The Eagles may have lost badly last night, but Philadelphia still took a couple of wins that same night at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, most notably Quinta Brunson for her work in the second season of “Abbott Elementary.”
This is the second Emmy for Brunson, a comedian and actress originally from West Philly. Her first was at the last Primetime Emmys ceremony for writing the pilot episode of “Abbott Elementary,” while last night’s win was her first Emmy for acting.
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Other nominees for the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series were Christina Applegate for “Dead to Me,” Rachel Brosnahan for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Natasha Lyonne for “Poker Face” and Jenna Ortega for “Wednesday.” Brunson was also up for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig, losing to Judith Light for “Poker Face.”
Legendary comedy actress Carol Burnett presented the award. Brunson’s brief but emotional acceptance speech expressed her love for comedy. “I love making ‘Abbott Elementary’ so much, and I am so happy to be able to live my dream and act out comedy,” said a teared-up Brunson.
After admitting that she hadn’t prepared a speech, Brunson listed her family members before thanking the audience and exiting the stage. The speech was a far cry from Brunson’s last Emmys acceptance speech, marred by presenter Jimmy Kimmel doing a comedy bit as Brunson gave her remarks.
This was the first major accolade for Brunson this awards season; at the Golden Globes, the prize of best actress in a comedy or musical went to Ayo Edebiri for “The Bear.” Edebiri has a recurring role in “Abbott Elementary” as the sister of Brunson’s character. Last night, Edebiri instead took home the Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy. Both Brunson and Edebiri are up for the Screen Actors Guild award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series.
Quinta Brunson wasn’t the only Philly native to win at the ceremony last night. Rob McElhenny, best known as one of the lead actors and co-creators of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” was in attendance, representing his sports documentary show “Welcome to Wrexham,” which features himself and Ryan Reynolds. McElhenney, Reynolds and the producers of “Wrexham” won for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Show.
Hilariously, McElhenny was watching the ill-fated Eagles-Buccaneers playoff game on his phone during the ceremony, as pictured by his wife and “It’s Always Sunny” co-star Kaitlin Olson. Attending the Emmys appeared to be worth it for McElhenny, as he went home with a trophy while the Eagles went home in defeat.