Emmys blue carpet matches Hollywood’s moodpublished at 22:40 BST
22:40 BST
David Willis and Regan Morris
Reporting from Los Angeles
Image source, NBC via Getty Images
The blue carpet greeting those at the Emmys tonight may match the underlying mood in Hollywood – but many here are putting a brave face on it.
And at an annual pre-show gathering one series was on everyone’s lips: The Pitt.
Made in LA (but set in Pittsburgh), the show became a beacon of hope for those around Hollywood who are unemployed and worried about slumping production in the US as producers increasingly move to the UK, Canada and elsewhere.
“With COVID and with the strikes on top of each other, I know a lot of people just had to hang it up,” says Jeff Kober, who is nominated for being a guest actor on The Pitt and also for his role on General Hospital, the first actor to earn both a primetime and daytime Emmy nomination in the same year.
HBO, which had many actors to choose from, didn’t actually nominate Kober for Emmy consideration. He submitted himself, a bold move that paid off.
“I think the talent will always find its way forward as long you don’t quit,” he said.
Not since ER hit our screens a quarter of a century ago has a medical drama proved as popular as The Pitt. A gritty emergency room drama that casts an often unflattering eye on the American healthcare system, it has 25 Emmy nominations.
“It asks existential questions about what it is to live and die,” says actress Sepideh Moafi, who is nominated for best supporting actress in a drama series, the first Iranian and Middle Eastern woman to do so.
“People see their own lives reflected in those stories.”
Image caption,
Actress Sepideh Moafi speaking to the BBC at a pre Emmys party