Lead Actress Nominee Interviews

Marci Miller (Abigail, DAYS) How did you find out you were nominated? “I totally spaced that the nominations were coming out that day. I do this every year. You submit, and then you don’t pay attention to when they’re coming out. It sneaks up on you. I looked down and had a text from Billy Flynn [Chad] congratulating me, which I think is exactly what happened the last time I was nominated.” What was your reaction? “I texted my husband. I was with my daughter. We were out and about. It was a perfect celebratory thing. I was very surprised.” What scenes did you submit? “I submitted scenes where I am confronting Gwen for staying with my husband all night in a hotel. Then I submitted scenes with Emily [O’Brien, Gwen] and Matt [Ashford, Jack] where Abby finds out that Gwen is pregnant. Then there was a scene with Billy where I’m trying to figure out how to get past this Gwen thing. She’s turned me into a monster. I don’t know if I want to get past this. I don’t know how.” Did you get to speak to Arianne Zucker (Nicole), who’s also nominated as Lead Actress? “We communicated via text and email a little bit. We’re happy to be nominated together. We feel like DAYS has twice the chance that it’s had in years past. Ari had an amazing reel, and my money is on her. I’m really rooting for her hard.” Anything in particular you’re looking forward to about Emmy night? “I just love to see everybody, and I love to see everybody from the different shows. I love to look down the red carpet and see Maura West [Ava, GH] and Laura Wright [Carly, GH] — see these people whose work you admire and look up to and women I’ve had the good fortune of being nominated with before. I only see those people this time of year.”

Mishael Morgan (Amanda, Y&R) Congratulations! What scenes did you submit for consideration? “Most of the stuff with Amanda finding out who her mother is and then learning that her father was dead. There was also a lot of the stuff when Naya asked Amanda to represent Sutton. Also, some of my scenes when Amanda talked to Sutton for the first time and when she talked to Devon about how it made her feel when she found out that Naya and Sutton were lying to her. I also added my final scene after Sutton’s trial with Christian LeBlanc [Michael].” How excited are you that your soap mom, Ptosha Storey, also received a nomination, for Outstanding Guest Performance? “I was so happy that she got a nomination because she really worked hard on the material for her personal reel. She is over-the-moon excited. This is her first nomination for anything and I’m so happy for her. Now, we just need Naya to come back. I love her and Amanda’s dynamic so much, and Ptosha and I have a lot of fun together.” Will you be ready with an acceptance speech? “The other two times I was nominated, I didn’t prepare anything, I just had an idea in the back of my mind who I wanted to thank, and other than that, I was just going to kind of go with the flow. But when I talked to Bryton [James, Devon] he said that’s not the way to do it because you could go blank when you get up there. So, I’m leaning toward preparing a speech this time.” You have showed up on the red carpet in some fabulous gowns. Which color are you leaning toward? “I’m kind of feeling red this year, even though I’ve done that color two other times. Of course I could completely change my mind when I start looking at options.”

Cynthia Watros (Nina, GH) How did you get the news? “I was walking my dog around the Rose Bowl and [Executive Producer] Frank Valentini called and told me. It was a shocker! You never think they’re going to say your name. It’s such a nice surprise.” Did you feel confident about your reel? “To be honest, I’m not good at all that stuff. The producers made some suggestions, and I had some scenes in mind, and then you just try to put together a story that’s not completely confusing to the people watching.” What does being recognized mean to you? “It means a lot because your fellow actors are voting on the piece of work you put together. I have the mindset that winning an Emmy is fantastic and makes the night really fun, but it doesn’t really change your life. When I won in 1998 [as GUIDING LIGHT’s Annie], it was an amazing night and then I had this whole life [after that job]. Now I’m so blessed to be back in daytime and this time around, I think I appreciate it a little bit more. I feel very lucky in my life.” How do you feel about being in the same category as Laura Wright? “I love it! I have so much respect and love for Laura. That we get to do it together and hang out is going to be a highlight.” Do you think you’ll be nervous that night as your category approaches? “For some reason, yes. I don’t even know what I’ll be nervous about; it’s not, ‘Oh, God, if you lose...’ because if you lose, you just get up the next day and go to work and everything’s fine. But I remember the last time, the camera is right up in your face and you’re holding the hand of the person you love and the anticipation is building.... Maybe the nerves are, ‘What if I do win and I get up there and say something completely stupid and ridiculous?!’ ”

Laura Wright (Carly, GH) How did you find out? “I took a break to get water in the middle of a pickle-ball lesson and saw that my phone was going crazy. I was like, ‘What the heck?!’ I read some texts and was like, ‘Oh, wow!’ It was so exciting. It’s an honor. It was a big year for Carly, so it felt good, and then to be nominated with Cynthia, who I spent the year working with, is just icing on the cake, truly.” What did you submit? “I used the scene where Carly talks about Sonny not being there anymore to make her coffee; I knew those were going on my reel before they even aired. The other scenes I used were finding out from Maxie that Nina knew the whole time [that Sonny was alive] and a lovely scene with Epiphany, where she’s talking to her about Jason. I was like, ‘I got Sonya [Eddy, Epiphany] to shed a tear? This is going on my reel [laughs]!’ ” Did you do anything to celebrate? “First, I texted with Cynthia and Kelly Thiebaud [Britt] — I was beyond thrilled to hear that Kelly was nominated and I am screaming and yelling and rooting for her. I heard from Kim Zimmer [ex-Reva, GL], I got texts from my boss and other producers with congratulations, and my kids were so excited. Then my boyfriend [Wes Ramsey, ex-Peter] and I went out to see Chelsea Handler with friends and we all raised a glass of champagne and cheered. It was really nice.” Are you an Emmy speech-preparer? “I’m not, but I do think about who you would never want to forget — or mispronounce their name as you’re thanking them because of nerves and everything. More than anything, I’m just really excited to be there celebrating with everyone in the daytime community. I can’t wait!”

Arianne Zucker (Nicole, DAYS) This is your fifth nomination. How did you react to hearing your name was on the list of Lead Actresses? “I was surprised by the nomination. There are so many great actresses [in the genre]. I thought I had a decent reel and just wanted to put my name in the hat.” You submitted the Nicole and Eric breakup scenes? “I just did the one [episode], and I had to cut it. It could only be a certain number of minutes long. It was my most emotional show of the year. Greg [Vaughan, Eric] was a guest star in those. He had just come back for a few episodes, and he’s always emotionally connected with me.” Did you do anything special to celebrate after you found out? “We did go out for sushi. It was Kyle [Lowder, ex-Rex/ex-Brady, DAYS], [daughter] Izzy, Shawn [Christian, ex-Daniel/her fiancé] and myself. It was fun. Izzy had back-to-school night, then we all went for sushi and had a little celebratory dinner.” Are you looking forward to the ceremony, now that it’s going to be in person again? “It’s going to be really lovely to see everybody. It’s been a few years now since we’ve gotten to see each other. We don’t even really get to do events together that much anymore. The two-and-a-half years of Covid has shut all of that down. It will be a breath of fresh air to say hello to everybody again. And it’s a fun time. These are fun for us, and it’s a special night out. I’m very much looking forward to it.” Will you be bringing Shawn as your date? “Yes. Of course, my daughter wants to go, too. So I’m like, ‘Hold on. We’ll see.’ ”