Kelly Jenrette of 'Handmaid's Tale' Talks "Overwhelming" Emmy Nomination and Working With Elisabeth Moss | Meet Your Nominee - video Dailymotion

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"She was kind and giving. Even working together in the scene, I felt safe," Jenrette said of working with Moss on 'The Handmaid's Tale.'

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00:00Welcome to Meet Your Nominee.

00:02This is Mariah Gulla from The Hollywood Reporter, and I'm here with Kelly Jenrett today.

00:06Hi.

00:07Hi.

00:08How are you?

00:09I'm good.

00:10How are you?

00:11Good.

00:12Congratulations.

00:13You were nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for The Handmaid's

00:14Tale.

00:15Yes.

00:18Very exciting.

00:19Yes.

00:20How does it feel to be nominated?

00:21Was it a surprise, or did you know this was coming down the pike?

00:24I wish that I would have known, but when I saw my name on the list under Diana Rigg and

00:35Cicely Tyson and Viola Davis and Cherry Jones and Samira Wiley and Kelly Jenrett, I was like,

00:42that's me.

00:43Wow.

00:44So it was exciting and overwhelming, and I cried a lot.

00:50Thank God, even more.

00:52And yeah, just enjoying this roller coaster of a ride.

00:56Yes.

00:57Do you have any other nominees that you're excited about?

01:00Yeah.

01:01Um, I'm really excited about this gentleman named Melvin Jackson Jr. who was nominated

01:07in the short form category.

01:10Oh.

01:11He's my husband.

01:14Really excited about Tracee Ellis Ross.

01:16I love her.

01:18I just think she is amazing.

01:20And Brian Tyree Henry, I'm really excited about him.

01:24I enjoy his work.

01:25Yeah.

01:26And then all the other nominees, but I feel like those two are the ones that come to mind.

01:30And you have a lot of company with you.

01:33Handmaid's Tale has 20 nominations this year.

01:37So, Colin Jost and Michael Che are hosting the Emmys this year.

01:42Mm-hm.

01:43What do you think is the biggest challenge that they're going to face?

01:46I think living up to the previous year's host.

01:51Mm-hm.

01:52And, you know, sometimes it's hit or miss with the funny, you know?

01:58I think that's probably the biggest challenge, just being able to have fun and making sure

02:07that everyone else is having fun too.

02:09Yeah.

02:10Mm-hm.

02:11And I think I know the answer to this, but who do you want to be dancing with at the after

02:15party?

02:16I absolutely want to be dancing with my husband.

02:19When I tell you this man, he is the life of the party.

02:25He has never met a dance floor that he did not like, so I am looking forward to just having

02:30fun with him.

02:31That's fantastic.

02:32And everybody else, but yeah.

02:34So, okay, so let's talk a little bit about your performance.

02:38You play Annie.

02:39Yes.

02:40How did, when did you know that the role of Annie was going to be special?

02:46The moment I read the sides.

02:48Yeah.

02:49I remember in the first season, Luke and June talking about Annie.

02:56It was very quick.

02:58And then the audition came in and I read the sides and I was like, oh, this is Annie.

03:06And that's what happened.

03:08You know, so I was just like, I want this role.

03:12Yeah.

03:13I want this role.

03:14Were you given more of a backstory than we know?

03:18Because it's a lot about what isn't said as well as what's been said.

03:21Mm-hm.

03:22Did they give you more of a backstory or did you have to create more of a backstory for

03:26Annie?

03:27Yeah.

03:28A little bit of both.

03:29Mm-hm.

03:30So there were things in the initial draft of the script that did not make it into the

03:36final cut.

03:37She, Luke and I...

03:38So you know more than the fans do.

03:40I do.

03:41And I was like, I don't know if I can tell it.

03:43Um, but yeah, I mean, I don't think they wouldn't mind.

03:46Um, initially, I was, Annie was talking to June and telling her, you know, we've been

03:56trying, Luke and I have been trying to have a baby, but it's been hard, you know, and so

04:01that gave me a little insight into it.

