There were plenty of noteworthy moments from Sunday night’s 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, from Hannah Einbinder’s “f*ck ICE and free Palestine” speech to Tramell Tillman becoming the first Black actor to win Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
But some of the most intriguing moments actually happened off camera. Deadline was in attendance at tonight’s show, keeping an eye on everything unfolding when and where the cameras weren’t rolling. Here’s some of what we saw:
Stephen Colbert was the man of the hour
As soon as The Late Show‘s Stephen Colbert hit the stage early in the night to present the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (which went to The Studio‘s Seth Rogen), he was met with a massive round of applause and a 30-second standing ovation. But what you might not have heard were the invigorated “Stephen! Stephen!” as the crowd began chanting for the late-night host. He also got a rousing and extended round of applause when he won Outstanding Talk Series later in the night. The chants returned, too. Really, the crowd was going crazy.
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Bowen Yang hugging Jeff Hiller
After his stint in Nate Bargatze’s opening sketch, SNL’s Bowen Yang made a beeline to Somebody Somewhere’s Jeff Hiller before taking his seat. The pair exchanged a huge hug, seemingly excited to see each other just a few minutes before Hiller won his first Emmy Award.
Sterling K. Brown on a scooter with an injured Achilles
Sterling K. Brown was quite the trouper Sunday night, showing up for the ceremony despite an Achilles’ heel injury. Seated in the second row, Brown had a steady flow of the night’s biggest celebs coming by to greet him and wish him well.
A very buzzy concession stand
There were lots of star-studded interactions happening in the lobby of Downtown L.A.’s Peacock Theater, where Emmy-goers could grab concessions from cocktails to popcorn. Step out during any commercial break, and you were bound to run a star or two, like Taika Waititi and Rita Ora or The Bear‘s Liza Colón-Zayas (and her husband David Zayas) and Abby Elliott all snagging some snacks in between awards. Jason Isaacs and Sam Rockwell got stopped by a few drag queens eager to say hello to The White Lotus actors. Their co-star Aimee Lou Wood also got stopped for some photos while grabbing a drink.
Service dog in the lobby –– everyone wants to stop and say hello
Even with TV’s biggest stars in attendance, the most sought-after interaction was with a service dog accompanying an Emmys guest. Everyone, and we mean everyone, was eager to get their moment with the furry guest of honor.
Jimmy Kimmel and Colbert showing each other love during a commercial break
After lending his own Emmy campaign to his friend Stephen Colbert in light of The Late Show‘s unceremonious cancellation, Jimmy Kimmel made sure to give him a hug during a commercial break. Kimmel even gave Colbert a friendly kiss on the cheek before snapping a photo.
Massive standing ovation and applause for Adolescence star Owen Cooper
There are not many winners who can get the entire Peacock Theater crowd on its feet, but 15-year-old Owen Cooper sure did. When we say everyone, we mean just about everyone jumped to their feet when the newcomer won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or TV Movie, becoming the youngest male actor winner in history.
Pedro Pascal chumming it up with the cast of The White Lotus — and pretty much everyone else
If there was one person everyone was clambering to talk to, it was Pedro Pascal. The Last of Us nominee held court all night from the first row of the Emmys, chatting it up with some of the biggest stars in attendance from Martin Short and Tony Gilroy to Cate Blanchett and Julianne Nicholson. During one commercial break in particular, he could be seen catching up with the likes of Leslie Bibb, Sam Rockwell and Walton Goggins from another HBO hit, The White Lotus.
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The boos and the cheers
The audience always can be heard from the telecast, though sometimes their sentiments are hard to parse out. Let’s just say there were a lot of boos when Television Academy chairman Chris Abrego mentioned Congress’ defunding of public broadcasting. On the other hand, there were a ton of cheers when mentioning Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen’s support of the LGBTQ community specifically.
Hannah Einbinder’s mention of ICE and Palestine also got quite a bit of support in the room even though CBS parent company Paramount denounced a recent open letter from thousands of members behind Film Workers for Palestine, who announced a boycott of Israeli film institutions that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.” Inspired by the 1987 pledge made by the Filmmakers United Against Apartheid movement, FWP noted its goal “takes aim at institutional complicity, not identity,” decrying Paramount “misrepresenting the pledge in an attempt to silence our colleagues in the film industry.”
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Those with the loudest applause during the In Memoriam segment: Ozzy Osbourne, John Amos, Maggie Smith, David Lynch and Quincy Jones. Interestingly, Severance commanded much more applause than The Pitt, even though the latter beat the former in a majority of the categories they competed in.
Scarlett Johansson racing back to her seat, cocktails in hand
With just over an hour left in the show, Scarlett Johansson was spotted rushing back to her seat as the ushers urged everyone to clear the aisles mere seconds before the end of another commercial break. She clearly was coming from concessions, as illustrated by the two cocktails in hand. She was, of course, in attendance with her Emmy-winning husband Colin Jost. The couple snuck out of the show a bit early, aforementioned Emmy in tow, just ahead of Noah Wyle’s win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
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