15 Things You Didn’t See on TV at the 76th Annual Emmys

Daniel Levy and Eugene Levy were the father-son Emmy hosts of our dreams. Jelly Roll gave an emotional performance as part of a tribute to the fallen entertainers of 2024. The Bear, Baby Reindeer, Shogun and Hacks cleaned up. Jodie Foster, Jeremy Allen White, Jean Smart, Billy Crudrup, Liza Colón-Zayas and Richard Gadd were among the big winners. And everyone from Jennifer Aniston to Selena Gomez and beyond dazzled on the red carpet. But if you watched the 76th Annual Emmys, you didn’t see it all. Parade was on the red carpet and backstage and here are some fun behind-the-scenes happenings you didn’t see on TV.

What You Didn't See on TV at Emmys

1. This couple stole the red carpet

If you watched the show, you heard Billy Crudrup give his wife Naomi Watts a nice shoutout when winning his award for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for The Morning Show. But the couple was even more adorable on the red carpet. They held hands while walking up and down and even gripped each other tightly during interviews. They were smiling, laughing, staring lovingly into each other’s eyes. Truly, truly the definition of #CouplesGoals.

Backstage, Crudrup revealed that he couldn’t be more unlike his character Corey in real life, joking that since hearing his name called he has been “pretty sweaty and can't quite see yet still. I still have a little tunnel vision.” Billy, he says, “is sweaty and stumbles over words.”

He also commented on past statements about not being competitive with Watts: “We are quite competitive but like at Scrabble. We’re very supportive of one another. The fact that she got recognized for her incredibly searing portrayable for FEUD was incredibly uplifting to the household.”

2. The gal EVERYONE wanted to take a selfie with

It’s always fun to see stars gush over what other stars they want to meet. For many, that person was Ayo Edebiri. The award-winning The Bear star, who is no stranger to the Emmy Awards, did her best to navigate the red carpet but was stopped every few feet by someone asking to take a photo with her. When the final carpet call was announced, people didn’t even ask anymore, they just started holding out their camera, putting it onto selfie mode and sneaking their own photos of her.

3. Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern pump up to go live

Two A-list stars. So many television and film credits between the two of them. But interviews can be different than standing on set and having someone yell “action,” then leaving you to do a scene you rehearsed. Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern did interviews on the red carpet together and when they were waiting to go live on a network, they stood side by side making a game plan of what to talk about. Witherspoon bounced up and down a little like an athlete preparing for a main event. She and Dern huddled and whispered to each other. Then the cameras started to roll and they rocked it, per usual.

4. Jeremy Allen White says he wants to be more like Carmy

You often hear actors talk about what they brought to the character but Jeremy Allen White says playing Carmy has really changed his perspective on himself:

“There are things I admire about him and I feel like I want to steal from him. I think his focus and determination and follow through and a certain amount of obsession is something I would like to borrow for my life,” he said. Allen White also says Carmy has encouraged him to be more available to those in need: “What I think I was trying to explain when I accepted the awards was he has such a difficult time extending himself and communicating and reaching out to other people. And I think during the time I've been playing Carmy I've looked at myself and tried to be more available to people seeing where Carmy has sort of fallen at times.”

He touched on playing Bruce Springsteen soon and said, “I’m so excited to start this thing. Bruce has been really lovely and supportive and available, which has made this whole process just an extra joy that we have his support.”

When asked how he prepped for the big day, he said: “I didn’t know I was going to win. These days are strange. You don’t really have time to do anything. It feels like a lot of waiting around. I just got ready and I got to bring my sister Annabelle with me tonight, which is wonderful. I’m going to go make sure she’s OK soon out in the audience so just a regular day until I got here.”

Related: Jeremy Allen White on His The Bear Qualities

5. Jean Smart jokes she wishes her career went a tiny bit faster

Jean Smart was “stunned” that she got a standing ovation during her win, noting that “It was really really lovely. It was not expected. It was really nice.”

Backstage, she touched on being glad that her career was a gradual climb and that she didn’t skyrocket to the top then plunge down: “I’ve been fortunate in a sense that my career has been a very gradual kind of climb. I wouldn't have minded if it was a little faster. But it’s better than starting here and going down down down. I’m very grateful for that.”

When asked about the advice that up and coming actresses should take away from her, she said: “Try to be yourself but also give careful thought to the parts you choose. As actors, as much as we want to think that we maybe sometimes affect people in a positive way, we can also, as entertainers, affect people in a negative way so you want to be somewhat responsible in the things you choose to do and work with talented people and work with nice people. There’s no reason you have to work with someone who is a pain in the ass. I’m very lucky. I haven’t had that.”

Related: What to Know About Jean Smart's Health

6. Liza Colón-Zayas is still shocked she beat Meryl and co for best supporting actress in a comedy series

Backstage, she told reporters: “Who would dream that that could be possible? These legends, all of them, and so it was surreal and the time was really short. There are so many other people I also wanted to thank but the main thing is I wanted to express how in awe I am of them, of the people who supported me this whole time.” If she only has the microphone for this one moment in time, she says, she’d love to convey; “That we feel seen as brown and Black women, that we do not have an expiration date and that we all vote.”

