Billy Crudup dedicates Emmys win to 'eye candy' wife Naomi Watts, 'who also happens to be an immigrant'

This is the actor's second Emmy win for his performance as the CEO Cory Ellison on the hit Apple TV+ drama.

Billy Crudup paid giddy tribute to "eye candy" wife Naomi Watts while accepting the Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at tonight's ceremony.

Crudup took home the first award of the evening, calling it "an incredible honor." "I'm so happy to be here with my piece of eye candy there, my wife," he continued, "who also happens to be an immigrant, and also gave a searing performance this year for which she's nominated. And she starts businesses too, so it's nice to be by her side."

Crudup continued in his dedications to "the writers and the educators that allowed me to do the writing that was beyond my level." While he didn't mention wife Watts by name, he did name check acting teacher Ron Van Lieu ("I would have to go back and work on the techniques that teachers like Ron Van Lieu gave me"), as well as The Morning Show creator Kerry Ehrin ("who invented this character") and showrunner Charlotte Stoudt ("who expanded upon this character").

Related: Emmys 2024: See the complete list of winners

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This is the actor's second win for his performance as the lovable yet flawed network CEO Cory Ellison on the Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston-starring Apple TV+ series The Morning Show. Crudup's last win for The Morning Show came in 2020. This year he beat out Emmys vets like Jon Hamm (also for The Morning Show), as well as several newcomers, like Tadanobu Asano and Takehiro Hira, both for Shōgun, and Jack Lowden, for Slow Horses.

Mark Duplass was also nominated for his Morning Show performance as the chaotic producer Chip Black, and could be seen heartily clapping for his coworker as he accepted the statue.

Related: Jennifer Aniston gets doused in oil while filming The Morning Show

In closing, Crudup said that "this process has been incredible for me, and I hope everyone else who is involved knows how much it means to me." Before he left the stage, he added a cheerful "hi to the kids. I know you're watching wherever you are."

Crudup has one son, William Atticus Parker, with ex-wife Mary Louise Parker.

Related: It's all happening! Kate Hudson wants to reunite with her Almost Famous costar Billy Crudup and perform

Speaking to the press after his win, Crudup expressed that "getting to share this with the writers and educators is a singularly rewarding experience."

When asked about his favorite scene from The Morning Show's most recent season, Crudup said, "There was a scene where he gets very angry because he’s been out maneuvered by Jon Hamm's character and he punches a wall. To get to have some kind of physical expression of anger was pretty fun. No, there’s no Billy in there. Billy as you can see is sweaty and stumbles over words."

Speaking of Watts, to whom he's been married since 2023 (and together since 2017), Crudup explained they're "quite competitive. We like scrabble. We’re very supportive of one another. The fact that she got recognized for her incredible and searing portrayal in Feud was incredibly uplifting to the household.

Watts was nominated for her first ever Emmy tonight, for her performance as Barbara "Babe" Paley in Ryan Murphy's FX limited series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. Crudup and Watts are only one of the power couples nominated for their their own separate Emmys, alongside Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Tracy Letts and Carrie Coon, and Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson

For the rest of the night's winners, you can check EW's complete, live-updating list.

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