Uzo Aduba was sitting in traffic when she got the big news. The Orange Is the New Black star is nominated for an Emmy for Guest Actress in a Comedy series for playing Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the hit Netflix prison dramedy series.
"I got the phone call and I just kept saying, over and over ‘Are you kidding? Are you guys kidding?' My publicist and my manager called and I was like, ‘Are you joking? Are you joking?!'"
Orange Is the New Black picked up 12 nominations. Along with Aduba, Natasha Lyonne and Laverne Cox were nominated for Guest Actress in a Comedy. Taylor Schilling got a nomination in the Lead category and Kate Mulgrew in Supporting.
This is Aduba's first TV job and her first Emmy nomination. "I'm just really thankful that people love watching the show as much as we love making it," Aduba said. In the video above, Aduba breaks down what she loves about Crazy Eyes and why the character is special to viewers, plus, she reveals how she gets the "crazy eyes."
"I just wanted to put something in her body in terms of how she walks, how she stands, that was very interesting and important to me…I was really interested in her just being a hair off, everything she does it's a little more heightened and then it found its way up into the face and then there she was," she said.
Orange Is the New Black season three is in production now.
—Reporting by James Chairman