For the third year in a row, Julia Louis-Dreyfus brought home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. This is no surprise to most of us who have loved her since Elaine Benes in Seinfeld, or those who remember her from SNL before that.
Officially America’s new queen of television comedy, Louis-Dreyfus now broke the record previously held by -none other than- Lucille Ball, by being nominated 15 times for acting in comedies. (JLD has three other nominations as a producer). She also made history for being the first actress to ever win five Emmys for three different series.
More surprising than her Emmy award for her role as Veep’s Selina Meyer was the gag she and her co-presenter Bryan Cranston planned, and executed, which concluded in an intensely passionate kiss.
The Breaking Bad actor was co-presenting with Louis-Dreyfus earlier in the telecast where he mentioned the time he played her love interest in an episode of Seinfeld. He guest starred as a joke-loving dentist who once kissed her character Elaine. Louis-Dreyfus claimed not to remember the episode.
As a reminder, he later cut the actress off on her way up to receive her Emmy with an 11-second kiss.
This year’s #Emmys were a triumph for women of a certain age, writes @mulkerrins http://t.co/g8Om5vy10y (Reuters) pic.twitter.com/DsVTxWw9QP
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) August 26, 2014
“Well, I think it’s not a question of why, but more a question of why not?” Cranston later jokingly remarked.
Reporters backstage also learned how Louis-Dreyfus carefully planned the gag:
“…I asked my husband if he was OK with that and he said sure and Bryan checked with his wife and she said sure. … Obviously, I might not have won. That was very stiff competition. So we worked it so that the presenting stuff would hopefully have worked on its own.”
Elsewhere on Twitter, VP Joe Biden was quick to send his congratulations for Louis-Dreyfus’ win too:
“Congrats @OfficialJLD. A fellow Veep with a great sense of humor, and a good friend. #Emmys,”
Congrats @OfficialJLD. A fellow Veep with a great sense of humor, and a good friend. #Emmys pic.twitter.com/wikJKdREBF
— Vice President Biden (@VP) August 26, 2014
The comedianne however, was quick to correct his slip. “Actually I’m the president now. But thx!” she tweetted back, as a reminder that Meyer has been promoted to the Oval Office at the close of this latest season.
Actually I’m the president now. But thx! RT @VP Congrats @OfficialJLD. A fellow Veep with a great sense of humor, and a good friend.#Emmys
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) August 26, 2014