The Emmy winners may have had to cram their big speeches into a few seconds on stage before the dreaded music cue played them off, but they definitely had more to say backstage.
Sarah Jessica Parker said she for one did not feel any discomfort reuniting at the awards with her Sex and the City castmates after rumors of a long-simmering feud with co-star Kim Cattrall reportedly scuttled a big-screen version of the beloved HBO sitcom. “I think we’re all really wanted to be here tonight, we’re very proud,” said Parker.
“I think the thing that I will always remember is that this is the first time that all four of us were nominated, and that’s really special. And sometimes things like that get lost among things that are titillating and untrue, and it can be frustrating because we were here to celebrate that we were all nominated.
“So that wasn’t weird for me. I can’t speak for anyone else,” the actress continued. “I love my cast. I really loved working with them, and really love knowing them, and am very proud of knowing them.”
Parker‘s co-star Cynthia Nixon was equally pleased that all four of the actresses got nominations in their series’ final year, and said that competition between the ladies really never entered into it. “I think we’re all pretty used to being nominated opposite each other, as are people on most of the TV shows here tonight. I feel like one of us wins we’re all really excited. When Sarah’s won Golden Globes in the past, we all were so excited, when Kim won a Golden Globe last year it was very exciting. We know each other very well and it’s exciting to see any of the others win.”
Of course, it was Nixon, and not Cattrall or Kristin Davis, who was holding an Emmy at the moment, clinking it in cheers against Laura Linney‘s trophy as they passed on the podium.
Drea De Matteo may be off the powerhouse HBO team these days with her new role on NBC’s “Joey,” but she stayed in the lineup long enough to land her trophy for playing The Sopranos‘ dearly departed Adrianna. But is Ade, who was presumably shot by Silvio off-camera, really gone? “I don’t know if she’s dead,” admitted De Matteo “I believe she is, and if she is she’ll probably come back to haunt them because she’s the innocent, and they killed her.” Considering that she’s still under contract with the newly Emmy winning mob hit, it just may be a possibility. “If they want to use me, they can. And I would love to go back.”
Sopranos creator David Chase kept his cards close to the vest, but was adamant that Adrianna wouldn’t come back as a ghost. As for returning in a dream sequence, “We don’t do dream sequences any more,” deadpanned Chase, alluding to Tony’s long nightmare last season that took up over a third of the show and left audiences and critics scratching their heads in bewilderment.
Meanwhile, a late-arriving De Matteo got locked out of the Shrine Auditorium until the Emmy ceremony’s first commercial break, and thus missed her co-star Michael Imperioli‘s big victory. “They wouldn’t let me in, and I didn’t get a chance to see him win. And I’m more excited about that than me.” Imperioli not only missed a kiss from Drea, he’s also behind on catching her new TV gig: “I haven’t seen [Joey] yet,” Imperioli confessed, “but I think Drea‘s really, really funny, so it would not surprise me if she’s fantastic on the show. She’s a great actress.”
The Daily Show‘s” John Stewart is also someone who’s really, really funny, but when asked about the influence of his political satire on the actual voting habits of his viewers, he kept a humble perspective. “I would not be surprised if, in this election, tens of people change their votes,” offered Stewart. He also brainstormed some new ideas to keep the Comedy Central hit fresh. “We’d like to introduce a baby. We feel that some of the characters have gotten stale…An episode in Hawaii has been suggested. Evil twins have been suggested.”
And Stewart had an opinion on the Britney Spears weekend wedding that he was dying to share when asked-one that the FCC would prefer to keep off the air, no doubt: “About that, I just wanted to let you guys know: Who gives a f—?”
But as amusing as Stewart was, there was one backstage sight that was even funnier was the cast and crew of The Sopranos invading the press room en masse–but instead of rushing to the podium, the bulk of them, led by Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco and Jamie-Lynn Discala, hungrily raided the reporter’s little buffet of treats. Hey, like YOU’D try to stop them.
Two usually verbose award-winning guys that had nothing to say backstage were Frasier stars Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce, who stayed most likely due to their embarrassment of Emmy riches.
The already well-rewarded stars appeared more surprised than anyone that they each won, again, and ducked out of the likely media barrage of questions about John Ritter, whose posthumous win Grammer thwarted.
Other backstage no-shows included the big-time movie folks behind Angels in America: Al Pacino and Meryl Streep, who were present backstage at the Emmys last year. But other winners from the Emmy-bedecked HBO mini came back to meet the press, including Mary-Louise Parker who, as she did at the Golden Globes, happily engaged in conversation about her breasts, a topic that piqued the interest of many of the reporters who had grown weary of putting an Angels nom in the win column.
