She is a veteran actress of over 30 years.
And Ann Dowd just received the biggest honor of her career.
The 61-year-old actress won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series gong at the 69th Emmy Awards on Sunday.
No doubt she did not expect the honor as she was visibly shocked while walking to the stage and had tears in her eyes as she accepted the prize for her work in The Handmaid’s Tale.
Touching: Ann Dowd won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series gong for her role in The Handmaid’s Tale
During the emotional speech she said: ‘I’ve been acting for a long time and that this should happen now I don’t have the words.’
Laura Dern was another big winner as she focused on the sisterhood with her female co-stars in her touching acceptance speech.
The 50-year-old actress won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie gong at the She definitely seemed grateful for her co-stars including Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Zoe Kravitz, and Shailene Woodley as she said: ‘I share this with my tribe of four ladies.’
Shining star: Laura Dern won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie gong
Squad goals: Earlier in the night: Shailene Woodley, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura, and Zoe Kravitz presented the Supporting Actress in a Drama Series gong at the event
John Lithgow kicked off the night by winning the first gong.
The 71-year-old actor received the shiny new Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series trophy for his role as Winston Churchill in The Crown.
As he beat out several talented actors including Jonathan Banks, Ron Cephas Jones, David Harbour, Mandy Patinkin, and Jeffrey Wright, he began his speech by saying: ‘I feel so lucky to have won this in the company of my nominees’
Big win: John Lithgow won the first award of the night in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category for his role as Winston Churchill in The Crown
Making a point: The 71-year-old actor thanked the character he played while taking a thinly-veiled shot at the current US political climate as he said: ‘Winston Churchill reminds us what courage in government really looks like’
He even stopped to thank the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as he said: ‘Winston Churchill reminds us what courage in government really looks like.’
The star-studded affair was held at the beautiful Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on Sunday.
Comedian and late night host Stephen Colbert kicked off the festivities with a hilarious musical number which featured the likes of Allison Janney and Anthony Anderson. Critically-acclaimed hip-hop star Chance The Rapper even had a verse in the song.
As he is known for his political commentary, there were several comparisons made between the current US administration and current television shows including Stranger Things, This Is Us, and Veep.
Talented: Kate McKinnon won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy gong for the second year in a row
Muse: The comedienne got emotional as she thanked former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
Genius: Donald Glover won for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
Hilarious: He was presented with the honor by Dave Chappelle and Melissa McCarthy
Already winners: The comedy duo each won awards earlier in the night for their guest spots on Saturday Night Live
Colbert finally hit the stage with several dancers who were dressed in shimmering red dresses and bonnets.
He then went into his monologue which also included many political jokes. Colbert even took a serious turn as he thanked first responders who have helped aid victims of Hurricane Harvey and Irma and urged everyone to donate to Hand In Hand.
Coming into the festivities it was HBO drama Westworld and longtime variety show Saturday Night Live who tied for the most nominations on the night with 22.
Other leading nominees announced Thursday include Feud: Bette and Joan and Stranger Things with 18 nominations; Veep with 17 bids, and Big Little Lies and Fargo with 16 nominations each.
Yuge! Alec Baldwin won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy for lampooning Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live
Transcendent: Alexander Skarsgård took home a gong in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie for his work on Big Little Lies
Still relevant: Creator Lorne Michaels accepted the gong as Saturday Night Live won Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
This year’s Drama Series nominees include five first-timers distributed across broadcast, cable and digital platforms: The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, Stranger Things, This Is Us, Westworld as well as previous nominees House of Cards and Better Call Saul.
The Crown, a Golden Globe winning series about Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, is generally thought to be the favorite for the Emmy, but will face stiff competition from returnees Better Call Saul (AMC) and House of Cards (Netflix).
Breakout NBC series This Is Us, starring Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia, earned an impressive 11 nods in total including best drama, best actors Milo and Sterling K. Brown, supporting actress Chrissy Metz and supporting actor Ron Cephas Jones.
It’s the first time a network series has been nominated in the best drama category since The Good Wife in 2011. Fox’s 24 was the last show to win the award 11 years ago.
