The Emmy nominations will be coming out in July, but I guess we’re probably in the “voting” part of the process, which explains why the Hollywood Reporter did one of their “roundtable” discussions with television’s leading ladies. Included in this year’s Emmy roundtable: Emilia Clarke, Christine Baranski, Michelle Williams, Danai Gurira, Patricia Arquette and Niecy Nash. The entire piece is a good read full of interesting little stories and conversations, and as always, it felt like the women relish being able to sit down and talk to each other and commiserate about what’s happening in their industry. There were a few notable moments which I wanted to excerpt:

Patricia Arquette on the pressure to age a certain way: “I was lucky enough to have success when I was young, and a lot of that was being an ingenue. And then as I was getting older, there was still this pressure to look a certain way. I had an argument with one of the producers on Medium, who told me I should lose weight. I was like, “This lady is a mother, she’s married, she’s got three kids. No.” But there’s that expectation of being beautiful, of looking a certain way. Like, “OK, you could be 40, but you’ve got to be a 40 who looks 30.” So, when I started to work on Escape at Dannemora and then again with The Act, I definitely felt some pushback. [My people were scared] that I’d lose work. And in fairness, they’ll have those conversations. “What does she look like now?” “Why don’t you send us a picture of what she looks like right now?”

Christine Baranski on who she does not want to play: “Don’t want to play a cranky old lady, don’t want to play a bitch — or a powerful woman who, because she’s powerful, is a bitch. You know, all the stereotypes about older women. Nope.

Niecy Nash on who she doesn’t want to play: “I don’t want to be a sassy black anything. I don’t want to be a sassy black mama, a sassy black neighbor or a sassy black friend. There are so many more notes to be played. And listen, broken is a delicious note to play on camera.

Emilia Clarke on saying no to Fifty Shades of Grey: “Well, Sam [Taylor-Johnson, the director] is a magician. I love her, and I thought her vision was beautiful. But the last time that I was naked on camera on [Game of Thrones] was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman. And it’s annoying as hell and I’m sick and tired of it because I did it for the character — I didn’t do it so some guy could check out my t-ts, for God’s sake. So, that coming up, I was like, “I can’t.” I did a minimal amount and I’m pigeonholed for life, so me saying yes to that, where the entire thing is about sensuality and sex and being naked and all of that stuff, I was just like, “No way am I going to voluntarily walk into that situation and then never be able to look someone in the eye and be like, ‘No, you can’t keep asking me this question.’ ”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

I honestly forgot that Emilia was up for the role in Fifty Shades. She would have been an okay Anastasia, but having seen Dakota Johnson in the role… Dakota is totally fine too. The franchise’s problems were, in no particular order, Jamie Dornan being miscast and wooden, the sh-tty source material and EL James insisting on terrible things being included in the films. But yes, I can also see how Emilia would have been like “no thank you” to a role which would have meant so much nudity and sexual situations. Also: the part with Patricia Arquette talking about how her agent and manager are asked about what she looks like now… wow, that’s f–king awful.

"This is the new me": @emiliaclarke, #MichelleWilliams, @PattyArquette, #ChristineBaranski, @DanaiGurira and @NiecyNash in @THR's Drama Actress Roundtable https://t.co/iEci2aXbRL pic.twitter.com/wuKoNbpnln

— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 23, 2019

Photos courtesy of WENN.