THR's exciting tradition is upon us. They've released the full roundtable of Emmy Drama actress hopefuls. Well, hopefuls at the time. Oprah Winfrey was not nominated as she was expected to be for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The same thing happened to her when she was on the Oscar-seeking roundtable for The Butler. Despite being the former queen of talk, perhaps this format is a curse for her? The other women present were nominated: Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman (Big Little Lies), Jessica Lange (Feud: Bette and Joan), Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid's Tale), and Chrissy Meitz (This Is Us).
The Roundtable in full, and ten favorite moments therein after the jump...
01:50 Reese being all incredulous about her filmography. "I don't know - do y'all know how many movies you've done?" Cut to this reaction shot in which Kidman and Lange share the same smile, albeit not the same inner monologue. Bet you $100 Nicole is thinking "56. Plus 15 TV projects, 3 voicework gigs, 2 stage plays."
04:46 Elisabeth Moss's story about trying to decide whether or not to take The Handmaid's Tale is interesting. Especially predicting how you'll feel if you say no. Probably good advice for any job offer. But this must make non-famous actors so envious. Imagine having the luxury to consider a "no" on a job that good. The amazing punchline that everyone at the table understands is the "asked to see the second script" because pilots obviously get the most attention.
12:26 Oprah answering for Chrissy Meitz about how she got comfortable filming a scene on a weight scale in her underwear. "She just said she did it. She didn't say she was comfortable"
20:36 Kidman's rock throwing rage story. WTF? She sounds fun. Jessica Lange makes it so much more interesting when she adds "Your body doesn't understand that it's make believe."
Which is a fascinating insight into the well known fact that actors can seem normal but are actually insane people.
30:58 Oprah's envy about the homes in Big Little Lies. HEE! So funny to think that even billionaires have this while watching real estate porn.
37:06 Meitz' expert read of that rude guy on the airplane "we're in first class"
42:35 Just when you're internally screaming "don't do a second season of Big Little Lies" at Reese & Nicole, Lange saves the day with that exquisite "I like characters who die. You're done" HA.
44:48 How Moss and Winfrey both unwind after work "there's usual a cocktail involved" / "I believe in it!"
48:15 Elisabeth Moss being so delightful throughout makes her 'I watch a lot of TV' and her preference for comedy sound so perfect and 'of course'... and yes Reese, she was hilarious as Peggy on Mad Men.
53:00 Reese's merciless (and true) takedown of double standards with male and female actors with kids and their prep time in movies - three weeks in the woods!
THE ROUNDTABLE IN FULL BELOW - what were your favorite moments?
P.S. I also live for the awkward insert footage of the photoshoot at 46:00. Imagine ordering Jessica Lange to touch Nicole Kidman's knee!
P.P.S. Oh and here's the Comedy Actress roundtable as well which I don't have time to watch at the moment but let us know you're favorite bits so we can skim.