HBO mini-series Big Little Lies was another breakout hit in the limited series or TV movie category, starring Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley and Alexander Skarsgard.
Host with the most: After a funny video, host Stephen Colbert came out with dancers
Funnyman: As he is known for his political humor, much of his monologue poked fun at the current presidential administration
Wow factor: The most shocking moment of the monologue came out when former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer came out on a podium to address the crowd
What a shock: As Melissa McCarthy is best known for parodying the former member of the Donald Trump administration she looked surprised
Shock and awe: Modern Family stars Julie Bowen and Sarah Hyland could hardly contain their excitement
Oscar winners Kidman and Witherspoon will go head-to-head in the best actress in a limited series category while Dern, Woodley and Skarsgard are up for supporting actor gongs.
Kidman and Witherspoon will have fierce competition from two more Oscar-winning stars, Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange, who are nominated for their roles in Feud: Bette and Joan.
Carrie Coon for FX’s Fargo, (her first Emmy nomination) and Felicity Huffman for American Crime also got nods.
While it’s no surprise to see Netflix’s 1980s sci-fi-horror Stranger Things recognized, the series also received a surprise nomination for Shannon Purser, who is up for outstanding guest actress for her role as fan-favorite character Barb.
David Harbour and Millie Bobby Brown are also up for best actor gongs.
Legends: Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda – pictured from left to right – presented Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie
Mother-figure: Anna Faris hugged Allison Janney as they presented together
Meanwhile, stars battling it out for the best actor in a drama series gong are Matthew Rhys for The Americans; Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul; Kevin Spacey for House of Cards; Liev Schreiber for Ray Donovan; Sterling K. Brown for This Is Us; Milo Ventimiglia for This Is Us and Anthony Hopkins for his role in Westworld.
Spacey, a double Oscar winner who has never won an Emmy, picked up his 11th nod overall.
The nominees for best actress in a drama series include: Keri Russell, The Americans; Claire Foy, The Crown; Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale; Robin Wright, House of Cards; Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder; Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld.
The outstanding comedy series category includes newcomer Atlanta starring Donald Glover along with the acclaimed Black-ish, Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, ABC’s long-running Modern Family, Silicon Valley, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Veep.
Fantasy land: HBO’s Westworld topped the Emmy Award nominations with 22 nods on the night
Glover, Ansari and Black-ish’s Anthony Anderson are also up for best actor in a comedy series.
Veep, the most-nominated comedy, has a chance for its third consecutive best comedy series and gives star Julia Louis-Dreyfus the chance to build on her record of most wins for a lead comedy actress.
She has five for Veep and one for New Adventures of Old Christine.
The long-running SNL received a wealth of awards for its cast, hosts and guest stars, including one to Alec Baldwin for his recurring portrayal of President Donald Trump.
Melissa McCarthy was also nominated for best guest actress in a comedy series for her fantastic portrayal of unhinged White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
SNL cast-member Kate McKinnon once again got a nod in the comedy supporting actress category. She won the same category last year for her impression of Hillary Clinton.
Vanessa Bayer, Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig, Lin Manuel Miranda and Tom Hanks were also nominated for supporting or guest appearances on the series.
What an honor: Saturday Night Live, powered by madcap skits skewering the Trump administration, also earned 22 nods, including a bid for Alec Baldwin
Samantha Bee’s Full Frontal got its first nomination, along with Jimmy Kimmel and HBO’s Bill Maher.
HBO’s Game of Thrones, which dominated last year’s Emmys with 23 nods and 12 trophies, including its second consecutive best drama award, fell outside the eligibility window for Emmy consideration this year.
The Television Academy’s 21,000 members were given two weeks in June to sift through a crowded field of some 8,000 entries from shows aired during the previous 12 months across 113 categories.
Leading the way with total nominations by platform are HBO with 110, Netflix with 91 and NBC with 60.
If you want to watch the Emmys tonight from pretty much anywhere, you can with CBS All Access. It costs $5.99 a month, but you can sign up for a free seven-day trial.
Newcomer Atlanta, which stars Donald Glover as Earnest Marks, earned a nod for Outstanding Comedy Series