Gillian Anderson Beats Her Two Co-stars to Bag Best Supporting Actress Emmy Award

"The Crown" actress Gillian Anderson took home the award for Best Supporting Actress and beat two of her co-stars to do so at the 2021 Emmys on September 19, 2021.

At the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 19, Stephen Colbert announced that Gillian Anderson won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Margaret Thatcher in "The Crown."

Anderson beat the star-studded nomination list, which included two of her "The Crown" co-stars, including Helena Bonham Carter, who played Princess Margaret, and Emerald Fennell, who played a young Camilla Parker Bowles.

The rest of the nominations were Aunjanue Ellis for "Lovecraft Country" and actresses from "The Handmaid's Tale" cast, including Madeline Brewer, Yvonne Strahovski, Ann Dowd, and Samira Wiley.

Anderson accepted her award wearing a gorgeous two-piece white crop top ensemble with tassel details and a floor-length white skirt. In her acceptance speech, Anderson said:

"I want to say thank you to Peter Morgan for creating this role and to Netflix for everything, everything."

Although she thanked the creator and her ex, Morgan, Anderson mentioned her best friend and her manager, Connie Freiberg, while accepting the award.

Freiberg has been Anderson's manager for 20 years, so it is no wonder she wanted to dedicate the award to her. Anderson explained Freiberg had also believed in her, even when others did not.

Besides her critically acclaimed role as Thatcher, Anderson portrays another powerful woman in "The Great."

Furthermore, Anderson shared the Freiberg, who she described as one of her best friends, always believed she had talent, even when Anderson herself struggled to believe it.

The "X-Files" actress ended her speech by sharing a funny antidote about Freiberg and how she participated in slow fashion before it was trendy, as Anderson shared in her acceptance speech:

"Connie Freiberg... who wore the same dress five years running to every award show three times a year that we went to."

Anderson then exclaimed that the award was for Freiberg and that she loved her. Anderson is not the only "The Crown" cast member who took an Emmy award home with them.

The Netflix show took home 11 awards, including cast members Josh O'Connor, Olivia Coleman, and Tobia Menzies. The creator and director also won awards for their work on the show.

Anderson is slowly creating a name for herself for playing historical characters. Besides her critically acclaimed role as Thatcher, Anderson portrays another powerful woman in "The Great."

The actress joined Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult in the second season of the show. Anderson plays Catherine The Great's mother, Joanna, for a two-episode storyline.