Memorable moments from the Emmys and everything you couldn't see on TV

Memorable moments from the Emmys and everything you couldn't see on TV

Widow's Bay emerged as the big winner at this year's Emmys and was cracking jokes backstage with journalists.

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys and US actress Jean Smart made Emmy Awards history during TV's biggest night in Hollywood this year, which drew stars from television, film, sport and music.

Hosted by Law & Order SVU star Mariska Hargitay - the first woman to host in 15 years - the ceremony was filled with celebrity cameos, emotional speeches, heartfelt tributes and plenty of banter.

Backstage, winners kept celebrating off camera and took questions about their victories and some of the night's most viral moments.

Here's a look at some of the viral moments and the behind-the-scenes details the BBC captured at the show:

The awards sit on a table across the street from the show, where winners will come to get them engraved

The BBC had a team at the Peacock Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, which was closed to traffic and onlookers as celebrities arrived in black cars.

Crowds of celebrity handlers dressed in black - from security teams to publicists - were stationed throughout the area, which also sits across from Crypto.com Arena, home of the LA Lakers. While the ceremony and red carpet are mostly contained within the Peacock Theater, the setup around it is extensive.

Next door at the JW Marriott hotel, ballrooms are turned into press workspaces where celebrities and their teams moved around throughout the ceremony, reuniting castmates who had not seen each other since filming wrapped.

Getting to this area is a long, winding walk. Once a winner accepts their prize on TV, they are taken across the street to have their awards engraved, pose for photos and speak with reporters.

They are guided through a series of covered spaces, stopping in one ballroom for photos, another for print and digital media, and then another section set aside for TV interviews.

This area is also where winners get their awards engraved. Dozens of golden Emmy statues were laid out on tables here, which passersby - including yours truly - can easily admire and photograph.

So in every sense, "backstage" is not really "backstage" at the Emmys. It's more like "next door".

The cast of Widow's Bay chatted backstage about being the standout winner at this year's Emmy Awards

The cast and crew behind Apple TV's sleeper hit celebrated the supernatural TV comedy's breakout first season, which won six awards on Monday and another eight at the Creative Arts Emmys earlier this month.

When asked about the show being relatively small and unfamiliar to some viewers, the cast and creators spoke backstage with gratitude about the grassroots word-of-mouth campaign that helped promote it early on.

"All the people online talking about it, or viewers, or people just tweeting about it, truly like it. That really got the word to spread, and we're so grateful," said writer and creator Katie Dippold.

Rhys joked that those people were "predominantly our parents".

"I honestly think we're just happy that everyone reacted to the scripts the way we did when we read them, and that's all to thanks to this team," Rhys said.

He said the series was on a "giddy ascent" ahead of the Emmys. Dippold joked that she was terrified that the show might attract even more attention after all their Emmy wins.

Amid a sea of glamorous gowns and tuxedoes, Hacks star Megan Stalter, who was nominated for best comedy supporting actress, arrived on the Emmys blue carpet dressed as an Emmy statuette.

The actress, who has repeatedly turned heads with her red-carpet looks, wore gold body paint and angel wings for the outfit and held up an oversized version of the atom topped by the statuette during arrivals.

Stalter sidestepped questions about what inspired the look, telling reporters that she and her stylist simply put it together and that her co-star Paul W Downs airbrushed her himself.

Widow's Bay star Kate O'Flynn told reporters backstage that she was "completely gobsmacked" and "on top of the world" after her win in the spooky comedy, which centres on the strange events on a haunted New England island.

She said her character - Patricia, the assistant to Mayor Tom Loftis (played by Matthew Rhys) - has an "awkwardness", "bravery and humour" that connected with audiences.

"I think everyone just has felt like Patricia in that way," she says.

She said she was pleasantly surprised by "an army" of people who showed up dressed as her character at this year's DragonCon.

"So I'm excited to see Halloween and all the antlers come out and take over the world," she joked to reporters backstage.

Speaking to the BBC, the British actress had a message for everyone back home: "Just to our family and friends, we did it. It's great. I don't know what to say. I don't know."

When Allison Janney's name was announced as the winner for best supporting actress in drama, the camera cut to The Diplomat star with her mouth open and both hands pressed to the sides of her face.

She stayed that way for several seconds before standing up, still stunned, and covering her mouth in disbelief. "Oh my God," the fictional president was seen mouthing as she headed to the stage.

With The Pitt dominating the supporting actress in a drama series category, the medical drama seemed likely to produce one of the winners. Janney, who plays US President Grace Penn in political drama The Diplomat, told reporters backstage that she was "genuinely shocked" by her win because of how big a show The Pitt had become.

"We really didn't think it was going to go my way. So I felt just excited and relaxed," she said, because she was "100% sure I wasn't gonna win".

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys refused to go backstage and speak with reporters until he learned whether Widow's Bay director Hiro Murai had won in the directing category (he did).

When he finally reached the microphone, Rhys specifically called on the BBC for the first question.

"The BBC, surely!" he said, before reflecting on making history and becoming the first person to win two Emmy awards for best lead actor in the same year - for roles in Widow's Bay and the psychological thriller The Beast In Me.

"At the moment, I genuinely can't quite believe what's just happened," he said. "I hope to reflect on it tomorrow."

He also joked about the friendly competition with his partner, actress Keri Russell, who was nominated for an Emmy this year for her role in The Diplomat.

"It's not great. I bet a lot of money on myself. The kids ran a book," he joked, adding, "It's going to be a rough week for her. I'm sorry. I don't know if I am."

Waving the trophy, he joked that Russell is his better half and "always the class act".

"She's always really the winner, if I'm perfectly honest."

Host Mariska Hargitay singled out a handful of celebrities during her hosting debut, including Taylor Swift, Jalen Brunson and Broadway star Andrew Rannells.

The Law & Order SVU star opened the show with a musical number based on Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' I Love Rock & Roll, name-checking many of the night's shows and stars while singing "I love TV screens".

NBA star Jalen Brunson made a cameo, a nod to Hargitay's love of the New York Knicks basketball team. Later, in a pre-recorded skit, Hargitay and her Law & Order SVU co-stars tried to solve the mystery of whether Taylor Swift would appear at the Emmys.

Swift then appeared, joining as a character helping solve the case, which took viewers on a tour of the nominees and Swift's album and personal life.

The skit ended with Hargitay, Swift and one of her cats, named Olivia Benson after Hargitay's character on the Law & Order series.

DTF St Louis star Arlan Ruf, who plays David Harbour's son on the dark comedy miniseries, made some jokes about the main demographic of fans of the HBO series, which centres on a murder stemming from a dating app.

"I don't know a lot of my friends are watching it," he says cheekily, adding that "their mums are".

Ruf adds that his friends' mums have been telling him how great it is, a nod to the large female audience for true crime.

"So every friend's mom I know is watching," he says.