"I'm waiting to be asked to spell a word," Christian Jules LeBlanc (Michael Baldwin) mused as he stared through bright overhead lights towards the members of the press. He then proceeded to spell the word "preposterous."
All jokes aside, this Emmy victory was a very serious occasion for LeBlanc. Nominated four previous times in the Supporting Actor field, this marked LeBlanc's first time in the Lead Actor category. For those on the outside looking in, the terms Lead and Supporting are often very vague. What exactly makes a performer fall into a particular category?
"There was a point in the show when I wanted to be thought of a certain way," LeBlanc explains. "I was given amazing material with Greg [Rikaart, Kevin Fisher] and Joan Van Ark [ex-Gloria Fisher]."
Like his co-star and fellow Emmy winner on the night Greg Rikaart, LeBlanc was not originally drawn up as a character that would stay in Genoa City for very long.
"I was only supposed to be on for two years," LeBlanc smirked. That was back in 1991. LeBlanc did eventually exit The Young and the Restless two years later, but he returned in 1997 and has been front and center ever since. Moreover, LeBlanc recently took his character to CBS's As the World Turns for a brief crossover engagement.
LeBlanc admitted that he was initially a little nervous about not having prepared an acceptance speech, but that soon subsided.
"It's not about you and your award," LeBlanc stated. "It's about the journey."
With his win, LeBlanc marked two impressive accomplishments. All three of this year's male acting awards were won by members of The Young and the Restless. Additionally, LeBlanc was one of a record five first-time winners this year.
IN-DEPTHFind out what other Y&R stars have been named Outstanding Lead Actor.
From the moment the Emmy nominations were announced back in March, the Outstanding Lead Actress category seems to have commanded the lion's share of attention. After all, there were eight nominees in the category - a feat that marked the first time in Daytime Emmy history that so many nominees had been in a single category. In a typical Emmy year, there are usually about five nominees in a given category. This year, however, a NATAS spokesperson explains that some unusually close balloting resulted in the lengthy list of nominees.
A week or two before the Emmy ceremony, four-time Emmy winner Susan Flannery (Stephanie Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful) contacted the other seven nominees and suggested that they all go out to a pre-Emmy lunch together. So what do eight, highly-respected actresses discuss when they get together?
"We talked about our lives and our children and our husbands," Slezak revealed. "We just laughed and told a lot of stories - it's a good thing you all [the media] weren't there. The restaurant was crowded and every single table was glaring at us -- we were so loud and laughing so much."
Slezak said that "that bad, bad girl" Susan Flannery picked up the tab for the meal. As this year's winner, Slezak will be required to pick up the tab at next year's "divalicious" dining experience.
Already the winningest performer for a single daytime drama series role, Erika Slezak (Victoria Davidson) added yet another Emmy trophy to her sizeable collection. Just how many Outstanding Lead Actress trophies has she won? Enough to give each of her character's alternate personalities their own statuette.
"Six," Slezak beamed as she revealed that her latest Emmy will join the others on her mantle. "I'm just going to push the others aside. The last one gets to be in the middle for a while."
Slezak's latest win pushes One Life to Live's win total in this category to ten.
IN-DEPTHRead a biography of Emmy winner Erika Slezak.
