On night four of the virtual week-long Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids, Big Mouth) secured her first ever Emmy victory for her role on Netflix’s Big Mouth. Deadline confirms that Rudolph’s character, Connie the Hormone Monstress, scored her the Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance award.
Big Mouth, an animated comedy from the minds of Jennifer Flackett (Big Mouth, Beverly Hills, 90210), Andrew Goldberg (Big Mouth, Family Guy), Mark Levin (Big Mouth, The Wonder Years) and Nick Kroll (The Kroll Show, The League), centers on the awkward pitfalls puberty reaps on its pre-teen characters. Connie serves as a trouble-making catalyst for the show’s female protagonists and, according to UPROXX, “was supposed to be one-off [character] until she blew the creators of the show away with Connie’s unique vocal abilities and characterization.” The season three episode “How to Have An Orgasm”, which highlighted the actresses vocal talents, ultimately won Rudolph the Emmy. Creator, and fellow Big Mouth voice actor Kroll, shared his enthusiasm for Rudolph’s accolade on Twitter Thursday.
The Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance award was presented by Dylan McDermont (American Horror Story, LA to Vegas) and accepted by the academy on Rudolph’s behalf, as she was unavailable to give a virtual acceptance speech. The category saw Rudolph up against voice acting legends such as Nancy Cartwright (The Simpsons, Rugrats) and Hank Azaria (The Simpsons, Brockmire), both nominated for a list of characters on The Simpsons, and new comers Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton, Smash) and Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, JoJo Rabbit) nominated for freshmen series Central Park and The Mandalorian, respectively. Comedian Wanda Sykes (Ice Age, The New Adventures of Old Christine), who has lent her voice talents to an episode of Big Mouth, was also nominated in the Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance category for her role in the puppet crank-call reenactment show Crank Yankers.
Though Rudolph was unable to participate in the virtual ceremony, she took to Instagram to share the good news with fans. People reports that the Saturday Night Live alumni’s Instagram story featured selfie of the actress with text declaring “I WON AN EMMY” and, later, a video showcasing some of her voice acting skills. In the video, Rudolph lip-syncs: “thank you Television Academy for letting me win this Emmy, I am so grateful because I never won an Emmy before. It’s a very wonderful feeling. I think that it would be better if I won more” (People). The speaker that Rudolph mouthed over was off-screen, but People speculates it was one of her 4 children.
Rudolph’s joke about winning more Emmys may become a reality during the September 20 ceremony, where the actress is nominated twice in the same category. People reports that Rudolph “made history” with her dual nominations in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in Comedy Series for her role of The Judge on The Good Place and her impression of vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live. Whether she wins for the role or not, her Harris impersonation has become a fan-favorite and will be reprised when the sketch comedy program returns in October.
Rudolph’s 3 prior Emmy nominations all came from the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy category, two from her role on The Good Place and one from Saturday Night Live in 2012. This year, Rudolph’s competition comes from Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Solo: A Star Wars Story), Angela Basset (9-1-1, Black Panther), Bette Midler (Hocus Pocus, The First Wives Club) and, once more, Wanda Sykes.
The 72nd Emmy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live!), will air a remote ceremony on ABC September 20 and give Rudolph a chance to double her winnings.