Like the second season the house Brittany Allen went on the air, and began seeing enthusiastic fan reaction to her character, Roxy Hamler, a terminally ill cancer patient, and saw her name appear on a number of early Emmy prediction lists.
But despite the early buzz, HBO did not submit Allen for the Emmy competition, prompting the actress to submit herself in the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series category.
“As a working-class actor, I’ve become so used to being overlooked in my career, that you toughen your skin, keep your head down, keep working, keep improving yourself. And then you get to a point where you go, you know what? I don’t want to be overlooked anymore,” Allen said of the decision.
The move, combined with the “For Your Interest” social media campaign started by Allen and her husband, paid off when she received an Emmy nomination on Wednesday for playing Hamler, who has a six-episode arc when she is hospitalized with a broken leg, then makes the heartbreaking decision to stay there to die, rather than return to her family’s home. Jeff Cooper, another guest star on the series, also introduced himself and was nominated — although Allen said the two never met due to their separate storylines and the immersive nature of the group.
The Emmy nomination comes after a long career in the industry, where Allen started out as a young actor in Canada, then appeared in… All my childrenfor which she received a Daytime Emmy Award, and continues to work in film and television in the United States
“I felt a quiet sense of accomplishment when I saw my name on the list,” Allen said. “It’s funny sometimes when you get big news, it doesn’t hit you with a loud scream or popping champagne, but actually something deeper and more meaningful than that.”
I talked to Hollywood Reporter About the reality of the industry for working actors, and what an Emmy nomination could mean for a career (she already sees potential success in nabbing an agent, but is weighing the costs of continuing the campaign).
What went into your decision to introduce yourself?
As my episodes aired, and I started to see the impact that it was having on the audience, and hearing firsthand from so many people who were affected by the story, I realized how many people were affected by it, and that, of course, is an ode to the series as a whole, to the writers, to the directing, the editing, the whole ensemble, and then also to the work that I put into that character, and soon after, some of the early prediction lists came out, I think. Feinberg’s prediction was one of the first, and I was on that list, I was on the Gold Derby list, and then I heard that I wasn’t being offered by HBO, so it was a no-brainer, really.
Also, as a working-class actor, I’ve become very accustomed to being overlooked in my career, and you toughen your skin, keep your head down, keep working, keep improving yourself. And then you get to the point where you go, you know what? I don’t want to be ignored anymore. I will stand up and stand behind my work in a meaningful way in the moment when I have the opportunity to do so, and I will try to take something into my own hands in a business that can often make you feel like everything is out of your hands.
Do you really see more opportunities emerging from this Emmy nomination?
I’ve been trying to get an agent in the US for months, to no avail, and I think this nomination proves that things may be changing on that front.
On social media, you posted about not being featured by HBO and running your own “For Your Interest” campaign ahead of the nominations. Was this what really happened?
I worked with a publicist for a month or so, and they were nice and hard-working, and we got a little bit of press during our time together, but then I decided, frankly, more for financial reasons than anything else, that I needed to take care of the entire campaign myself, and without the support of the network or a publicist, my partner and I sat down in that final week of voting and thought, “What can we do to generate some interest?” And we first shared a scene from my audition tape, which actually went viral online, and then second a post suggesting that I was a self-submissive, and it’s been really nice to see the way people are wrapping their heads around that. I got the best possible outcome from sharing that, and I think it’s because people were so moved by Roxy’s story that they wanted to get behind the actor who brought that story to life.
Were you disappointed that HBO didn’t choose to bring you its list?
Yes, I was disappointed, but you get used to disappointment as an actor, it’s not something you take personally. I know that HBO or Warner Brothers have a cast of over 100 actors. This contact sheet was the longest contact sheet I have ever seen. The number of actors who come to the set every day and do amazing work… so it was not an easy task for them to narrow down the number of actors they would cast, and of course they couldn’t send everyone. So for whatever reason I didn’t end up on that list, and yeah, it was a little bit painful at first, but as I’ve learned to do in this business, you feel that hurt, and then you get up, and you keep moving forward, and you figure out, okay, what’s the other angle, what’s the other way. And I’ve been very fortunate that my personal story of introducing myself resonated with so many people and probably helped lead me to this moment.
[HBOPresidentCaseyBloyssaid[HBOHeadCaseyBloystoldTHR: “the house We have hundreds of performers and, strategically, we simply cannot conquer everyone. It’s just the truth. But we encourage people to submit themselves and would love to be nominated.]
Did “All My Children” winning an Emmy change anything for you?
I’ve been left out All my children Because the fans didn’t respond to my vision for that character and not only did I leave her, but the show was recast. I had just moved to Los Angeles with the show, and there I was out of a job for nine months after that, and then I ended up getting nominated for my work the last few months on that show and then I went on to win. It was a microcosm of how this industry can radically change from one day to the next. You can be an out-of-work actor, and then you can be an Emmy winner who is getting offers and working for the next two years. So, it was a good lesson right off the bat in not believing the lows and not believing the highs, because people’s perceptions can change very quickly from one list you’re on, one article, one nomination. I just remember that I was still the same actor I was a week ago. I still brought the same work to the table, but now suddenly people wanted to meet me, and I realized that you couldn’t get too hung up on other people’s excitement or lack of excitement, you just had to keep moving forward and doing good work and fighting for yourself when you could.
Have you thought about how you would approach your Emmys campaign in the future?
The honest truth is that campaigning is an expensive enterprise. It costs several thousand dollars to hire a publicist, hire a hair stylist, and hire hair and makeup artists for all the events, and as a working-class actor who hasn’t worked since I was in… the house, Not only do I weigh the effectiveness of hiring a publicist, when I’ve been able to generate so much press on my own, I also look at the financial implications of doing so. It is important at every stage to invest in yourself, and it is necessary at every stage, but at certain stages, to invest more in yourself. This is just something I’m weighing now. I think this is a fact that is not talked about often. So, if there are any amazing women out there with a great fashion sense who would like to help out their moms who wear sneakers and oversized t-shirts these days, reach out to me, please.
What do you hope comes out of this Emmy nomination?
My biggest goal at the moment is to be able to use her as a springboard to take on more roles like Roxy. I love what I do, and I was so grateful to step into such a complex and profound human being as Roxy, and on the set of a series like this. the houseAnd when you touch that, it makes you want to do it even more. So, I hope that the visibility that’s happening at this moment, and the visibility that an Emmy nomination brings to any actor, will allow I want to apply to more groups like this and explore complex, dark and difficult female characters with great artists.
This article has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
