Which Guest Star on The Studio Is Best at Playing Themself?

"Emma Thompson has two secrets. The first is a minor scandal - she's a lesbian - and the second is a major one: She's American, born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. Neither of these secrets is true, but they drive the plot of "Emma," a 1997 episode of Ellen in which Thompson guest-stars as herself. She's fantastic in the appearance, sharp and silly all at once,"

"Thompson's American accent is something to behold: flat, inelegant, and charmless, which is to say, the opposite of how Thompson usually sounds, and for playing the gay American version of herself, Thompson won the Emmy for Guest Star in a Comedy. If we consider winning for playing yourself in a scripted television show different from winning for playing characters as the host of Saturday Night Live (and we should), this was the last time someone won an Emmy for playing themself."

"Five of the six actors currently nominated for Guest Actor in a Comedy at this weekend's Creative Arts Emmys play themselves in , Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's extremely self-aware Hollywood workplace comedy. Martin Scorsese is desperate to get a Jonestown movie off the ground, while Ron Howard's earnest, visionary director goes feral over some studio notes. Anthony Mackie plays himself as a self-serious star making a deeply personal, awards-bait movie,"

Emma Thompson guest-starred as herself in a 1997 Ellen episode, portraying two fabricated secrets: that she is a lesbian and that she is American from Dayton, Ohio. The role subverted her usual image by having her adopt a flat, inelegant American accent and play against type. Thompson won the Emmy for Guest Star in a Comedy for that performance, the last Emmy awarded for playing oneself in a scripted television show. Multiple recent Emmy nominees are also playing heightened versions of themselves in a self-aware Hollywood workplace comedy, raising questions about what makes a good self-portrayal.

Read at Vulture