here because I thought I would land a huge sitcom. And quite to the contrary, I booked ‘Baby Boy’ and it was drama after drama. What I came out here to do is comedy. I wanted to be a comedic actress. I guess what’s different about this nomination is getting nominated for what I actually came out to Hollywood to do.” — Henson, nominated for best guest actress in a comedy series for “Abbott Elementary.”
RILEY KEOUGH“I hope I made them proud. I’m sure I do. I hope that I continue to make them proud." — Keough, the daughter of the late Lisa Marie Presley and eldest grandchild of the late Elvis Presley, who's nominated for best actress in a limited or anthology series or movie for her role in Amazon’s “Daisy Jones & The Six.”
NIECY NASH-BETTS“You never know. This industry can be very fickle. You just don’t know. I knew that I was proud of my work. I didn’t know people were going to rally in support of it this way. What I am is grateful." — Nash-Betts, nominated for best supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie for her role as Glenda Cleveland in the Netflix series “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.”
ALLEN HUGHES“I’m happy that Afeni’s story that was lost in history is getting recognized. She had a meaningful narrative that never gets talked about. Both of their contributions are important to our culture, but particularly hers.” — Hughes, director, on his two nominations for the FX docuseries “Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur.”
