The 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be held on Friday, Dec. 15, with the ceremony airing live on CBS starting at 9 p.m. ET. Soap Opera Digest chatted with the nominees to get the scoop on how they found out, what episodes they submitted, and more as we count down to daytime’s biggest night!
Outstanding Supporting Actress
Brook Kerr (Portia, GENERAL HOSPITAL)
ABC/Craig Sjodin
Congratulations on your first Daytime Emmy nomination! “Thank you so much. It’s been such a journey! I’m still a little bit shocked, but I’m thrilled and excited and all of that. It’s amazing!”
How did you find out your name was on the list of nominees? “I didn’t know when the list was coming out and I didn’t want to know, I wanted to be surprised. The Lead [Actor and Actress nominations] had come out the day before and I had congratulated Maurice [Benard, Sonny] and everything, but I didn’t know when Supporting was happening or when all of this was going to be going down. Then I got a call from Frank [Valentini, executive producer] one morning. I have a couple of numbers saved [in my phone under his name], like for his assistant and his office or whatever. So, anyway, when I saw his name, ‘I was like, ‘Oh, this is bad. Maybe someone [I was supposed to be in scenes with] has Covid and now I don’t have to go in today. Maybe I can go to the beach!’ Like, that’s what I was thinking [laughs]. ‘Oh, shoot, somebody has Covid,’ but also, ‘Ooh, day off!’ So I answered the phone and I was totally surprised that it actually was Frank and not someone from his office! And he told me I’d been nominated and when he said it, I was like, ‘No, no, no, no.’ I just kept saying that and he said, ‘Brook, yes. Your reel was amazing, you did a great job, and you deserve this.’ I was just walking around in a circle in my living room going, ‘No, no, no, no!’ Because it was just surreal! I think about being on PASSIONS [as Whitney] back in the day and they didn’t view us [as Emmy material], you know what I mean? We didn’t have that street cred, and it wasn’t a cast of these, like, big veteran names with the decades of soap experience behind them.”
What scenes were on your reel? “Well, it was the year with Trina’s trial and all of that, and the scenes that I got a lot of response from people about were the scenes with Vernee [Watson, Stella, where Portia and Stella discussed how Trina’s race might affect her ability to get a fair trial]. I really wanted the reel to tell a little bit of a story, so the scenes with Vernee were perfect because it was really explaining where Portia’s mind was, what was happening with Trina’s trial, Portia feeling like she was losing her baby to the flaws of the world and worrying about strangers passing judgment on her and things like that.’ And then I kind of went into the thing with Oz Haggerty, drugging him into waking up, because that was the first time my character every compromised herself, compromised her job to go against the law for her child, which I thought was a huge thing to do. She was doing it out of this pure desperation and love for her child. I tried to [produce a reel] that had a complete beginning, middle and end.”
Can you put into words what this nomination means to you? “At this stage in my life, I’m happy in my own skin, walking down the street in the sunshine, you know what I mean? So it’s not like I felt this burning need to be nominated. But then, when it actually happens, every moment and every memory from the time you were a little girl, sitting in front of the TV, comes flooding back to you. All of a sudden, it’s like, ‘This is what you’ve always been thinking about. You’ve been dreaming about having moments like this in your mind.’ It’s a little overwhelming, but in the best possible way.”
Who was the first person you told? “My son [Chris Warren, Jr.] was the first call I made, obviously! I was screaming into his voicemail and he was like, ‘I didn’t understand a word you said!’ And then, of course, he was like, ‘Wow, I am so happy for you.’ And then I called my uncle, who I’m super-close to, and who has been a wonderful support system for me since my dad passed.”
Who were your first congratulations from? “People from the show, producers and other cast members. I mean, all these people, even past agents! It was really nice. You don’t realize what a big deal it is until it happens to you, and you’re like, ‘Oh, wow, everybody knows about this!’ ”
Two other actresses from GH, Kelly Thiebaud (ex-Britt) and the late Sonya Eddy (ex-Epiphany), are included in this category. What does it mean to you to be honored alongside them? “It means a lot, because I love and respect both of them as human beings and as actors. When Kelly won last year, her mom and I were going crazy while she was up there getting her award!”
When you think about the actual night, do you think you’ll be nervous sitting there waiting for your category? “Oh, I’m gonna be a mess! I’m gonna be cool about it, but I’m gonna be a mess on the inside [laughs]. But they always seem to throw in Supporting Actress right at the beginning, so either way, I can be relaxed after that and enjoy the night.”
Will you prepare a speech in case your name is called? “This is a great question. I have thought about what I would say, but every day it changes, so I’m probably going to have a little cheat sheet in my cleavage that I’d look at right beforehand. But once I got up there, who knows what would come out of my mouth?! So, we’ll see what happens if it happens.”
Where would you keep the Emmy if you won? “It would go in my little corner office nook that I have in my apartment next to some books that inspire me — you know, African-American history and things that have expanded my thinking about people and communication.”
What are you most looking forward to about the big night? “Oh, dressing up. I just want to dress up and have fun and see the producers without their glasses, with their hair down. It’s just fun for us all to be together — the actors who are nominated and the producers and the directors — and feel like we’re all on the same team together and can celebrate together.”
