Maya Rudolph won her sixth career Emmy on Saturday night, taking the trophy for best character voice-over for her work on "Big Mouth" at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, while Angela Bassett won her first for her narration of the National Geographic show "Queens."
The former and future "Saturday Night Live" star Rudolph is up for three more Emmys. Her voice-over work as the Hormone Monstress on the Netflix animated show "Big Mouth" has earned her four of her Emmys.
"I’m really proud to be a part of this show," she said. "It humanizes being human."
She got emotional when she talked about the privilege that she gets to do what she loves in her life.
"It’s making me cry because I’m very menopausal," Rudolph said.
She won on the first of the two-night Creative Arts Emmys, which honor behind-the-scenes artistic and technical achievement in television and are a precursor to the main Emmys ceremony, hosted by Dan and Eugene Levy, that will air at 8 p.m. EST Sept. 15 on ABC.
Bassett appeared to collect her trophy for best narrator, a category that is usually star studded but where the winner, like Barack Obama last year, rarely shows.
"Oh my God, wow, my first Emmy," an emotional Bassett said. "I couldn’t be more thrilled and more grateful."
Bassett was attracted to the wildlife documentary project because of the all-female-led production team, a rarity in the medium, she said backstage.
"It just touched my heart," she said. "So, I said yes."
Bassett is a two-time Oscar nominee who won an honorary Academy Award earlier this year.
Other winners included the recently retired Pat Sajak, who won best game show host for his final season on "Wheel of Fortune." It was his fourth time winning the award, and first time since 1998.
"Saturday Night Live" thrived in the craft categories with six wins, including victories for its makeup and production design.
Rudolph won two Emmys when she was a cast member on the show, and is nominated for two more for her work as host of the sketch institution last season. Those will be awarded Sunday.
She will be returning this fall to play Vice President Kamala Harris on the 50th season of "SNL" in the weeks leading up to the election.
"I feel like I am connected somehow to an incredible time in this country and an excitement that I haven't felt in a long time," she said backstage on Saturday.
She is also nominated at the main Emmys ceremony for best actress in a comedy for her Apple TV+ series "Loot." She is a longshot for that award, where the favorites are Jean Smart for "Hacks" and Ayo Edebiri for "The Bear," which leads all shows in the comedy category with 23 nominations.
The Ron Howard-directed documentary "Jim Henson Idea Man" won four times and "Welcome to Wrexham" won three including best unstructured reality show. "Shark Tank" won best structured reality show. In an awards show crossover, the telecast of the Oscars won four Emmys including best live variety special.
Dick Van Dyke, who turns 99 next month, may have stolen the show when "Dick Van Dyke 98 Years Of Magic" won best pre-recorded variety special.
Van Dyke did a little dance and announced "that hurt" afterward. As the winners were being played off stage, he said, "I’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to my memorial. I don’t have a date yet but I’m not feeling very well."
Van Dyke became the oldest person to get a daytime Emmy when he won in June for appearing on "Days of Our Lives."
The season's top overall nominee, "Shogun," got a win of sorts Saturday when the team that puts together the post-show making of featurette took home an Emmy. The FX series itself is up for 25 Emmys. Seventeen of those will be handed out on Sunday, which focuses on scripted television.
Plenty of big names are also up for Creative Arts Emmys on Sunday, including Oscar winners Jamie Lee Curtis and Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling.
