'The Act' star Joey King in tears after receiving 1st Emmy nomination for Gypsy Blanchard portrayal in Hulu show, calls it greatest moment of her life
Joey King, the actor who portrayed Gypsy Blanchard, in Hulu's true-crime anthology series 'The Act' received her first Emmy nomination for her performance and she couldn't help but sob after hearing the news. She called it the greatest moment of her life.
King told The Associated Press "my whole body is shaking, I'm so excited" after hearing her name among the nominees Tuesday for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.
King's character Gypsy is a woman whose abusive mother keeps her permanently sick and childlike on the show and this is based on the true story of Gypsy Blanchard who is currently in prison and her late other Dee Dee Blanchard. King says she's in South Africa and shooting the film 'The Kissing Booth 2' and was sitting in a transport vehicle watching the Emmy's live stream on an old computer.
She also said she had a phone call with co-star Patricia Arquette, who played her mother in 'The Act' and was also nominated in the same category for portraying the role of Joyce 'Tilly' Mitchell in another true-crime series titled 'Escape At Dannemora'.
King told to Variety, "I’ve been crying for the past 20 minutes. I can’t even believe it. I’m in South Africa right now, so it’s 6 p.m. here. I’m on set watching it on my wifi hotspot with my phone. I didn’t think this would be the place I’d find out or that I’d ever be nominated. I think Gypsy’s story resonated with people around the world. She defied the odds and she’s still alive to tell her story. The first thing I did was call Patricia. To hear her tell me she was proud of me was so special."
King also shared a video on her Twitter handle which shows her bawling her eyes out after hearing of the nomination in the car. She captioned the video, "I cannot believe this is happening. I’ve just been nominated for an Emmy for my work in The Act. There’s so many people to thank for this moment and getting to talk to my mom and Patricia immediately after it was announced was so special. I’m in shock."
'The Act' premiered on Hulu March 20 and portrayed the real-life story of Dee Dee, a mother who reportedly suffered from the disease Munchausen by Proxy, which resulted in her using her daughter, Gypsy, to spin a tale about chronic diseases that Gypsy suffered, while in truth, Gypsy was indeed a healthy child.
After being mentally and physically abused by her mother, Gypsy plotted her mother's death with her then-boyfriend Nick Godejohn, who committed the crime by stabbing Dee Dee multiple times. King's performance was applauded by audiences and critics alike for bringing Gypsy's story alive.
With inputs from AP