‘Transparent’ Emmy interviews: Jeffrey Tambor, Judith Light and their on-screen family.
By Daniel Montgomery
In its first two seasons “Transparent” won eight Emmys out of 21 nominations, including Best Comedy Actor (Jeffrey Tambor) and Best Comedy Directing (Jill Soloway) twice in a row. It has also earned two consecutive bids for Best Comedy Series, which makes it the first and so far only Amazon streaming series to earn bids in a top category. Will it continue to rack up multiple nominations and wins after its equally acclaimed third season last fall?
The third season of the show was one of continued transitions for many characters. Maura (Tambor) planned to undergo gender confirmation surgery, though her advanced age and imperfect health made that difficult. Her ex-wife Shelly (Judith Light) turned her experiences into a one-woman show. And her adult children (Amy Landecker, Jay Duplass and Gaby Hoffmann) continued to struggle through their own family and relationship woes. The struggles earned the show continued acclaim from critics. Now they’re hoping for continued acclaim from the TV academy.
We’ve interviewed seven cast and crew members from the series to discuss the show. Click the “Watch Now” links below to be taken to their complete interviews.
Jeffrey Tambor (Best Comedy Actor): “She was the first one in the family to go after her authenticity at her late age. She finds her way, and I find that very inspiring.” (Listen Now)
Kathryn Hahn (Best Comedy Supporting Actress): “We happen to be living at a moment in our creative history when all these shows are streaming. There’s such crazy, amazing content for women and any people that would describe themselves as other.” (Watch Now)
Amy Landecker (Best Comedy Supporting Actress): “I think she wishes she could stay married and be sexually fulfilled, and she could be a mom, and feel excitement … I think she wants to feel all of it.” (Watch Now)
Judith Light (Best Comedy Supporting Actress): “You’ll see her try to make her way into continuing to find her voice. It’s one of those things where this place in her has been opened and she’s going to try a bunch of different things to see what fits.” (Watch Now)
Jay Duplass (Best Comedy Supporting Actor): “Josh feels that [his mother] is the only person more hopeless than himself. The way he sees it, if Josh can help his mother then there’s hope for him too.” (Watch Now)
Trace Lysette (Best Comedy Guest Actress): “Those scenes are so near and dear to my heart because when do we get to see trans characters talk to each other? I get to be with Alexandra Billings, who is such a pioneer for trans actors, and Jeffrey, who embodies Maura so well that he is just one of the girls in those scenes. You can feel the love and authenticity that’s there.” (Watch Now)
Our Lady J (Best Comedy Writing, “If I Were a Bell”): “We were two months into writing when the election happened and we thought we would have to scrap everything and start over. But instead of scrapping everything and starting over, we let it become the tone of the season, a really agitated tone where the characters are just wandering around like everyone is right now.” (Watch Now)
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