Finn Wittrock, who played psychotic brat Dandy Mott in FX’s “American Horror Story: Freak Show,” received an Emmy Nomination in the category for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or A Movie. However, as opposed to watching the nominations on Thursday morning, he was making scrambled eggs instead, and had his wife tell him the amazing news.
Wittrock sat down with TheWrap just weeks ago prior to earning his nomination, where he talked about his character and his crazy scenes in the show.
“I was given the gift of a really outside the box character that you really don’t get to do everyday,” Wittrock told TheWrap in an episode of “Drinking With the Stars.” “And the writers took a lot of big risks, like pushing this guy and pushing the envelope of what he could do.”
Wittrock did admit that he had certain difficultues relating to his psychopathic character. “How do I relate to bathing in my mother’s blood?” Wittrock said. “You kind of just find that little demon inside you and let him rip.”
Before he even heard of his nomination, the young actor tried not to let all the talk of Emmy nominations psych him out. “A lot of this business is trying to cancel out the noise and trying to focus on the real thing,” he said. “So it’s great, like it strokes your ego, but you kind of have to keep coming back to what is real.”
This isn’t the first time Wittrock is nominated for an award. His immensely scary role in the fourth season of the “American Horror Story” anthology got him a “Critics’ Choice Award” nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Limited Series.
TheWrap talked to Wittrock about his nomination, how he plans to celebrate, and who he believes is his stiffest competition in his category.
TheWrap: What was your immediate reaction and how do you plan to celebrate? Finn Wittrock: “I was like, ‘no way!’ I don’t know, I think I’ll talk to some press and then I’ll go to dinner with my wife. She told me that I got it — this morning, I was kind of like, ‘I don’t want to know.’ I was making scrambled eggs and there was a long pause, and she sort of screamed, ‘you got it!’ It’s been good morning.”
Who is your stiffest competition in your category? Bill Murray takes the cake in that, and it’s an incredible group of actors. Of course, Denis O’Hare‘s nomination is so well-deserved, he’s one of the best actors alive. I haven’t met Bill Murray yet so I’m excited to do that on the day — he’s a genius. It’s just awesome.
If you win, who do you want to rub the award in the face of? I read a funny article on ‘Variety,’ titled ’25 Longshots Who Deserve a Nomination,’ and I was like… long shot? Yeah! I don’t know, there’s not really anyone. Everyone is super supporting, even more than necessary, even more than called for. I think I will be astounded if I win, and I’m just really grateful.
Biggest snubs, for your show or outside of your show? I guess ‘Bloodline’ didn’t get a nomination, and I thought it did. That was one of my favorite shows this year. I think it’s pretty well done though, and I’m happy for our show in general. I feel like we got a lot of nominations, including the show itself and Ryan [Murphy], so that’s a pretty cool honor in itself, just to be part of a show that’s getting so much publicity.
How do you plan to wow voters between now and September? What’s your secret weapon? I don’t know, I guess I’ll just have to wear something awesome, or just have my wife wear something awesome. No, I’m just going to show up, play it really safe and then go crazy at the after party. I’m just very honored and humbled to be part of this amazing group, and I’m excited for September.”
19 Biggest Emmy Snubs and Surprises: 'Empire,' Tatiana Maslany, and 'The Big Bang Theory' (Photos)
Snub: "Empire," Fox Drama Series "Empire" skyrocketed to become TV's top-rated drama in its freshman year, but apparently that wasn't good enough for the Academy.
Fox
Surprise: Tatiana Maslany, "Orphan Black," Lead Actress - Drama Tatiana Maslany finally got an Emmy nod, and it only took her playing eight characters on one show to get it.
BBC America
Snub: "The Big Bang Theory," CBS Comedy Series "The Big Bang Theory" has become almost an automatic nomination, and while it's nice to see new blood, we didn't necessarily expect it.
CBS
Surprise: Anthony Anderson (pictured left), "Black-ish" Lead Actor - Comedy Fresh off hosting the "BET Awards," Anthony Anderson scored his first Primetime Emmy nomination for the breakout ABC comedy. To be fair, "Hang Time" was on Saturday mornings.
ABC
Snub: Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife" Lead Actress - Drama It's 2013 all over again for last year's Best Actress winner Juliana Margulies. The Golden Globes didn't forget her -- what's up, TV Academy?
CBS
Snub: Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory" Lead Actor - Comedy Rough one for "BBT" and its resident all-star Jim Parsons and four-time winner. His six-year nomination streak ends exactly right there.
CBS
Snub: Terrence Howard, "Empire" Lead Actor - Drama Voters showed the love for Taraji P. Henson's Cookie, but nothing for Lucious? Terrence Howard had a super-busy year -- he has two TV shows on Fox alone -- but he's still seeking his first Emmy recognition.
Fox
Surprise: Keegan-Michael Key (pictured left), "Key & Peele" Supporting Actor - Comedy The chrome-domed comic gained fame for playing Luther, President Obama's "anger translator," and now he has an Emmy nod to show for it.
Comedy Central
Snub: Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey" Supporting Actress - Drama The veteran actress won the award for the first two seasons of the historical drama and earned noms for the last two -- but her Dowager Countess was abandoned after season 5.
Masterpiece
Snub: Mandy Patinkin (pictured right), "Homeland" Supporting Actor - Drama Though "Homeland" returned to the Best Drama race, Patinkin was passed over after getting nominations for the last two years.
Showtime
Surprise: Michael Kelly, "House of Cards" Supporting Actor - Drama The character actor scored his first Emmy nomination for playing political fixer Doug Stamper in Netflix's Washington, D.C.-set drama.
Netflix
Snub: "Survivor's Remorse," Starz Drama Series Starz had high hopes for the LeBron James-produced drama about a rookie NBA player -- but fell short of the rim.
Starz
Snub: "Jane The Virgin," The CW Comedy Series The rookie series earned recognition from the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Television Awards, but the Emmys continue to have a bias against CW shows.
The CW
Snub: Judith Light, "Transparent" Supporting Actress - Comedy While "Transparent" stars Jeffrey Tambor and Gaby Hoffman both got noms, the Academy overlooked the former "Ugly Betty" nominee who plays the ex-wife of Tambor's late-in-life transgender woman.
Amazon Instant Video
Surprise: Niecy Nash, "Getting On" Supporting Actress - Comedy The actress is the lone nomination for the critically acclaimed but low-buzz HBO sitcom, which is set in a hospital's geriatric care unit.
HBO
Surprise: Gaby Hoffman, "Transparent" Supporting Actress - Comedy The actress scored two nominations, for her guest role on HBO's "Girls" as the sister of Adam Driver's character as well as her role as the dysfunctional youngest daughter of transgender professor Maura Pfefferman
Amazon Instant Video
Snub: Jesse Tyler Ferguson (pictured right) and Eric Stonestreet (left), "Modern Family" Supporting Actor - Comedy Though "Modern Family" scored its sixth straight nom for Best Comedy, several members of its much-honored cast got the could shoulder, including five-time nominee Jesse Tyler Ferguson and three-time nominee (and two-time winner) Eric Stonestreet.
ABC
Surprise: Emmy's new "Two Percent Rule" leads to eight nominations instead of usual six Supporting Actress - Comedy Under Academy rules, the number of nominees can grow if additional contenders are within 2 percent of the votes of the sixth (and final) nominee. So an already competitive category is bursting with familiar names (Julie Bowen, Mayim Bialik, Allison Janney) as well as newcomers (Niedy Nash, Gaby Hoffman, Kate McKinnon).
Various
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The 67th Emmy Awards nominees are in: Here’s who got screwed in 2015, and the names you never expected to hear today