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Any good nomination-morning story starts with a bit of real life intruding in. For Daniel Radcliffe,<\/strong> it was trying to get his baby boy to go down for a nap before he got a string of congratulatory texts. For Nathan Lane,<\/strong> it was walking his dog\u2014\u201cLife goes on, even when you\u2019re nominated for an Emmy,\u201d he says with exaggerated grandeur. And for Riley Keough,<\/strong> it was putting her phone on silent<\/a> to stay present with her family, before returning to the hubbub that awaited her.<\/p>\n Radcliffe\u2019s nomination for outstanding lead actor in a limited series or TV movie is one of eight earned by Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,<\/em> a result probably no one imagined when the film originated as a parody trailer<\/a> on Funny or Die in 2010. But that makes the victory all the more sweet. \u201cIt makes me feel good about the way I choose to do things,\u201d says Radcliffe, whose post\u2013Harry Potter<\/em> career has included swerves into the absurd (2016\u2019s Swiss Army Man<\/em>) and flat-out ridiculous. \u201cCertainly there was no part of me that was like, I\u2019ll play Weird Al<\/strong> and that will be awards bait.\u201d<\/p>\n Lane will be returning to the Emmys this year for the first time as a winner\u2014he nabbed guest actor in a comedy last year for the same role that got him nominated this year, the shady Teddy Dimas on Only Murders in the Building.<\/em> He admits that having finally won after seven nominations takes a bit of the pressure off\u2014if he hadn\u2019t won, he says, \u201cI\u2019d have to call Susan Lucci<\/strong> and get some advice.\u201d And he\u2019ll get next year off: He isn\u2019t part of the upcoming third season of Only Murders<\/em> because of his demanding Broadway schedule, though he\u2019s holding out hope to return in a potential fourth season. And he\u2019s confident they\u2019ve found a good replacement for him; with Meryl Streep<\/strong> among the new season\u2019s stars, \u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019re engraving her Emmy right now just to save time.\u201d<\/p>\n James Marsden<\/strong> can reasonably claim to be surprised by his nomination\u2014his series Jury Duty,<\/em> in which he plays an over-the-top jerk version of himself, was an underdog hit in the spring. It surprised almost everyone by getting four nominations, Marsden\u2019s included. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I was ever in the conversation,\u201d he says<\/a>. \u201cI really didn\u2019t know if the show was either. So it was a genuine surprise when the show got its love.\u201d<\/p>\n Keough, meanwhile, was widely tipped for a nomination for her lead role in the limited series Daisy Jones & the Six,<\/em> but had made her peace with whatever was going to happen. \u201cI wasn\u2019t set on anything,\u201d she says. \u201cI was kind of okay with either outcome\u2014if I did or didn\u2019t get nominated. And I was very just grateful for the experience.\u201d While she now is<\/em> a nominee, she\u2019s celebrating the way she probably would have even if she hadn\u2019t gotten a nod: \u201cI\u2019m not working at the moment, so I\u2019ll just spend the time at home with my family and celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul Walter Hauser,<\/strong> already a Critics Choice and Golden Globe winner for his role in Black Bird,<\/em> was sweating on behalf of his late costar, Ray Liotta. \u201cYou know, this show came out a year ago, and you wonder if people are going to remember everything,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd Ray really gave one of his greatest performances, just before he left us. That\u2019s definitely something worth celebrating, though bittersweet.\u201d<\/p>\n It all started with a sign from above for Dominique Fishback,<\/strong> nominated in the limited-series category for her powerful turn in Swarm.<\/em> She woke up in the middle of the night, hours before the nominations were announced, and spotted a good omen: It was 3:22 a.m., and her birthday is March 22. \u201cSo I said, Well, that\u2019s good that I caught those numbers,\u201d she tells us<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s a good Emmy sign.\u201d<\/p>\n Succession<\/em>\u2019s J. Smith Cameron<\/strong>, meanwhile, was on vacation in Italy with her husband, writer Kenneth Longerman<\/strong>, when she heard that she\u2019d been nominated for her second Emmy. Upon arriving there, Cameron says, she had reached out via Instagram to White Lotus<\/em> star Sabrina Impacciatore<\/strong>\u2014also recognized Wednesday by the TV Academy\u2014\u201cbecause I just assumed she lived in Rome, and we were in Rome. I wrote her a message just on Instagram saying, \u2018I don’t even know if you’re here. I kind of assume you live here, but I don’t know that. But we are here and we’d love to buy you an espresso or Prosecco if you’re around.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n