04:05And when I was on set just talking with O.T., the actor, amazing actor who plays Luke, and

04:12we were kind of figuring out like, well, what really happened between us?

04:16So a lot of that we were kind of creating, but to know that the, that we were trying

04:22to have a baby, but it didn't happen, it just gave me greater insight into, man, this is

04:27something that Luke really wanted.

04:29I did too, but he wanted it so bad that he was willing to stray.

04:34Mm-hm.

04:35And there's potential of Annie coming back into future seasons.

04:39Yeah, it's open.

04:41It's open.

04:41Because there's a lot of the story that hasn't been told.

04:44Mm-hm.

04:44Yeah.

04:45I mean, I haven't heard anything as of yet, but it's definitely open, and I've enjoyed

04:51reading different articles that people have been saying like, oh, well, Annie could show

04:56up here or there, you know, so that's been interesting.

04:59How, how has the fan reaction been?

05:02It's been great.

05:03Um, I was very, I don't want to say skeptical, maybe a little leery at first, because even

05:10I, as a fan of the show, I was rooting for June.

05:13Season one, I'm like, let's go June.

05:16Yeah.

05:17And then when I read Annie's story, I was like, oh, you really hurt this woman.

05:25Um, and so I think a lot of people, a lot of feedback that I was getting, you know, people

05:31were like, I'm, I'm kind of mad at June.

05:33You know, I don't, I don't know how I feel about her anymore.

05:37So, which is understandable, but I, I felt, I'm, I'm happy that people were engaged enough

05:43to respond, um, in whatever way they saw fit, but a lot of it was, I'm kind of mad at

05:50June.

05:50Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, yes.

05:52Um, speaking of June, what was it like shooting with Elizabeth Moss?

05:56I mean, she's, she's such an integral part of that show.

05:59Yeah, she's.

06:00Beyond just being the lead actress, she's the executive producer.

06:04Right, yeah.

06:05So, how, how was that?

06:07Elizabeth Moss is amazing.

06:10Um, the first day I, I was on set and she came in and she was so kind and gracious and

06:18she said, your audition was amazing.

06:22Um, I showed it to my, uh, hairstylist and he was crying.

06:27It was just, it was overwhelming, honestly, because I'm like, you're Elizabeth Moss, you

06:34know, you are fantastic.

06:37But she was, she was kind and giving, even, you know, working together in the scene.

06:43I felt safe.

06:46Mm-hmm.

06:46I felt safe.

06:47That's wonderful.

06:48Yeah.

06:49Um, so looking back at this experience, I mean, just going from, from having this, getting

06:55this part to now being nominated for an Emmy, like, sum up what the experience has been

07:01like.

07:01The experience has been whimsical, you know, it's to audition for it.

07:12I auditioned for it last year and we shot this in October.

07:16Um, and even being in Toronto, I had two weeks up there, um, had a lot of downtime.

07:23So my mom came up, my husband came up and we spent time and then to finally have it come

07:30out and then to be nominated.

07:34It's just, I woke up on July 13th and I said, man, that was a really cool dream.

07:42And then I realized it wasn't a dream and I, I, I just, I think I started crying again,

07:51you know?

07:51So it's just the whole experience.

07:55It's hard to put into words.

07:57Yeah.

07:58Are you preparing a speech for the Emmys?

08:00You know, I haven't started like writing anything down.

08:03Of course, things kind of come in and out of my mind.

08:07Um, but I'm just like, I don't, I don't, I don't know.

08:11I don't know.

08:12So I, you know, it, it is that thing of, sure, I have one in six, a one in six chance of winning,

08:20but I just, I, I don't know.

08:23I don't know about writing something.

08:25I don't know if I'm just going to let God speak through me and that's going to require

08:29a lot of trust.

08:30Cause if I do win, I don't want to get up there and not have anything to say.

08:34Well, it sounds like it's going to be a magical evening and, uh, and good luck to you and

08:40your husband.

08:43Bye.

08:44Bye.

Kelly Jenrette of 'Handmaid's Tale' Talks "Overwhelming" Emmy Nomination and Working With Elisabeth Moss | Meet Your Nominee

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