She celebrated her win for best lead actress in a drama for her role as Kristen DiMera on NBC's Days of Our Lives.
AP Images/InvisionEileen Davidson, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
The actress took home an Emmy for her Days of Our Lives character, though she also has a role on The Young and the Restless. She said of her two opposite characters: “I feel like I hit the actor gold mine. It’s an actor’s dream to be able to have this spectrum. It’s like two pairs of very comfortable shoes that are very different.”
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Billy Miller, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
The Young and the Restless star won for lead actor for the first time. “I’m from Texas. My dad told me that if somebody is going to pay you to do a job, you give them 110 percent,” he said of the work ethic that led him to the recognition, adding: “If you’re going to go to work, it should be fun. We don’t have tough jobs.”
The Young and the Restless, Outstanding Drama Series
“This show has so much history, and we still have many of the veteran characters that have been on for so many years,” said executive producer Jill Farren Phelps of the soap’s legacy. She continued: “This is a very talented group of artists. The actors have an unbelievable sense of pride of ownership in their work and in this show.”
Amelia Heinle, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
The Young and the Restless star, dressed in a bright orange dress she claimed she was happy she won an Emmy in, was still in shock from her recognition: “I didn’t expect to win it. I thought actually Elizabeth [Hendrickson] would, or maybe we might tie.” When asked where she plans to store her golden trophy, she said, “I guess I’ll put it in the office. For a while, it will be out in the living room, and the kids will hang their stuff on it.”
Eric Martsolf, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
The Days of Our Lives star talked about the challenges of playing a drug addict onscreen: “I’ve been emotionally draining myself for the last year at work, so when I come home I’m pretty stoic. I come home and I’m just tired. I’m a mess trying to portray this tumultuous guy.” Martsolf, who brought his wife with him tonight after arranging for his 8-year-old twins to be watched by their grandmother, continued: “I want to do something that means something other than just taking my shirt off and saying, ‘Hey, can I fix your sink?’ ” Gesturing to the trophy in his hand he added: “This is lovely, but it doesn’t define me.”
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The Young and the Restless, Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team
Shelly Altman, on behalf of the writing staff, revealed that the episode they submitted for consideration was the one in which Billy is waiting an interminable five minutes while his daughter is wading between life and death. “I had an idea, and I sat down over the weekend,” she said of the Emmy-winning episode. “You tend to agonize longer over a script or story that you’re having trouble seeing, but this one came very quickly.” Altman also teased the upcoming season: “We’ve got lots of hot stuff coming up, lots of romance and all the right people in less clothing.”
One Life to Live, Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team
On behalf of the directing team, Gary Donatelli and Jill Mitwell shared that they felt validated by their win. “Receiving this award, I felt the respect of the daytime community for voting for us,” said Mitwell. The duo revealed that they submitted the pilot episode of the online version for consideration because it “showed quite a variety of scenes and emotions and a variety of directing styles.” Donatelli and Mitwell also discussed the challenges of adjusting from a broadcast network to an online medium. “There was no censorship so in the beginning, we were dropping f-bombs, but the old fans didn’t like that, so we adjusted.”
Hunter King, Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series
The 20-year-old Young and the Restless star was thrilled to be recognized. “Since I was 5 years old, I’ve been working for something like this.” What will she do with her award? “I keep joking that I’m going to take her to the gym and lift with her because she’s really heavy,” she said laughing.
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Jeopardy!, Outstanding Game Show
Executive producer Harry Friedman said of the game show’s victory: “It really validates all the hard work that has gone into keeping the show fresh.” He especially thanked the writers who, he claims, put the “art” in the arts and sciences of television. The game show, which will be starting season 31 in a few weeks, has an increasingly younger audience. (Friedman pointed out that the average age of Jeopardy! contestants has dropped 11 years since he’s worked on the show.) And when host Alex Trebek‘s contract is up in two years, who exactly will Friedman be looking at to take over as host? “Someone credible,” he says. “Alex is a smart guy, and he’s infinitely curious about things, so when we have our morning meetings, he really doesn’t want to just review the material; he wants to understand it. … He’s engaged in the game, and that’s pretty rare.”
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The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Outstanding Talk Show / Entertainment
While the production team revealed that DeGeneres is in Europe on vacation with wife Portia de Rossi, they acknowledged that they texted with her Friday night after the Creative Arts Awards. Could the talk-show queen’s daytime accomplishments translate into late-night success? “Absolutely,” said the team. “We think that Ellen does well in any part of the day. She’d be a woman who could contend in late night.”
Entertainment Tonight, Outstanding Entertainment News Program (tie)
“This is a hard job,” said executive producer Linda Bell Blue. “We’re up at 4 o’clock in the morning, like everyone else that’s nominated. It’s quite a grind.” She also noted that she was happy to have tied with Extra in the entertainment news program category.
Venice: The Series, Outstanding New Approaches / Drama Series
The web series won an Emmy in 2011, but executive producer Crystal Chappell says they were “kind of in the dark and undefined” at the time. “This is such a big, wonderful opportunity for us to be onstage with all these other amazing shows,” she said, noting she was more comfortable with this year’s win. “I’ve watched daytime since I could remember. Standing here with an Emmy in my hand for doing something a little different on a different platform is unbelievable.”
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Rodner Figueroa, Outstanding Daytime Talent in Spanish
The El Gordo y la Flaca correspondent called his win “historic” since it marks the first year that the academy recognized Hispanic networks. “We cater to 50 million viewers in the U.S.,” he said of Univision. “This recognition is important because we are a part of America.”
Clix, Outstanding Entertainment Program in Spanish
“It’s a great surprise,” said executive producer David Gamez of the Spanish program’s win. “Ours is a very small group of people.” Clix is CNN in Spanish, and it was the first year that the academy recognized an outstanding entertainment program in the language.
