Which Emmy loser was best at faking happiness for the winner?

by Alex Abad-Santos

Aug 26, 2014, 4:35 AM UTC

Allison Janney

Michael Tran/Getty Images

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The 2014 Emmy Awards

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Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at The Atlantic.

The Emmys honor the greatest performances of the greatest actors on television. But there may be no greater performance for these actors than acting genuinely happy for someone else while accepting soul-crushing defeat.

Like many awards shows, The Emmys use the “zoom in on all the nominees while the winner is announced” cam to simultaneously show heartbreak, joy, and condescension, all while one is dead inside. Here’s what happened when some of your favorite actors and actresses were put in one of the toughest acting situations of their careers:

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Winner: Ty Burrell, Modern Family

Tyburrell

(NBC)

Losers: Tony Hale is valiantly clapping while his soul cries. Jesse Tyler Ferguson wants to go home.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Winner: Allison Janney, Mom

Suppacc

NBC

Losers: Mayim Bialik looks resigned to her fate. Kate Mulgrew takes the loss in stride. Kate McKinnon, you could have fooled us!

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series

Winner: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

BestActcomedy

NBC

Losers: You can almost hear Taylor Schilling’s heart splinter and crack into tiny pieces. Edie Falco thought she might have had it.

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series

Winner: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

BAComedy

NBC

Losers: Everyone in this category seems pretty okay with losing. Matt LeBlanc looks like he’s finally accepted the darkness.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries

Winner: Martin Freeman, Sherlock

MiniseriesSher

(NBC)

Losers: Matt Bomer needs a hug.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Winner: Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Coven

Bates

(NBC)

Losers: There’s a twinge of shock here that you can see on Julia Roberts’s face. Ellen Burstyn looks like she’s clapping for a distant nephew who just learned his first word.

Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Winner: Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven

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Losers: Cicely Tyson is not amused. Tyson’s reaction has led me to this theorem: the older you are, the more you don’t really care about feigning happiness for the winner. We are tentatively calling this the Cicely Tyson theorem.

Happy