For four seasons, Martha Kelly played nerdy Costco insurance adjuster Martha Brooks on FX’s Emmy-winning comedy Baskets, but on Tuesday she snagged an Emmy nomination in the Guest Actress category for playing a very different character.
In Euphoria, the stand-up comedian and actress with a famously droll delivery was cast against type as Laurie, a ruthless drug dealer. She tells ABC Audio that ironically, considering the accolade, she needed some convincing from the series’ creator that she could nail the part.
“I think Sam Levinson just wrote a really scary character who’s like a mild-mannered sociopath,” she deadpans. “In real life, I think those people are rare, but they can do a lot of damage, you know? Because people don’t think they’re actually scary.”
The second season of the show has Zendaya‘s drug-addicted Rue in a very dangerous debt to Laurie, and Laurie’s threats to her — no matter how disturbing — are made more so because they sound like they’re coming from a soft-spoken soccer mom.
A day after the nomination, Kelly says she still in shock.
“It still doesn’t seem real, and that’s probably good,” she admits with a laugh. “I mean…I think it would be weird to be like, ‘Oh, yeah, cool. I deserve it.’ Like, that would be a weird response.”
She adds, “It just seems unreal…It’s like Euphoria and all the regular cast are so talented and the crew is so talented and they got all these nominations. And I feel like it’s a party bus that I’m like holding on to the back bumper, riding a skateboard behind.”
Kelly says, “It’s so fun. I feel really lucky.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)
Incidentally, Kelly can also be seen on another nominated HBO show, the comedy Hacks.
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