Carrie Fisher Receives Posthumous Emmy Nomination
Carrie Fisher received a posthumous 2017 Emmy nomination for her recurring guest role on the British comedy series Catastrophe. Fisher played Mia, Rob Delaney’s overbearing mother, on the Amazon comedy. It was her last role prior to her death in December 2016.
“[She was] a bigger part of series three than she was on the first two series. We couldn’t help but write more for her because she’s so brilliant,” Delaney wrote in The Guardian shortly after Fisher’s death. “I revered Carrie until I met her and then I loved her. Carrie was the only cast member Sharon and I would let improvise. (I say ‘let’; as if we could stop her. She let us put her in our show.) We’re a bit despotic and inflexible with our dialogue because we’re insane, but Carrie was more insane and would always, always make it funnier and better. In episode one of series two, you can hear her singing an improvised song about areolae in the background of our daughter’s christening party.”
In April 2016, Catastrophe actress Sharon Horgan similarly reminisced about working with Fisher, and recalled the exact moment when she and Delaney recognized Fisher as the perfect fit for the role, while watching her present at the Attitude Awards in London. “I turned to Rob, and I went, ‘That’s your awful mother!'” Horgan said during a Tribeca Film Festival panel. “We still to this day can’t believe that you said yes.”
Fisher, who was also at the same event, responded, “I did really want to play an awful person. There are not a lot of choices for women past 27. I don’t wait by the phone.”
Fisher has previously been nominated for two Emmys, including one for best guest actress, comedy series, in 2008 for her role on NBC’s 30 Rock, and for best variety, music or comedy special in 2011 for her HBO special, Wishful Drinking.
The other nominees in Fisher’s category race are Wanda Sykes for Blackish, Becky Ann Baker for Girls, Angela Bassett for Master of None and Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, each for hosting Saturday Night Live.