‘The Penguin’ Star Cristin Milioti Wrote Her Emmy Winner Speech on the Back of Her Therapy Notes: ‘Don’t Look at the Back’

Cristin Milioti won the Emmy for lead limited series actress on Sunday in recognition of her portrayal of Sofia Gigante in HBO’s “The Penguin.” This is her first Emmy nomination and win.

“Sorry, I wrote this on the back of notes I took in therapy the other day, so don’t look at the back,” she said as she took the stage to accept her award.

“I loved making this show and I loved playing Sofia so much. It’s very hard to make sense of being alive right now in this world, so I’m deeply grateful for the bright spots and making this show with our incredible cast and crew, and getting to inhabit this woman was a bright spot for me. Despite it being very grisly, playing her felt like flying.”

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Milioti began her carer as a stage actor, earning the 2012 musical actress Tony for playing Girl in the Broadway musical “Once.” On screen, she broke out for playing Tracy McConnell aka the Mother in “How I Met Your Mother,” first appearing in Season 8 before becoming a series regular in Season 9. Her other prominent credits include Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013), the “Black Mirror” episodes “USS Callister” (2017) and “USS Callister: Into Infinity” (2025) and the Lonely Island-produced film “Palm Springs” (2020).

With the Emmy win, Milioti is only one step away from achieving an EGOT, as “Once” earned her a Grammy for musical theater album in addition to the Tony.

Also nominated for lead limited series actress were Michelle Williams for “Dying for Sex,” Rashida Jones for “Black Mirror,” Meghann Fahy for “Sirens” and Cate Blanchett for “Disclaimer.”

“The Penguin” also earned nominations for outstanding limited series, lead limited series actor (Colin Farrell), limited series directing and limited series writing.

More to come…