The heat was on at the 58th Annual Emmy Awards red carpet—literally. In fact, the sun was blazing down on the Shrine Auditorium so furiously, most of TV’s top names dashed into the air-conditioned relief of the ceremony as quickly as they could.
Hollywood.com did manage to snare Sarah Chalke, who swapped her scrubs for a lacy ivory Louisa Baccaria gown. “I loved that it felt kind of vintage and French and it felt like it would be a little bit lighter because it’s 109 degrees,” she said.
Chalke had more to celebrate than just an Emmy nod for Scrubs. “It was my birthday so I had some friends over this morning and we had some cake,” she said. “It was nice of the Academy to organize this little party for me.” When Hollywood.com wondered how she fit Emmy prep time in with a birthday bash, she laughed. “We’ll really celebrate next weekend, but we had time for cake.”
Grey’s Anatomy nominee Sandra Oh, dazzling in Vera Wang and an assortment of big Loree Rodkin bangles, gave Chalke a squealy birthday shout-out on the red carpet, and also pointed out another birthday girl: her co-star Chandra Wilson, who strutted the carpet along Oh in a ritzy red Bradley Bayou number, bedecked in a starry Chopard diamond necklace.
Wilson also had a little trouble juggling the Emmys with her own special day. “I’ve been ups since 3 am this morning thinking about it, because I was sure I would forget throughout the day.” Earlier in the week, she did make a point to check in with her female co-stars to make sure they didn’t pull a Desperate Housewives-style fashion spillover. “We had talked about in on the set, and for a minute we were all going to be red,” said Wilson.
Prada-clad co-star Isaiah Washington was optimistic about the chances of a Grey’s sweep, but said the work was the real reward: “It would be nice to bring some metal home for everyone. But if not we go back to work on Monday and we do it all over again for this season, and hopefully they’ll invite us back next year.” “They were extraordinary actresses before the nominations and they’ll be extraordinary actresses when we all go home.” He made it through the long gauntlet of media to the bitten end of the red carpet wiping sweat from his brow. “It’s a lot of work—it’s like the prom. Hopefully we’ll put on a good show tonight.”
Stephen Collins arrived ready to pay tribute to his late employer, super TV titan Aaron Spelling. “He was one of the very, very few people I worked for who if he liked you would work with you again and again and again,” said the actor. “I did a movie for TV for him called Dark Mirror with Jane Seymour and about at least ten years later I got a call out of the blue asking me to do 7th Heaven: ‘Hey, buddy, I think it’s time to do a family show again.’ I didn’t have to read for it, he offered me the role and it completely changed my life.”
Collins said the supposed brouhaha about the Spelling tribute, attributed to bad blood between Spelling’s wife Candy and daughter Tori, was more than likely overblown. “I’ve heard the drama that’s been in the tabloids the last couple of weeks or so which I have a feeling was manufactured more than it has any genuine substance,” said Collins. I don’t know about tonight, but I heard Candy felt it was just too soon to do something more full out… I’d be happy to honor him always. He was a great gentleman. He wasn’t like a character on any of his shows, but if he was he was more like someone on 7th Heaven than Melrose Place or Dynasty.”
Leslie David Baker, The Office’s Stanley, was enjoying his first-ever trip down an Emmy red carpet, and told Holywood.com that a victory for the show would result in an outrageous party to outdo even The Office’s own drunken bashes. “When we were at the Golden Globes… I’m not going to name any names but some of us were dancing on the furniture when Steve [Carell] finally came to party. So you’ll probably see some more of that tonight. We tend to lose our shoes.”
24’s Gregory Itzin showed up with a kind of presidential good luck charm: studded earrings in red, white and blue. “I’ve become that guy—the guy with the three earrings,” he said. He was finding his first trip down the carpet an eye-opening experience. “It’s more spread out that I thought. It’s fun. So far I’m not jaded about it. I’m not one of those guys: ‘Ah, been there, done that.’ I’m treating everything like an adventure, and it is, because who knows if this will all ever come again.”
The red carpet was akin to the most glamorous channel surfing imaginable, with some unusual meet-ups. “I can’t believe I met Helen Mirren,” said comic Kathy Griffin, who was hoping the ceremony would be a bit less reverential in tone than previous efforts. “I hope to see some bad behavior, some drunken antics. I’m hoping somebody’s dress will go up. If not, I’ll pull mine up!”