7. Elizabeth DeBicki forgot to thank her mom in her speech

When asked if she got to thank everyone she wanted to thank, Elizabeth DeBicki said she forgot to thank her mom and her agent. “I just called my agent and I will call my mom,” she joked. “But I am very superstitious and I wish I could back myself enough to prep but I did get to thank some people today in the crew that I haven’t been able to in the past.” Someone asked her if she had ever given thought to who would play her in a movie about her and she said: “Can I have Elle Fanning and then Cate Blanchett?”

8. Alan Cumming reveals his favorite Traitors outfit

Traitors fans, listen up. When the crew came backstage to accept their Emmy, they promised that Season 3 has “more twists and turns you will be pleased to hear. We like keeping the players on their toes. We’ve got some exciting things to come for Season 3. It was a riot to film so I hope it will be a riot to watch as well!”

Now in terms of his favorite outfit and how he’ll top himself, Alan Cumming told Parade: “It's a bit Sophie's Choice, thinking what was best out there. But I think the one with the veil at the funeral, which was so ridiculous, ridiculous! That was fun.” He also revealed: “I think the more theatrical these are, the more they feel more like characters.”

9. Jessica Gunning talks getting into villain mode

To prepare for her character in Baby Reindeer, Jessica Gunning said she “looked into a thing called limerence, which is an obsession with people or an obsession with being obsessed with people.” She also said she looked to iconic films like Misery and called it surreal that Kathy Bates presented the award to her. “It was a dream come true for me. I think the incredible thing about Richard's writing was that this character is unique and original. I never saw her as a villain, I saw her as a complicated lonely character,” she added.

10. John Oliver almost thanked his dog in his speech but was glad he was cut off

John Oliver said he was experiencing “relief” that his speech got cut off. “I'm not well versed in sincerity as a British person and as a comedic person,” he joked. “I don’t like to get upset and I think whoever was on that board was like ‘you can’t carry this off.’ I’m very grateful they gave me the parachute so I can avoid my feelings.” He added that his family had a great dog and they had to say goodbye this week and it was “quite brutal.”

11. Lamorne Morris says he hopes his Emmy will help his daughter think he’s cool

“My expectations were not to win. The nominees are insane. I just assumed Robert Downey Jr., Jonathan Bailey maybe. I wasn’t expected to get nominated. I messed up, I forgot a lot of people’s names and for that I’m so so sorry.”

He said his daughter was watching and the Emmy was for her. “She is the love of my life and I joke around that she doesn’t respect me but she doesn’t. Hopefully now she will. No but she’s great. She doesn’t quite understand what daddy does yet. She’ll see daddy on a billboard or something and she’ll just point it out. Sometimes she goes to work with me and hopefully she gets used to it because I plan on working for a while.”

He also joked that he’ll be keeping his Emmy extra close to him tonight: “I keep feeling like somebody is going to run and steal this shit from me. I can’t believe it. This moment feels like a dream. I kind of spaced out for a minute when they called my name.”

12. Jon Stewart says he feels like this election will never end

Backstage at the show, Jon Stwart, who is with The Daily Show for this election cycle, told the press, “I won’t be allowed to leave until this election is over, until we’re all ground into some sort of calcified nub.” He then took the moment to get a bit political saying we’re living in a horrible moment riddled with intense emotions and touched on the shots fired at former President Trump earlier in the day. “I think the one rule maybe we could all benefit from in terms of engagement is no shooting. I feel like no matter how mad you are, no matter who you hate, I believe instituting a no shooting policy would be the way to take things down a notch.”

13. Jodie Foster talks to Parade

At 61, the incredible Jodie Foster took home her very first Emmy award for Best Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her portrayal of Danvers, a police chief in Alaska in True Detective. Backstage, she told Parade that “it feels really emotional” and she is proud to share it with the entire team of people who she made True Detective with: “I wasn't just by myself, thinking about my navel. It was really about our team, but also about indigenous people and how we invisibilize them and our culture. And this has allowed them, their source, to be central. And for me, that's just the best part of marketing this!”

14. Baby Reindeer’s Richard Gadd meets his hero

Baby Reindeer won for best Limited Anthology or Series and the whole cast got on stage in the press room to celebrate. Richard Gadd stood among them, holding 3 Emmy awards while he talked (those things are heavy so that was pretty impressive). He called the night “the greatest night of my life!”

On the red carpet, he told Parade how meeting Jon Hamm the night before at a pre Emmy party was a definite highlight of his Emmys season: “I grew up watching Mad Men. It was one of my favorite shows of all tim—if not my favorite show of all time. He was such a gentleman. There is always that never meet your hero thing but he was great. I met his wife, she was lovely. It couldn’t have been a better fan interaction,” he said.

15. Shogun’s Anna Sawai can’t stop crying

Twelve members of the Shogun team showed up on stage in the press room to chat about their big victory. Among them was Anna Sawai, who won the Emmy for best actress in a drama series for the FX series. She told reporters that when she was crying during her acceptance speech, it was “like the 12th time I was crying today,” noting that she was in tears all night rooting for her fellow cast and crew. “I think it was a mix of emotions, anxiety. I think at any moment I can cry so I won’t do that but it’s really unbelievable,” she said, joking that she may wake up tomorrow morning and think it was all a dream.