Actresses trade quips ahead of Emmy nominations

By Ray Richmond

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Serious Emmy candidates don't feign nonchalance -- for them, a peer honor is a genuinely exciting prospect, a fact that became clear during a recent candid discussion with seven of TV's top actresses.

Four are past Emmy nominees: Kyra Sedgwick of TNT's "The Closer," Minnie Driver of FX's "The Riches," Jenna Fischer of NBC's "The Office" and Calista Flockhart of ABC's "Brothers & Sisters." One is a previous winner: Felicity Huffman of ABC's "Desperate Housewives."

Also on hand were contenders Tichina Arnold of the CW's "Everybody Hates Chris" and Brooke Shields of NBC's "Lipstick Jungle."

Ahead of Thursday's announcement of the Primetime Emmy nominees, the group elaborated on everything from receiving Emmy attention, to working in TV vs. film, to the challenge of navigating Hollywood in a youth-fixated culture.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: FELICITY, YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE IN

THIS ROOM WHO HAS WON AN EMMY. HOW DID IT CHANGE YOUR LIFE?

FELICITY HUFFMAN: Wow. I guess people take my phone calls more.

MINNIE DRIVER: Yes, it helps Felicity when she makes the calls. "Hello? Emmy winner here."

HUFFMAN: In this business, you work a lot, and then you don't work forever. It's feast or famine. You're worth something, and then you're worth absolutely nothing. It comes and goes. And so when it actually does come, the acknowledgment is nice, even though at the same time you know it's very ephemeral.

TICHINA ARNOLD: If I got a nomination, I'd make everyone in my life start calling me "Emmy." All of us in this room work extremely hard. The audience sees the end result: the show. But no one sees the process involved in getting those accolades, that recognition. It's beyond stardom. And it doesn't come often in an actress's lifetime.

BROOKE SHIELDS: You have to look at these awards as translating into more opportunity, that there will be another job.

DRIVER: We actors are so wrapped up in that whole notion of approbation. We base so much on it. We'd like to think that isn't what it's about, but of course it is.

THR: YOU'RE NOT TOO SUCCESSFUL AND JADED TO CARE ABOUT

GETTING AN EMMY NOMINATION?

KYRA SEDGWICK: I don't think it's cool at all when people get up there and aren't excited about getting their award. People get really angry and disdainful of that. A certain amount of appreciation is important.