Comedy Emmy contenders on failed auditions, their biggest laughs, more in roundtable

The minute David Alan Grier walks through the door at Hollywood’s NYA Studios, he and Sheryl Lee Ralph start singing. The Dreamgirls alums — Ralph earned a Tony nomination for her work as Deena Jones in the original 1981 Broadway cast, and Grier replaced James “Thunder” Early originator Cleavant Derricks — take charge of the lobby, and the a few publicists, this writer, and The Bear star Liza Colón-Zayas, who’s standing in a nearby hallway, stop in their tracks, marveling at what we’re witnessing.

The joyous moment offers just a glimpse into the instant camaraderie that those three, along with Uzo Aduba (The Residence), Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern), and Michael Urie (Shrinking), find on EW’s Awardist Comedy Actors Roundtable (video above), laughing and cringing about bad audition stories, celebrating long careers, and more.

Case in point: After more than four decades performing on stage and screens big and small, Grier admits he didn’t think he’d still be a working actor.

“I did not ever envision — I’m 68 — that I would be still working, that I would be still valued, and that I know what I’m doing. Finally, all those years of, oh man, can I do this as an actor? I don’t know if I can do this. I’m going to try and do this. I come in, not with ego, but with self-confidence that I know how to act, and that’s alleviated and freed me,” says the actor, who’s currently starring on the NBC comedy St. Denis Medical. “I didn’t know growing old was this fun. Seriously, I just thought I’d be retired, but I’m reveling in it.”

They all are, sharing stories about their successful series, looking back on the craziest things they’ve done for a laugh, and more. Check out excerpts below from the conversation, and watch the video above for more.

Sheryl Lee Ralph on what continues to motivate her

“The fact that it was a young woman, a young creative writer, artist who looked at me, recognized my journey and said, ‘Come with me on this next walk,’ that is everything for me, and I so appreciate it,” she says of Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson casting her to play teacher Barbara Howard. “If there is more of that, there is so much to look forward to… I’m going to be Betty White Black, baby, [working] until the day before I die.”

Nathan Lane on getting the biggest laugh of his career

“I did a play, a Terrence McNally play called Love! Valour! Compassion!, and he had written that this character I was playing entered naked serving drinks, and it is a group of gay men at a country house. And I said, ‘I’m not doing that… There’s nothing funny about that at all and it’d just be upsetting for the audience, for me in particular.’ So I said, ‘I don’t want to do that, but the character is a costume designer so he could improvise a costume to wear coming out serving drinks. What if I’m in an apron and a big picture hat and sunglasses and sweat socks and high heels, but I’m not wearing anything underneath the apron?’ So I made this entrance, and it might’ve been the longest laugh I’ve ever gotten on stage — they saw me come on and there was a laugh when they saw the outfit. And then as I went by and I saw my ass, the laugh went on for a very long time. And then Stephen Spinella, the great Stephen, was in the scene and he kept trying to cut the laugh off. So I would bend over and serve, stick my ass in his face, and the laugh went right back.”

“That’s how you steal the scene,” Ralph tells him.

Uzo Aduba on taking a risk with an Orange Is the New Black scene

“I think trying things is part of it,” she says, answering a question about a time she stepped out of her comfort zone for a role. “I had a scene in Orange Is the New Black, and it was written as a poem, just to be read. I had this idea in my mind of how I should kind of come in and do all these vibes and energies and was a slam poet — and I didn’t know what I was doing in the TV space, but I had come from another world where you’re supposed to try, and they liked it and they kept it.”

Liza Colón-Zayas on her reaction to reading Tina’s backstory on The Bear

“I started crying. A lot… every time I read it,” she admits. “Because the pilot, we were just having so much fun every time, the energy was up to here, and every time they yelled cut, we just start laughing. And then when I saw the pilot, I was like, wow, this is intense. I was nervous about being so hard. I didn’t know at all what was coming. And to have that trust in the writers, they will give me the humanity that she needed. And then I just figured, I got short arms. It’ll be funny for me to chop dings and reach across the stove.”

Michael Urie on a Shrinking fan helping realize something about his character

“It wasn’t until actually season 2 had come out that I really figured out who he was, even though I had, I think, been doing it. There was a line in season 2 where I’m being really selfish and Jason Segel’s character says, ‘Are you really that much of a narcissist that you can’t see what this is about?’ And I say, ‘Yes, Jimmy. That’s what narcissism is, having the courage to put yourself above others.’ That’s such a funny line. And then it wasn’t until somebody came up to me — because a lot of times people come up and say, ‘I’m a therapist and I love your show,’ which is great — this woman came up and said, ‘I’m a therapist and I love your show and I love your character. He’s such a narcissist.’ And I was like, no, he’s— I had no idea that he was a narcissist. And then I looked back and I was like, oh my God, of course he is. All this time I’ve been playing a narcissist. I’ve had this tunnel vision and I didn’t realize it. And of course, that’s what a narcissist does too. They don’t know that they are one. So it was gratifying to hear it worked.”

Check out more from EW’s The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year’s best in TV, movies, and more.