When Lamorne Morris learned he was nominated for an Emmy for his performance in “Fargo,” he processed the emotional and triumphant career moment in a way only a parent could appreciate: He was mocked by his toddler.
On that fateful morning in July, a video recording by a friend that was shared on social media shows a stunned and tearful Morris taking in the news as his then 3-year-old daughter is trying to make sense of his demeanor.
“My daughter is with me for a lot of the stuff that I go through — the ups and downs, and she’s so young that she can’t quite understand what’s happening,” he says. “To see her visceral reaction toward her daddy crying was to make fun of him, I thought, ‘Man, this is my daughter, for sure. This is my daughter, absolutely.’”
How did he explain it to her? “I just said, ‘Well, people think daddy did a really good job at work, and so they want to have a party for him and other people that did a good job at work too.’ She said, ‘Can I come to the party?’”
Given her bedtime, she won’t be partying it up with her pops (plus she celebrated her fourth birthday on Saturday). Morris, instead, is bringing his mother as his date to the 76th Emmy Awards. It’s his first Emmy nomination and Sunday’s ceremony will be the first time he’s attended.
Lamorne Morris at his home in Encino, Calif., on Sunday with his daughter Lily.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Morris received a supporting actor nod for his turn as reliable North Dakota Deputy Witt Far in the fifth season of “Fargo,” the FX black comedy crime anthology created by Noah Hawley. The actor is best known for his comedic flare in TV series such as “New Girl” and films such as “Game Night,” but “Fargo” provided an opportunity for Morris to demonstrate his range. In a fictional world of effusive and eccentric characters, which included portrayals by Jon Hamm and Juno Temple, both nominated for Emmys as well, Morris’s Witt stood in contrast as a decent and unassuming man called into action.
And Morris isn’t done showing off that range. Later this fall, his take on “Saturday Night Live” cast member Garrett Morris can be seen in Jason Reitman’s film about the first broadcast of the long-running sketch comedy show. And he’ll star in Prime Video’s Marvel series “Spider-Noir,” opposite Nicholas Cage.
“Every actor dreams about years like this,” he says. “I just have to keep my head down a little bit and not get too high and not get too low — that’s what LeBron James always says when he’s talking about the course of a season. The journey that you’re on, the things that you’re capable of doing, obviously you want to grow and evolve, but you have to keep the same energy that got you to the place.”
For now, it’s showtime. Morris invited The Times along exclusively as he prepared for and experienced his first Emmy Awards ceremony. Follow with our live-updating diary of his day.
Lamorne Morris, center, watching his daughter Lily as he gets ready for the Emmys.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
12:28 p.m.: How does a first-time nominee get ready for an event like the Emmys? After spending Saturday night hitting up some pre-ceremony parties, Morris said he was up by 7:30 a.m., his mind already at work thinking of possible jokes to make on the stage should “by some miracle” his name get called. “But I quickly scrapped them all … If I don’t win, there will be hell to pay,” he jokes. But more seriously, he adds, “I just don’t want to forget names. The people that get you to where you are matter.”
We’re at his Encino, Calif., home and he’s stationed at his kitchen island, getting groomed; his mother Gwennett, who flew in from Chicago on Monday, is nearby getting glam done and wishing out loud about her dream run-in: “Will Denzel [Washington] be there?” (Morris has predicted she’d say as much: “She’ll be happy with Denzel or Jesus — one of the two.”) His daughter, still on a birthday high from last night, hops around near a bouquet of unicorn and princess balloons, asking when she can have a donut — she’s promised she can have one while watching daddy on TV later). Until then, she begins listing off the princess dresses she received for her birthday (Elsa, Cinderella and Tiana).
1:14 p.m.: Morris is nominated for supporting actor in a limited series alongside Jonathan Bailey (“Fellow Travelers”), Robert Downey Jr. (“The Sympathizer”), Tom Goodman-Hill (“Baby Reindeer”), John Hawkes (“True Detective: Night Country”), Lewis Pullman (“Lessons in Chemistry”) and Treat Williams (“Feud: Capote vs. the Swans”). And the coolness of it all is not lost on him. He shares that Downey sent him a gift package of his brand of coffee, Happy. Morris rushes into his office to pull the note that accompanied the gift: “Happy to be nominated alongside you. With tremendous respect, Robert.”
Morris leads me into a hallway lined with movie posters — a mix of stuff he’s been in like “Game Night” and his favorites, like “Tropic Thunder” — the poster is of Downey as the egotistical Australian thespian, Kirk Lazarus, who takes Method acting to an extreme. “If I had my way, I’d do a drama with him that had comedic elements,” he says. “There’s a movie I love of his called ‘The Judge.’ Being in something like that with him would be cool. Not that we could have a father-son relationship. That’s be ‘Different Strokes,’” he teases.