Jean Smart Reveals the 'Really Special' Way 13-Year-Old Son Forrest Reacted to Her Emmy Win
Emmys 2021: Jean Smart (‘Hacks’) Full Backstage Interview
Millie Bobby Brown Celebrates Engagement to Jake Bongiovi With a…
Chrissy Teigen Says DNA Test Mishap Left Her Convinced She Had a…
Watch Taylor Swift Swallow a Bug During 'Eras' Concert
Dierks Bentley Jokingly Compares His 'Gravel & Gold Tour' to Luk…
'90 Day Fiancé': Debbie on Her Most Talked About Moments and Whe…
Anthony Ramos on ‘Crazy’ ‘Twister’ Sequel and Working With Glen …
DC Young Fly Addresses His Partner Ms Jacky Oh’s Death at 32
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's Daughter Gracie Defends Using Weight…
Chrissy Metz on Recording Her Debut Album and Working With Boyfr…
Katherine Heigl Addresses Her Controversial 'Grey's Anatomy' Exi…
Why Grayson Chrisley Feels Like Todd and Julie’s Prison Sentence…
Breland Praises Working With Shania Twain and Shares Who He Want…
Inside Shannen Doherty's Battle With Cancer: Actress Gives Shock…
‘Vanderpump Rules’ Reunion Shocker: Scandoval Bombshell Theories
Elliot Page Claims He Had Sex With a 'Juno' Co-Star 'All the Tim…
Jelly Roll Gushes Over Dwayne Johnson's Friendship and Pitches a…
Lauren Alaina Spills on Wedding Plans and Collaborating With Lai…
Tia Mowry Tests Her Kids on if They Can Tell Her and Tamera Apart
Backstage at Sunday's 2021 Emmy Awards, Jean Smart reflected on what it meant to win after "such a difficult last six months." Smart, 70, took home Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance on Hacks and, as she acknowledged onstage during her acceptance speech, the celebration comes in the wake of the death of her late husband, Richard Gilliland.
"He'd be very happy for me," Smart told ET's Lauren Zima on the Emmys' Winners Walk. The couple, who met as co-stars on Designing Women, married in 1987. Gilliland died in March at age 71.
With the Emmys marking her first awards show since his death, she brought along a special date: Her son, Forrest, whom she and Gilliland adopted in 2009. "I was thrilled to share it with my youngest, and he's ecstatic!" Smart told ET. "So that was really special."
Smart also gave Forrest and her eldest son, Connor, thanks onstage during the telecast, calling them "both very courageous individuals in their own right and put up with Mommy commuting from Philadelphia and back. But Hacks has been such a thrill. I can't even tell you."
She reiterated the latter point backstage. As a now four-time winner with seven additional nominations (including a second nod this year alone for her work on Mare of Easttown), Smart admitted that she's happy to be rewarded for something she can stand behind.
"If you did something that you thought was kind of OK, you didn't feel like it was your best and then you got rewarded for it, that wouldn't feel that great. But to be really proud of something and then get honored for it, that's extra special," she said. "Unfortunately, I have to go to work at the crack of dawn tomorrow so I can't party too much tonight."
The 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, aired live Sunday, Sept. 19 on CBS and Paramount+. For complete Emmys coverage, stay tuned to ETonline.com.
RELATED CONTENT:
2021 Primetime Emmy Awards: The Complete Winners List
Jean Smart Talks 'Hacks' and 'Designing Women' (Exclusive)
How to Watch all the Emmy-Winning and Emmy-Nominated Series
Related Gallery
