Though I am obviously very interested in the entertainment industry, I really have no interest in watching award shows. They’re simply too long and drawn out, and too focused on sappy speeches and often badly-written jokes for my taste. I’m not into fashion either, so the whole pageantry parade is lost on me. Of course, I’m interested in seeing who won what awards, but that’s something I can easily look up seconds after each one is announced.
However, if every speech was as classic (and short) as Nurse Jackie star Merrit Weaver‘s at last Sunday’s Emmys after winning the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, I would definitely watch more award shows.
In an interview with New York magazine, Weaver confesses that she has loved hearing so many unexpected well wishes from her friends and acquaintances after winning the award. She says, “I have to say, one of the nicest things, unexpectedly, has been just having so many people that I’ve worked with or known get in touch with me and say they were happy for me. That’s one of the nicest parts of it, just friends you haven’t spoken to in like ten or fifteen years, or people you haven’t worked with in many years, you know? I hadn’t considered that as an aspect [of winning].”
As for her speech, Weaver reveals that she didn’t expect to win so she just didn’t write one. She explains, “I was just really surprised, so I hadn’t prepared anything. I was really caught off guard. I think I was overwhelmed and I got a little flooded and then my mind went blank and it seemed like things were quiet for a really long time. So I didn’t really have any other choice! That’s what it felt like, you know?” Though she obviously is enjoying the notoriety from his off-the-cuff speech, Weaver reveals that she does regret not actually thanking anyone directly. She says, “There are so many people I want to thank, and that might have been why my brain crashed.”
However, luckily she now has a chance to sum it all up without the threat of music playing her off the stage. Most of all, she appreciate how lucky she feels, saying, “I kind of just feel really lucky that I landed on, not just any gig, but a gig this good with people who are this nice and this talented. I hadn’t worked in a year when I got this job. Sometimes I wonder what would have become of me if I hadn’t gotten this. It’s been really, really great, you know? I watch television, I know what the TV landscape looks like, and I know that I don’t always see a lot of people like me, so I’m very grateful in many more ways than just one for this job.”
