Kieran Culkin explains his 'rude' baby request: What you didn't see on TV at the Emmys
LOS ANGELES – HBO's drama "Succession" and FX's "The Bear" were the big winners at Monday's 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, taking six major awards each including, respectively, best drama and best comedy.
But the real big winner in Fox's delayed TV awards had to be, and we're just going to say it, love. Yep, love.
After all, "Succession" star Kieran Culkin literally told his wife Jazz Charton from the stage "I want more" kids when accepting his best actor award while "The Bear" stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Matty Matheson shared a deep kiss on stage accepting their comedy's top honor.
So how did the wonderfully warm emotions play out when cameras weren't rolling in Los Angeles' Peacock Theater during the Emmy Awards? Here's what you didn't see on TV:
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Here's to the Emmy guests that show up on time. "Fleishman Is in Trouble" star Claire Danes was one of the first stars to enter the auditorium to find her seat in a relaxed manner and sip a beverage leisurely. However, the "Only Murders in the Building" crew of Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez were also surprisingly early to the live show.
"Hey guys," Gomez chirped to her famed comedy co-stars as she approached their second-row seats with beau Benny Blanco. Once Martin and Short made way for the new couple to take their high-profile spots, record producer Blanco did the standing schmooze with fellow guests, often with his arm around the seated Gomez.
In the nearby outdoor Emmys courtyard, "Wednesday" star Jenna Ortega had time to wait patiently for her turn to take a picture in front of a life-sized, winged Emmy Award statuette. Ortega passed her bottled water to a friend and beamed for the keepsake shot when posing with her mother, Natalie.
'The Bear' star Ayo Edebiri celebrated her Emmy win with her family
Commercial breaks during the Fox broadcast were all about three-minute celebrity schmoozes inside the star-filled theater. One of the best comedic commercial get-togethers we saw involved Jimmy Kimmel crouching in the aisle to speak with "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels, "Weekend Update" host Colin Jost and alum Seth Meyers.
"The Bear" star Ayo Edebiri called herself a "bad kid" during her best supporting actress speech for making her parents "sit kind of far away" during the awards show. But, in truth, Edebiri's parents were seated quite close by in the star-packed room.
After returning to her seat during a commercial break with her Emmy triumphantly in hand, Edebiri posed with her proudly smiling parents, who ventured over from their nearby seats. The actress also elicited a mini-standing ovation dancing and pumping her new gold statute in the air in celebration.
The theater lobbies, where stars paid $17.50 for premium cocktails (just like all of us), became increasingly packed with trophy-wielding Emmy winners and guests as the night went on. "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert celebrated with his Emmy-nominated writing staff while gamely agreeing to pose for selfies with any passersby who asked. And they asked.
Colbert was so automatic in agreeing to selfies that the host with the most sometimes took the iPhone to shoot the smiling photo himself. And it was good selfie work.
What happened with that 'Bear' stage kiss?
Speaking to reporters backstage, “The Bear” stars Matheson and Moss-Bachrach took a moment to reflect on the spontaneous awards stage smooch seen around the world.
“It was nice!” Matheson said.
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Moss-Bachrach agreed, saying, “It was a blur. I had my eyes closed. I think Matty had his eyes closed, too. Time stopped. I don’t know how many years went by.”
Matheson helpfully chimed in, saying, “About 45 seconds.”
'Succession' star Culkin admits his Emmy stage baby request was 'rude'
Culkin got a big laugh when pleading with his wife Charton, from the stage, for a third kid after his Emmy triumph.
“I’ve been asking (to have another child) for a while. My wife, Jazz said, ‘Maybe if you win the Emmy, hahaha,’” Culkin told reporters backstage. He reminded Charton of the bet after winning a best actor Golden Globe on Jan. 7.
“She spent the whole week nervous," Culkin said. "And instead of just talking to her in private like a human, I blasted her on stage, which was very rude."
No hard feelings. Culkin was spotted walking to the nearby Los Angeles Convention Center for the 75th Emmy Governors Gala with his new award in his right hand, and his left around Charton. When the couple was besieged by photographers before entering the afterparty, they puckered up for a kiss pose. The photo flashes were blinding.
Trevor Noah celebrates his 'Daily Show' win with Niecy Nash
The first stop for the most serious Governors Ball attendees was the engraving station, set up in the center of the elaborately decorated Los Angeles Convention Hall. Within minutes of the doors opening, "The Daily Show" host Trevor Noah celebrated his first-ever Emmy win for best variety talk show by watching closely as his name was permanently etched into the trophy.
"Congratulations," fellow Emmy winner Niecy Nash shouted to Noah from across the engraving bar. The two embraced, and Nash's wife Jessica Betts happily snapped a photo to mark the moment.
Speaking to reporters earlier, Noah said the award night made him miss "The Daily Show" which he left in 2022 after seven years of hosting. Then he thought about the back-breaking schedule.
“When I see everybody here in the same place, definitely. I would gladly come back and work with every single one of these people every single day of the week," Noah said, adding, “When I see what my schedule is on Wednesday, I would not."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Selena Gomez's date, Kieran Culkin baby fever: Emmys behind-the-scenes
