Amanda Seyfried Says Her Daughter 'Cried' Watching Her Emmy Win on TV (Exclusive)

Seyfried's portrayal of Elizabeth Holmes in 'The Dropout' earned the actress her first-ever Emmy.

Amanda Seyfried's next task at hand after winning her first-ever Emmy? Explaining to her 5-year-old daughter the magic of television!

The 36-year-old actress spoke with ET's Matt Cohen after winning an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in the Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category Monday night at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, and opened up about her kids -- daughter Nina, 5, and son Thomas, 1 -- staying up to watch Mom receive her statuette.

"My daughter stayed awake and cried because she was confused about how I was able to talk to her through the TV," Seyfried tells ET. "So, I just have to explain it, I think. I hate that she was emotional but I also think it's just an exciting night for them 'cause they were all together, like, my whole family."

Seyfried deftly portrayed disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in Hulu's true-crime miniseries, The Dropout. Holmes was convicted of fraud following unproven claims of developing a revolutionary blood test. No doubt hard work went into portraying such a complex figure, but the grind paid off, and Seyfried was still shocked at the nomination when she spoke with ET on the red carpet ahead of the show.

"It's unexpected," she said. "You don't do things for this kind of reason, but it happened that people recognized it in a positive way, and it feels fantastic. It can't feel any other way."

Trae Patton/NBC via Getty Images

"I can't believe I'm here," Seyfried continued. "I think the best thing about this, is that I chose something very hard and and it ended up being really hard, and really fun and people liked it, and I'm still hanging out with Liz Meriwether and Michael Showalter and my whole team, like a year later, so, we get to celebrate something that was really fun for a long long time, and it's a big time bonus."

And Seyfried's husband, Thomas Sadoski, was there by her side when she was recognized for her performance, even if that meant Sadoski had to miss his big movie premiere for the Korean War drama Devotion at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"He has a premiere tonight in Toronto and he missed it for this," said Seyfried, who stunned in a strapless light pink Giorgio Armani gown. "It's just a great storm, but yeah, we're here and he's here with me."

Ahead of the Emmys kicking off, Seyfried said meeting The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Tony Shalhoub was a thrilling moment for her.

"[The NBC sitcom] Wings is my favorite show of all time," Seyfried explained, "and it's where I learned a lot about comedy. And he came up to me on the red carpet, just lovely, you know. Didn't need to be so lovely. So, it was incredible."

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