Me and My Emmy: Louie Anderson

How He Got the Gold: As outstanding supporting actor in a comedy, for playing Christine Baskets in the FX comedy Baskets (2016).

Now for the Noms: His Emmy win was for his first nomination.

He Says: “I never wanted to be a comedian. I wanted to be president of the United States. I only tried comedy on a dare, on October 10, 1978.”

She Says: “Christine Baskets gives me a chance to imagine what my mother might have experienced, and an opportunity to explore the other side of my brain. She allows me to pay huge props to the woman who saved the Anderson kids from an abusive, alcoholic father. Her immense humanity and love surrounded us like a moat around a castle. I draw upon that humanity and love to bring Christine Baskets to life every Thursday on FX.”

Tee Up: “I bought Jackie Gleason’s clubs because, yes, I loved him. He was a big man but seemed to glide across the stage. He had a beautiful, deep sense of pathos in his comedy. Dark stuff for back then — good, sad clown stuff.”

Sweet Spot: “The first few months [after I won], I kept the Emmy by my bed. Now it’s in the Emmy room. It used to be the sitting room, but now it’s the Emmy room.”

Emmy Memory: “My first thought [upon winning] was ‘We did it, Mom!’”

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This article originally appeared in emmy magazine, Issue No. 5, 2017