Jamie Lee Curtis wins guest actress award for “The Bear” at the 2024 Emmys

She may have only had a guest role, but Jamie Lee Curtis left her mark – and now takes home the award for her performance!

On Sunday, September 8, Curtis won the award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2024 Creative Arts Emmys for her role as Donna Berzatto in The bear. With the win, Curtis beats fellow nominees Olivia Colman (The bear), Kaitlin Olson (Hacks)Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Only murders in the building)Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) and Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live).

As Curtis, 65, took the stage after her name was announced, she told the crowd: “You know, there's a saying, 'Hurt people hurt people,' but I think you can also say, 'I helped people help people,' and I think that's the story of The bear.”

“Being the cause of someone's pain is very difficult… It's amazing that I've been given this opportunity at this time in my life,” she continued, before highlighting the show's cast and crew, who she said are “the ingredients of this beautiful, beautiful, beautiful piece of television… that I'm privileged to be a part of.”

Curtis later expressed her gratitude in the press room, telling reporters that she felt “lucky” after winning the prestigious award. She also looked back on her time starring in the Activia yogurt commercials and joked about how far she has come since then.

“I'm the luckiest girl in the world. I've been an actress since I was 19. I'm 65,” she said. “I've been selling yoghurt that makes you vomit for seven years. And I never thought I'd be able to do work that's so deep, complex and intelligent. And getting these opportunities has just been the highlight of my creative life over the last few years. So I'm humbled and incredibly grateful.”

She added of her achievement: “I think we're all underestimated and as an actor you just have to work hard to get a job, no matter what it is. And look at my career, I've done a lot of weird things because I just love the process. And for me, that's perseverance and patience and believing in yourself, rejection – this industry is full of rejection. As an actor, you get rejected every day, every day. And to be 65 years old and experience that is extraordinary.”

When asked if she aspired to EGOT status one day, Curtis joked, “Well, I can't sing at all and I've never actually been on stage. I've never been in a play, so I can't imagine it.”

“I don't stay up that late… I don't know if any of you ever paid attention to what I said, but at my age, when concerts are that late and why can't Bruce Springsteen do a damn matinee?” she joked. “So I'm not sure I'd do that well in the theater, since you go to bed so late. But you know what? I never thought something like that would even be possible in my life.”

Curtis wowed audiences with her surprising portrayal of Donna – the mother of Carmen (Jeremy Allen White), Sugar (Abby Elliot) and Mikey Berzatto (Jon Bernthal), who struggles with alcoholism and an apparent borderline personality disorder – in season 2 of The bear.

In particular, her erratic performance preparing Christmas dinner in episode 6, titled “Fish,” left a lasting impression on critics and fans alike—so much so that Curtis' co-star Bernthal also took home a Guest Actor Emmy on September 8 for his performance in that episode.

Before joining The bearCurtis, who also appeared in the final episode of season two, admitted that she had a premonition about her future on the show after watching it for the first time.

“When I saw the first episode last summer and Sugar asks Carmen if he's spoken to her mother, I knew in that second that I was going to play her. Don't ask me how. I just knew,” she wrote on Instagram in June 2023. “One year later, after the wild success of the brilliant first season, Chris Storer offered me the role of a lifetime.”

“Thank you, Chris, and the ENTIRE BEAR family of creatives and scene partners for allowing me to rock it!” she concluded.

Aside from Curtis, there was quite a bit of competition in this category due to the memorable screen performances of the other nominees.

fellow Carry Star Colman, 50, earned her nomination for her portrayal of chef Andrea Terry, the British head chef at Ever, the gourmet restaurant where Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) directs.

The actress made her first appearance in The bear Universe in Season 2, Episode 7 and reprised her role in the Season 3 finale. Christopher Storer, the creator of the series, told Time that Colman's character was inspired by real-life chefs Alice Waters and Marcella Hazan.

“She's just incredibly established, but genuine,” Storer said of working with Colman. “She's warm, friendly and very normal. She was just as excited to be there as we were to have her, which was kind of cool.”

Olson, 49, made her debut at Max's Hacking as DJ, the problematic daughter of Deborah Vance (Jean Smart).

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter In June, the actress admitted, “I don't like guest starring on other people's shows,” but agreed to take the job after producer Mike Schur promised her an exciting role on the series.

“The script was so good and so clever,” she recalled. “It's very unusual to find a smart, funny show that naturally weaves in real emotion. It's often poorly done. I just couldn't say no.”

Randolph, 38, was nominated for her portrayal of Detective Donna Williams in Only murders in the building Season 3, Episode 8.

The actress was first introduced to fans in Season 1 of the series. While Episode 8 is the only time she appears in Season 3, Randolph said The Hollywood Reporter how her appearance in the third part came about.

“I was told that the third season would be action-packed, that everything would be done in the best way possible, so many new variables, more actors, a play within a TV series,” she recalls. “I was talking to the showrunner and I said, 'Please, I'd love to! I don't care what we do, please, something with Meryl Streep, anything,' and he kept his word.”

“John Hoffman [co-creator] said, 'If I can make it happen, I want it to be worth your while,' and he definitely delivered,” she added.

Rudolph, 52, was nominated for her hosting stint on SSaturday Night Live. Hosting this year's Mother's Day episode in May, the comedian brought laughter to viewers with a special musical monologue titled “I'm Your Mother.” The song also received a nomination for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.

“It's so nice to be back for the Mother's Day episode,” she told the audience. “And it's very special for me because I'm a mother four times over. That's right, I have four beautiful children – as far as I know,” she continued jokingly.

SNL Cast members Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman then came on stage to wish Rudolph a Happy Mother’s Day before Yang declared, “Maya, look, you’re not just a mother, you’re Mother.”

“Who, me, mother?” Rudolph then asked, before laughing and shouting a slightly threatening “You're right” into the camera. After an introduction by Kenan Thompson, the actress appeared on stage in a shimmering leotard, surrounded by dancers, before launching into an impressive rap and dance routine.

The rap monologue reached its climax when Rudolph returned to the stage, surrounded by silver-clad dancers and performers from the show, declaring one last time, “I am your mother,” and announcing the show.

Like Rudolph, Wiig, 51, was nominated for her hosting performance in April. Saturday Night Live.

Her performance earned her a place in the show's “five-time” club, the ever-growing number of stars who have hosted the sketch show five or more times in its 48-year history.

During Wiig's monologue, the host was accompanied by a number of celebrities, from Paul Rudd to Matt Damon, Jon Hamm, Martin Short, Fred Armisen, Will Forte and none other than Ryan Gosling.

The actress and comedian began by telling the audience that she was “so happy to be back” and “so excited” to be hosting. SNL for the fifth time, as this meant that she was “officially part of the five-time club”.

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The 2024 Creative Arts Emmys will air on Saturday, September 14 at 8 p.m. ET on FXX and will also be available to stream on Hulu from September 15 to October 9.